Test Match No. 327: Test match against Scotland, game 1

日本語 Photo Journal
18 June 2016; G: Toyota Stadium; R: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ)
●Japan 13-26 Scotland○
 
Data:
18/6/2016 Scotland 3rd Japan tour 1st Match
Japan 13 Scotland 26
Toyota Stadium, Japan
Half-time 10 - 16
Refree: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ)
Crowd: 24,113
 
JAPAN: 15 Kotaro Matsushima (23 Rikiya Matsuda 15 (37, 47)), 14 Paea Mifi Poseti, 13 Tim Bennetts, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Yasutaka Sasakura, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Kaito Shigeno (21 Keisuke Uchida 48), 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 7 Shokei Kin, 6 Hendrik Tui (34, 44)(20 Hiroki Yamamoto 78), 5 Naohiro Kotaki, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama (18 Shinnosuke Kakinaga 51), 2 Shota Horie (capt), 1 Keita Inagaki.
Reserves: 16 Takeshi Kizu, Msataka Mikami, 19 Kotaro Yatabe, 22 Kosei Ono.
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries: Horie; Conversions: Tamura; Penalty Goals: Tamura (2).
Yellow Cards: Tui (34, sin-bin), Matsuda (37, sin-bin).
 
SCOTLAND: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13, Duncan Taylor (22 Peter Horne 65), 12 Matt Scott, 11 Damien Hoyland (23 Sean Maitland 56), 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 8 Ryan Wilson (20 David Denton 64), 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray (19 Tim Swinson 67) , 3 Willem Nel (18 Moray Low 64), 2 Stuart Mcinally (16 Fraser Brown 47), 1 Alasdair Dickinson (17 Rory Sutherland 4).
Reserves: 21 Henry Pyrgos.
Coach: Vern Cotter.
Tries: Penalty try, Willem Nel; Conversions: Greig Laidlaw (2); Penalty Goals: Greig Laidlaw (4).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 4min-Pen Scotland, Greig Laidlaw-0-3, 8min-try Japan, Shota Horie; conv. Yu Tamura-7-3, 15min-Pen Scotland, Greig Laidlaw-7-6, 19min-Pen Scotland, Greig Laidlaw-0-9, 28min-Pen Japan, Yu Tamura-10-9, 37min-try Scotland, Penalty try; conv. Greig Laidlaw-10-16, 41min-try Scotland, Willem Nel; conv. Greig Laidlaw-10-23, 55min-Pen Japan, Yu Tamura-13-23, 62min-Pen Scotland, Greig Laidlaw-13-26.
 


Japan sent more players to fight in rucks and hit with their entire bodies to repeat penalties 15 times in total. They received two yellow cards with an intended knock-on which was considered to be an attempt to stop a try (Rikiya Matsuda subbed in) and maul collapsing (flanker Hendrik Tui). Even while pleasing the stand by getting penalties and making quick attacks, Japan ended some of them with their own penalties. However, not everything was bad. In the 8th minute of the match. Japan got a penalty with an amazing play by number 7 Shokei Kin, which was a great yield on the night. Scrum-half Kaito Shigeno, who has amazing running skills, attacked quickly without hesitating. Dependable number 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi broke through taking advantage of his acceleration power and stride width. The ball was passed to centre Harumichi Tatekawa, then to Shigeno, stand-off Yu Tamura and hooker Shota Horie, who rushed in the in-goal. It was a try gained by the extra high speed.
Japan needed to be extreme in some areas, for example quickness, fighting spirit and determination to win against strong countries. The problems were bad decision in the game plan they chose and a poor accuracy of set plays. The reality that appeared in attacking and defending was “We don't have enough concensus in strategy (fighting plan) yet.”
There was a turning point. A kick-off in the second half, where Scotland with a 6-point lead was attacking. After determining the direction right, number 14 Tommy Seymour received the ball directly and got a scrum in front of the left goal with an aggressive attack which led to a try. The score at the beginning of the second half was not bad for Japan. But Japan's mental advantage was lost with the sudden point loss.