Test Match No. 348: Europe tour 2018, game 2

日本語 Photo Journal
24 November 2018; G: England (Kingsholm S); R: Jerome Garces (FRA)
○Japan 32-27 Russia●
 
Data:
24/11/2018, European tour 2018
Japan 32 Russia 27
Kings Holm stadium, England
Half-time 10-22
Refree: Jerome Garces (France)
 
JAPAN: 15 William Tupou, 14 Amanaki Taiyo Lotoahea (22 Yu Tamura 60), 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura (23 Yusuke Kajimura 73), 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Kaito Shigeno (21 Yutaka Nagare 56), 8 Hendrik Tui (20 Ishileli Nakajima 62), 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa (35, 45) (21 Shunsuke Nunomaki 40), 6 Michael Leitch (capt), 5 Wimpie Van Der Walt (19 Yuya Odo 62), 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Jiwon Koo (18 Hiroshi Yamashita 76), 2 Atsushi Sakate (16 Kousuke Horikoshi 76), 1 Keita Inagaki (17 Masataka Mikami 67).
Reserves:
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries: Michael Leitch (2), Kenki Fukuoka, Hendrik Tui; Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda (3); Penalty Goals: Rikiya Matsuda, Yu Tamura.
Yellow Cards: Nishikawa (35, sin-bin).
 
Russia: 15 Vasily Artemyev (capt), 14 Mikhail Banaev, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Danil Potikhanov (23 Sergey Trishin 73), 10 Yury Kushnarev (22 Ramil Gaysin 32), 9 Vasilii Dorofeev, 8 Nikita Vavilin (20 Anton Sychev 65), 7 Tagir Gadzhiev (21 Dmitry Perov 67), 6 Vitaly Zhivatov, 5 Andrey Garbuzov (19 Alexander Ilin 14), 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Vladimir Podrezov (18 Anton Drozdov 67), 2 Stanislav Selskiy (16 Evgeny Matveev 60), 1 Valery Morozov (17 Sergey Sekisov 65).
Reserves:
Coach: Lyn Jones.
Tries: Vladimir Ostroushko, Stanislav Selskiy; Conversions: Yury Kushnarev; Penalty Goals: Yury Kushnarev (3), Ramil Gaysin (2).
 
Scoring sequence (Japan's score shown first): 4min-Pen Russia, Yury Kushnarev-0-3, 7min-Pen Russia, Yury Kushnarev-0-6, 16min-Pen Russia, Yury Kushnarev-0-9, 21min-try Russia, Vladimir Ostroushko; conv. Yury Kushnarev-0-16, 23min-Pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-3-16, 31min-try Japan, Michael Leitch; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-10-16, 37min-Pen Russia, Ramil Gaysin-10-19, 38min-Pen Russia, Ramil Gaysin-10-22, 44min-try Japan, Kenki Fukuoka; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-17-22, 55min-try Japan, Hendrik Tui; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-24-22, 59min-try Russia, Stanislav Selskiy; conv. Ramil Gaysin (missed)-24-27, 67min-Pen Japan, Yu Tamura-27-27, 72min-try Japan, Michael Leitch; conv. Yu Tamura (missed)-32-27.
 


Just after the match started, Russia made consecutive attacks. Japan got a not-rolling-away penalty from a ruck to concede the opening penalty goal. Just after this, Japan conceded a penalty in an attack near Russia to lose 3 points. There were scenes where Japan was able to fight evenly in each tackle. However, when Japan were not able to pull them down, and they made use of their body weight, Japan allowed them to go forward. “We were kind of overwhelmed physically. They were more than expected,” said scrum-half Yutaka Nagare. Russia's power worked also in the breakdown. Depending on the whistle by the main referee Garces, they interfered with Japan's take-outs of the ball. Japan got the ball, throwing more players at the edge of the touchline. While unexpected fights were lasting, Japan made painful mistakes. Full-back Tupou William caught a high punt. He passed the ball, but the opponent knew it. Japan conceded a try with a pass cut, and the point margin was widened to 16 points.
In the 23rd minute of the first half, Japan finally got the first points with a penalty goal by Matsuda. In the 31st minute of the first half, Japan moved forward until they were 7 meters in front of the goal by consecutive attacks. They induced the opponent's off-side. Michael Leitch walked to the main referee holding the ball. He pretended as if it was a shot, did a tap kick, and started running. Then, he faked out of a tackle of the opponent who looked away and went to the in-goal. Japan scored a try back thanks to the captain's quick thinking.
Russia scored 2 penalty goals again. The second half started with a 12-point margin. Japan got the first points in an ideal form. When Russia sent a pass from a ruck, wing Kenki Fukuoka narrowed the space. After pushing down the opponent, he stood up and overwhelmed the space above the ball. A turnover was achieved. Japan approached the goal with a counter measure. At the end, Fukuoka scored a try, running outside. The defense went forward and attacked from an unstructured status in which each territory mixed with the other. It was a try for Japan.
In the 15th minute of the second half, prop Keita Inagaki and some other players brought down the opponent who in a ruck. Hendrik Tui held up the ball and moved forward stepping over the ruck. He run for 60 meters. The goal kick also succeeded, and Japan came from behind 24-22. In the 20th minute of the second half, stand-off Yu Tamura joined and kicked each other to come back well. Furthermore, Japan got a penalty in a scrum awarded to the opponent. “We were discussing if we would make it from the first half. We just pushed through.” Inagaki said, but it was a scene where they showed their original power. When they entered the opponent's territory by a touch kick, flanker Masakatsu Nishikawa induced a penalty. Japan made the score tie with a penalty goal again. In the 32nd minute of the second half, Japan moved the ball right and left widely from a lineout, then Russia, who was short on physical power and was not able to handle it. At the end, Tamura rolled the ball behind, then Leitch caught the rebounded ball and scored a try.
Because of the unexpected win, head coach Jamie Joseph puffed out his chest. “If this was one year ago, we might not have been able to win. This is evidence that the team improved.” Based on each player's improvement, the team was driven by the players evolution and it led to this problem solving.