5 August 2023: G: Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium (Tokyo) ; R: Matthew Carley (RFU)
●Japan 12-35 Fiji○
Data:
5/8/2023, Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2023
Japan 12 – 35 Fiji
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium (Tokyo) , Japan
Half-time 0 – 21
Refree: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Crowd: 22,137
JAPAN: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Dylan Riley (23 Ryoto Nakamura 62), 12 Tomoki Osada, 11 Jone Naikabula, 10 Rikiya Matsuda (22 Seungshin Lee 46), 9 Naoto Saito (21 Yutaka Nagare 40), 8 Kazuki Himeno (capt) (20 Ben Gunter 59) , 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Amato Fakatava (19 Kanji Shimokawa 23), 4 James Moore, 3 Asaeli Ai Valu (18 Jiwon Koo 40), 2 Atsushi Sakate (16 Shota Horie 40), 1 Keita Inagaki (17 Craig Millar 40).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries: Jone Naikabula, Semisi Masirewa; Conversions: Seungshin Lee; Penalty Goals: nothing
Yellow Cards:
Red Card: Pieter Labuschagne (7 Dangerous Play)
Fiji: 15 SIRELI MAQALA , 14 JIUTA WAINIQOLO (23 ILAISA DROASESE), 13 WAISEA NAYACALEVU, 12 VILIMONI BOTITU, 11 SELESITINO RAVUTAUMADA, 10 BEN VOLAVOLA (22 TETI TELA 73), 9 SIMIONE KURUVOLI (21 FRANK LOMANI 67), 8 MELI DERENALAGI (20 JOSEVA TAMANI 47), 7 KITIONE KAMIKAMICA, 6 LEKIMA TAGITAGIVALU, 5 TEMO MAYANAVANUA (19 TE AHIWARU CIRIKIDAVETA 47), 4 ALBERT TUISUE , 3 LUKE TAGI (18 MESAKE DOGE 69), 2 SAMUEL MATAVESI (16 TEVITA IKANIVERE 69), 1 ERONI MAWI (17 PENI RAVAI 69).
Reserves:
HIA: VILIMONI BOTITU (22 TETI TELA 7),
Coach: Vern Cotter.
Tries: WAISEA NAYACALEVU, ERONI MAWI, SIMIONE KURUVOLI, FRANK LOMANI(2);
Conversions: BEN VOLAVOLA(4), TETI TELA; Penalty Goals: nothinng.
Yellow Cards: SIRELI MAQALA (76 Dangerous Play)
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 4min-try Fiji, WAISEA NAYACALEVU-0-5; conv. BEN VOLAVOLA-0-7, 17min-pen Fiji, ERONI MAWI-0-12; conv. BEN VOLAVOLA-0-14 , 38min-try Fiji, SIMIONE KURUVOLI -0-19; conv. BEN VOLAVOLA-0-21, 46min-pg Fiji, BEN VOLAVOLA (missed)-0-21, 58min-try Fiji, FRANK LOMANI-0-26; conv. BEN VOLAVOLA-0-28, 71min-try Japan, Jone Naikabula-5-28, 53min-try; conv. Seungshin Lee-7-28, 77min-try Japan, Semisi Masirewa-12-28; conv. Seungshin Lee (missed)-12-28, 81min-try Fiji, FRANK LOMANI-12-33; conv. TETI TELA-12-35.
The match started with a kick-off from Japan's Masirewa, and Japan dominated the ball in the early stages, launching continuous attacks and approaching the Fiji goal. However, at the most crucial moment, they made mistakes such as knock-ons and handed the ball over to Fiji. In the fourth minute, Fiji's no-touch kick was passed to Masirewa, Matsuda, Saito, and Naikabula, who stepped forward and broke through 10 meters into the Fiji line, but the ball was spilled from the ruck created after being tackled. Fiji's No. 9 picked up the ball and ran to the side, and No. 8 ran alone with an offload pass. In the end, the ball was passed to the free No. 13, who scored a try (Volavola's goal was successful, making it 0-7). Then, in the seventh minute, a shocking play occurred. At a lineout with Fiji's ball 10 meters to the right of the Fiji line (Fiji's left), No. 9 passed the ball to No. 12, who charged vertically. Japan's No. 7 Labuscafni, who was waiting inside, tackled the opponent's chin with his head. Just like Leitch in the match against Samoa, a red card was issued and Labuscafni was sent off. Japan had to play the remaining 70 minutes with 14 players. In the scrum, No. 11 Naikabula was put in the No. 6 position, but they were undeniably at a disadvantage. Then, in the 17th minute, Japan was push in front of the goal, and Japan was able to keep holding off with their well-trained tackles, but Fiji's No. 1 was able to squeeze in and score a try (Volavola's goal made it 0-14). In the 19th minute, Moore managed to tap the ball from a lineout on the left of the halfway line, just beyond the halfway line, and the ball was passed to Saito, Matsuda, and Osada. Osada took a step outside and passed the ball to the free Masirewa. Masirewa ran vertically through the space, but was surrounded by Fiji's No. 11 and No. 13 , and was pushed out touch, resulting in no chance. In the 23rd minute, Fakatava, who had been playing a major role in this series, injured his foot and was replaced by No. 19 Shimokawa. Cornelsen moved to lock, and Shimokawa was at the open-side flanker . In the 31st minute, Matsushima made a good kick to near the left touch point in front of the Fiji goal, but Fiji's No. 15 made a mistake and put it to touch, resulting in a lineout for Japan. Cornelsen, who replaced the lock, caught the ball brilliantly, and after CTB Osada's vertical charge, the forwards and backs combined to attack the Fiji goal, but Matsuda made a miss pass to destroy the chance. Japan was pressured in the scrum, and their desperate passes were caught and they were pushed in front of the Japanese goal. In the 38th minute, Fiji pushed the scrum in front of the center of the Japanese goal, and No. 9's side attack was tackled by No. 10 Matsuda and No. 19 Shimokawa, but this was also pushed back and a try was scored (Volavola's goal made it 0-21). Japan ended the first half without scoring.
At the start of the second half, in order to change the flow of the game, the Japanese national team replaced No. 16 Horie, No. 17 Miller, No. 18 Gu, and No. 21 Nagare with Sakate, Inagaki, Balu, and Saito. Japan withheld kicks and launched bold consecutive attacks, gathering the ball to Naikabula and Masirewa to advance. Then, after the opponent's foul, in the 43rd minute, when they entered the enemy's territory, a long throw was thrown in at a lineout on the right just beyond the halfway line, and SO Matsuda, who ran in, caught it and connected with Nagare and Riley on the outside, and made a brilliant long pass to Naikabula on the far outside, but this was judged as a throw-forward (sometimes the referee misunderstands when the pass crosses the line and a throw-forward is judged, but the TV commentator also stated that this was not it), and the scrum was in Fiji's possession. In the 46th minute, after a Japanese foul, Volavola aimed for a penalty goal in the center a little inside the Japanese territory from the halfway line, but missed to the left. After that, Japan launched consecutive attacks with the FW and BK working together, but the chance was destroyed by a knock-on at the end. Fiji's No. 9 kicked the loose ball into the Japanese in-goal, leading to a chase between the two teams, but Japan's speedy No. 11 Naikabula won the fight and save the ball in the in-goal, surviving with an in-goal drop-out. In the 52nd minute, Japan was awarded a penalty kick on the left side of the Fiji 22m line, but Matsuda did not kick it into touch, instead tapping it and passed to Nagare, Matsushima, and Osada. Osada made a dummy pass and hit his marker to ran vertically, and tried to return the ball to Riley, who was supporting him inside, but Fijian player stole the ball to escaped with a touch. In the 56th minute, Japan replaced Matsuda with Li. The game remained deadlocked for a while after that, but Japan made some good tackles and surviving Fiji's fierce attack with an in-goal drop-out. In the 58th minute, Fiji countered Japan's kick and formed a ruck 10 meters to the left of the Japanese line (Fiji's right). Fiji's No. 9 passed the ball to No. 16 , who were standing shallow, and No. 17 got tha ball from No.16, while riding on the Japanese tackle, made a brilliant offload pass to No. 8, and No.8 ran alone. Finally, the pass went through to the free No. 21, who jumped under the goal post (0-28 thanks to a goal from Volavola). In the 59th minute, Ben Gunter was substituted for Himeno. In the 61st minute, Fiji got a penalty touch kick and pushed the moul from a lineout 30 meters to the left of the Japanese (Fiji's right), and No. 16 knocked the Japanese DF off and scored a try, but the try was canceled due to No. 17's obstruction of Naikabula, who was trying to tackle him. In the 62nd minute, Japan substituted Nakamura for Riley. In the 69th minute, Fiji attacked from a ruck on the right of the Japanese 22m (left of Fiji), but No. 6 knocked on a pass from No. 21. Fullback Matsushima picked up the ball and passed it to the free Masirewa. Masirewa attracted his marker and passed it to Lee, and Lee formed a ruck. The ball was passed to Nagare, Koo, Matsushima, Moore, and Osada, he ran vertically. Osada cut through the Fiji DF vertically and took 70m steps to run alone, and it looked like he had scored a try, but he was caught 3m in front of the goal and it was judged a knock-on. In the 71st minute, from a scrum on the left inside the Fiji 22m line, No. 21 Nagare passed the ball to No. 11 Naikabula, who charged vertically, and although he hit two Fiji DFs and fell once, he got up again and picked up the ball and jumped into the in-goal (Lee's goal was successful, making it 7-28). On the time When Naikabula got up the ball, No. 23 Nakamura's played of pushing the opposing defender aside was truly outstanding. With this, Japan 15 regained their momentum and continued to attack by passing the ball around, but they made small mistakes at the end and ruined their chances. In the 76th minute, Fiji's No. 15 received a yellow card for a high tackle on Japan's Gu. This foul earned Japan a penalty kick in the center of the 22m line, and Nagare's tapping restarted the game, allowing Japan to launch another series of attacks. Then, in the 77th minute, Japan brought the ball to the left of the Fiji goal, and from the ruck, Nagare skipped Matsushima and Nakamura and passed to Masirewa on the short side, and he dived into the in-goal (Lee's goal was unsuccessful, making it 12-28). Fiji's kickoff after that was too long and went over the dead goal line, resulting in a center scrum with Japan's ball. Nagare passed to Naikabula to Lee, but Lee's pass was disrupted and went into touch.Fiji went on the offensive again, and from a ruck in the center within 10 meters of the Japanese half, the forwards and backs attacked together, and No. 14 broke through the diffense line, connecting with No. 20 and No. 21 to score a try (12-35 with a goal from No. 22 Terra). The last pass looked like a throw-forward, but Nagare's appeal was not accepted. When the organized defense could go foward, they were able to stop the Fijian attack steadily, but once they crossed the gain line with speed, including in unstructured situations, the Japanese defense was shaken off by the overwhelming follow-up.
As the TV commentator said, we wanted to see how well on 15 vs 15 condition could do in each situation, including the scrum. In these three games, they had two players sent off due to dangerous high tackles, which ruined the game, so I hope that this kind of thing will be eradicated in the RWC tournament and we will be able to see great games.