10 September 2023: G: Stadium de Toulouse ; R: Nic Berry (RA)
○Japan 42-12 Chile●
Data:
10/9/2023, RWC2023 French tournament Pool D 1st game
Japan 42 – 12 Chile
Stadium de Toulouse（Toulouse）, France
Half-time 21 – 7
Refree: Nic Berry (RA)
Crowd: 30,187
JAPAN: 15 Semisi Masirewa (23 Lomano Lava Lemeki 56), 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Jone Naikabula (22 Tomoki Osada 63), 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Yutaka Nagare (capt) (21 Naoto Saito 61), 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Kanji Shimokawa(20 Shota Fukui 50), 6 Michael Leitch, 5, 4 Amanaki Saumaki (19 Warner Dearns 55), 3 Jiwon Koo (18 Asaeli Ai Valu 40), 2 Atsushi Sakate (16 Shota Horie 50), 1 Keita Inagaki (17 Craig Millar 58).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries: Amato Fakatava (2), Jone Naikabula, Michael Leitch, Ryoto Nakamura, Warner Dearns ; Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda(6); Penalty Goals: nothing
Yellow Cards: Dylan Riley (47 Deliberate Knock-on).
Chile: 15 Inaki AYARZA (22 Lukas CARVALLO 61), 14 Santiago VIDELA, 13 Domingo SAAVEDRA, 12 Matias GARAFULIC, 11 Franco VELARDE (23 Jose Ignacio LARENAS 56), 10 Rodrigo FERNANDEZ, 9 Marcelo TORREALBA, 8 Alfonso ESCOBAR, 7 Raimundo MARTINEZ (21 Ignacio SILVA 58), 6 Martin SIGREN (capt), 5 Javier EISSMANN (20 Santiago PEDRERO 56), 4 Clemente SAAVEDRA (19 Pablo HUETE 65), 3 Matias DITTUS (18 Inaki GURRUCHAGA 68), 2 Diego ESCOBAR (16 Augusto BOHME 58), 1 Javier CARRASCO (17 Salvador LUES 55).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Pablo Lemoine
Tries: Rodrigo FERNANDEZ, Alfonso ESCOBAR; Conversions: Santiago VIDELA; Penalty Goals:.
Yellow Cards: Matias DITTUS (24 Late tackle), Santiago VIDELA (38 Dangerous tackle).
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 6min-try chile, Rodrigo FERNANDEZ -0-5; conv. Santiago VIDELA-0-7, 8min-try Japan, Amato Fakatava-5-7; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-7-7, 30min-try Japan, Jone Naikabula-12-7; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-14-7, 41min-try Japan, Amato Fakatava-19-7; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-21-7, 48 min-try chile, Alfonso ESCOBAR-21-12; conv. Santiago VIDELA (missed), 53min-try Japan, Michael Leitch-26-12; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-28-12, 71min-try Japan, Ryoto Nakamura-33-12; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-35-12, 80min-try Japan, Warner Dearns-40-12; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-42-12.
"The first match is important in the RWC!" The players, including former captain Leitch, were saying so. Indeed, in the last tournament, the RWC 2019 Japan tournament, the first match against Russia was said to be against a lower-ranked opponent, but the tension of the players reached its peak in the packed stadium, and the fullback dropped a normal high punt, giving Russia the opening try. It is important to start the eight players who have experience in the previous tournament and to keep a cool head at all costs.
The match starts with Chile's kickoff. With Cornelsen in the lift, he secures the kickoff ball and Nagare kicks a high punt. You'd think they'd come with a physical battle centered on the FW, which is unique to South America, but they also actively develop their open play in the BK, and they have speed runners who can shake off Japanese players. They beat the United States and advanced through the qualifiers, so they should never be underestimated. Japan also plays defense well, but in the 6th minute, Chile attacked the narrow blind side from a ruck 10m to the right of the Chilean line, and the FB evaded two Japanese defenders and ran smoothly. The SH who followed the inside received a pass, broke through the 22m line of the Japanese line, and was tackled by Naikabra who chased after him, and placed the ball behind. The ball hit the foot of Japan's Riley who went to save it, and it spilled to the Japanese side. Chile's No. 10 dribbles it, and catches the floating ball, and jumps into the in-goal. Chile's No. 14 scores a G kick, which is not easy (0-7). Without exception, South American countries, which are popular for soccer, are good at kicking. In the 8th minute, Japan kicked the ball into the Chilean 22m, but Chile knocked it on. Saumaki picked it up and created a ruck, and Inagaki rushed in, and Leitch picked and gained so much to create a ruck. Nagare delayed his timing and passed the ball to Fakatava, who is no mark to use his speed to dive into the in-goal. Matsuda, who had been struggling with goal kicking in the test match before the tournament, kicked a goal in the middle of the post to tie the score (7-7). Deciding that a normal attack would only result in Chile getting tackled by Japan, Chile resorted to a play in which their SH made a move and other players moved in close to break through.
Chile launched several consecutive attacks, but in the 15th minute, Gu tackled down Chile's No. 3, and Sakate brilliantly scored a jackal to earn a penalty kick. On this day, Japan chose to kick to touch and get lineout many times, even in positions where they could have easily scored by PG. It was clear that they were aiming for four or more bonus points. In the 24th minute, after Gu picked up a loose ball and passed it, Chile's No. 3 made a vicious late tackle and received a yellow card (the TMO team will decide whether to call a yellow or red within 8 minutes of the penalty due to the bunker system from this tournament: No. 3 was awarded a yellow). Matsuda brilliantly kicked the penalty kick to touch 5m to the left of the Chilean territory, resulting in a lineout for Japan. However, they secured the lineout and tried to push with a maul, but Chile's No. 5 broke through and took the ball to reclaim the position to the halfway line. Japan continued to make mistakes and was given a touch inside the 22m to the left of the Japan area, but Masirewa passed to Matsushima before the set, who kicked a touch kick from Japan area to within 22m to the left of the Chile area (50-22, Japan's ball lineout). In the 30th minute, Japan pushed the scrum 5m to the left of the Chilean goal, and Nagare took it to the blind and passed it to wing Naikabula. Naikabula managed to squeeze the ball into the in-goal despite being held by two defenders for a try (Matsuda scored a difficult goal for a 14-7 score). After that, in the 41st minute of added time, with neither team scoring any additional points, Japan kicked a penalty kick to touch 5m to the left of the Chilean goal, and Leitch caught the ball at the lineout and passed it to Shimokawa in the front row to form a maul. They firmly formed the maul that had been broken up up until then and pushed it in, and finally Fakatava jumped into the in-goal (Matsuda scoared a difficult goal from the corner for a 21-7 score), and the first half ended.
At the start of the second half, Val was substituted for Gu. Japan wanted to score first and pull away from Chile, but Chile, refreshed at halftime, held on and the two teams continued to play evenly. In the 47th minute, Riley's play in which he flicked off Chile's final pass was judged to be a deliberative knock-on (an intentional knock-on that negates the opponent's chance), and Japan was given a yellow card, leaving them with 14 men. In the 48th minute, Chile entered the Japanese half and made successive attacks to approach the Japanese goal, moving from a ruck on the right in front of the goal to the left. Matsuda charged the Chilean SO's kick, which was kicked wide, but the ball was strongly flicked off and accidentally landed on Chile's number 15's chest, and he skillfully stepped up and approached the left of the Japanese goal. Just before the goal, Saumaki, Matsuda, and Inagaki made tenacious tackles to prevent several attempts to dive into the in-goal, but in the end, Chile's number 8 jumped in and scored a try (Chile's number 14 missed the goal, making it 21-12). In the 50th minute, Japan replaced Shimokawa and Sakate with Fukui and Horie. After that, Nagare kicked an effective kick in front of the Chilean goal from a ruck on the right of the halfway line, and Chile's No. 10 kicked the ball back, and Japan launched a counter attack from the halfway line. Naikabula received a pass from Masirewa and made a powerful run and passed to Nakamura, who was free on the left wing. Nakamura's return pass was a little shaky, but Naikabula caught it again and advanced. They formed a ruck and launched a series of attacks in front of the Chilean goal. In the 53rd minute, this series of attacks was successful, and Inagaki, who received a floating pass from Val, got within 3 meters of the goal, and Nakamura ran vertically from the ruck a little closer, and Leitch, who received a pass from Nagare behind him, dived directly under the goal post (Matsuda's goal made it 28-12).
They also scored a bonus point. Japan replaced Saumaki and Masilewa with Werner and Lemeki. Around this time, the Chilean players started to show signs of fatigue. During and after the water break, Miller, Saito, and Osada were brought in to replace Inagaki, Nagare, and Naikabula. Chile started to develop attacks, but some players started to get cramps in their legs. Japan also tried to kick into Chile's territory, but the kick was too long and Chile handled it skillfully, resulting in a stalemate. In the 69th minute, at a scrum on the right, just inside the Chilean 10m line, CTB Osada ran vertically and received a pass from Saito, who brilliantly broke through the gain line and pushed the switch for Japan's consecutive attacks. Cornelsen and Leitch charged vertically in succession, approaching the Chilean goal, and earned a penalty kick. In the 71st minute, it seemed that they would go for a penalty goal, but Japan chose to go for a scrum. After a strong push, Saito pulled to the left, and Nakamura, who had been the dummy earlier, ran vertically in a cross-like manner, dodging one player and diving into the in-goal (Matsuda's goal made it 35-12). The reason for the victory was that the forwards' scrum push made it impossible for the Chilean back row to move at all. After that, a lineout for the Chilean ball was disorganized to the right of the goal, leading to a carry back, and in the 80th minute, Japan pushed a 5m scrum in the right corner of the Chilean area, following blind wing Matsushima next to Saito, who approached just before the goal, and after Fukui's charge, Warner, who was 21 years old and making his RWC debut that day, used his size and power to twist the ball into the in-goal for a try (Matsuda's sixth goal made it 42-12). After the goal, full time came. Warner's try was initially ruled not to have been grounded, but the TMO's decision determined that the ball was clearly down, so the try was allowed. It was a brilliant first try in the RWC from Warner, who is expected to become a star player as a core member of Japan's forward line in the future.