17 September 2023: G: Stade de Nice（Nice） ; R: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
●Japan 12-34 England○
Data:
17/9/2023, RWC2023 French tournament Pool D 2nd game
Japan 12 – 34 England
Stade de Nice（Nice）, France
Half-time 9 – 13
Refree: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Crowd: 30,500
JAPAN: 15 Semisi Masirewa (23 Lomano Lava Lemeki 7), 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Tomoki Osada, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Jone Naikabula (22 Dylan Riley 50), 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Yutaka Nagare (21 Naoto Saito 65), 8 Kazuki Himeno (capt), 7 Pieter Labuschagne (20 Kanji Shimokawa 74), 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Amato Fakatava (19 Warner Dearns 62), 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Jiwon Koo (18 Asaeli Ai Valu 40), 2 Shota Horie (16 Atsushi Sakate 62), 1 Keita Inagaki (17 Craig Millar 50).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries:; Conversions: nothing; Penalty Goals: Rikiya Matsuda(4)
Yellow Cards:
England: 15 Freddie Steward (22 Marcus Smith 69), 14 Jonny May, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi (23 Ollie Lawrence 69), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell (21 Ben Youngs 60), 8 Lewis Ludlam (20 Billy Vunipola 51), 7 Ben Earl, 6 Courtney Lawes (capt) (19 George Martin 63 ⇒ 6 Courtney Lawes 74) , 5 Ollie Chessum (19 George Martin 74), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler (18 Will Stuart 51), 2 Jamie George (16 Theo Dan 74), 1 Joe Marler (17 Ellis Genge 60). Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Steve Borthwick
Tries: Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward, Joe Marchant ; Conversions: George Ford (4); Penalty Goals: George Ford (2).
Yellow Cards:
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 4min-pen England, George Ford-0-3, 15min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-3-3, 23min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-6-3, 24min-try England, Lewis Ludlam-6-8;conv. George Ford-6-10, 30min-pen England, George Ford (missed)-6-10, 32min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-9-10, 42min-pen England, George Ford-9-13, 32min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-12-13, 56min-try England, Courtney Lawes-12-18;conv. George Ford-12-20, 66min-try England, Freddie Steward-12-25;conv. George Ford-12-27, 66min-try England, Joe Marchant-12-32; conv. George Ford-12-34.
Will they be able to make new history (their first win against England) following on from the previous two tournaments? It has been said that in order to beat England, who have lost all 10 of their previous matches, they must be able to form scrums on an equal footing (at least without conceding a penalty) and not lose in handling high balls.
The match started with an England kick-off. England was determined to win, and although there were times when they tried to develop open rugby when they saw an opportunity, they generally attacked with high punts and kicks that earned them territory, especially from set plays. Japan also took advantage of the rush defense centered around England's front three (SO and both CTBs) and punted in front of the English goal and behind the line. Then, early on, Masilewa knocked on the ball that England had kicked into the Japanese in-goal.Is the tension different in the RWC finals? The match resumed with a scrum for England 5m in front of the Japanese goal, but the scrum, which was considered the biggest challenge of the day, was tested in this way. However, despite the worries of the Japan Rugby officials, Japan's well-trained scrum did not budge. England gave up on the scrum push and developed the ball, but Japan responded with good tackles, including a double tackle. However, in the end, an offside foul was called, and in the 4th minute, England's SO Ford easily scored a penalty goal to take the lead (0-3). As expected, England tried to use kicks to get into the Japanese half. And instead of catching the high punt that they themselves raised, two players jumped and tapped it towards their own half, which was then secured by a teammate. In the 7th minute, Japan's FB Masirewa only kicked twice and there was no severe contact, but he collapsed complaining of severe pain in his right thigh. Leitch rushed over and shouted, "Get up quickly, let's all fight!", but Masilewa was unable to stand up and was quickly replaced by Lemeki. After that, Nagare made a high punt from a lineout with the ball in Japan's possession, but England also responded with a high punt. Japan secured the loose ball, and SO Matsuda tried to kick to an open area, which Naikabula caught and charged vertically. From a ruck in front, Nagare kicked vertically towards the England goal. Fullback Stuart kicked it to Japan area, but Lemeki caught it and launched a counter attack, and Matsushima, who received the pass, saw the space behind and kicked a grubber kick to the right in front of the England goal. Ford caught the ball and passed it to Daly, who was tackled by Nakamura and Horie, who pushed him into touch. The battle for territory with the kick was almost even. In the 13th minute, England had a lineout near the halfway line on the left of the Japanese half, and they formed their specialty maul and gradually pushed to the 22m line, but Japan held on without committing a foul, and England made a mistake with a pass they were forced to make, and Osada picked it up and formed a ruck beyond the 10m line. After a quick pass, Nagare, Matsuda, Nakamura, Naikabula and Lemeki made a big gain, and continued their attacking runs, getting inside the England 22m. Nagare then passed the ball to Labuschagne next to him, who closed in on the goal. After the referee raised his hand for an England offside call, Matsuda, who received the pass from Nagare, kicked the long ball to Naikabula, who was waiting in the left corner. With England's wing May waiting, the kick was too long and went over the touchline. However, due to the offside call, Matsuda, who has a 100% goal success rate in this tournament, scored a penalty goal in the 15th minute (3-3). After that, Japan was declared a penalty for collapsing in a scrum with England on the left of the 10m line. In fact, the grass underneath had peeled off, and the referee confirmed this and cancelled the penalty, resulting in a scrum again with England ball. Matsuda charged SO Ford's kick from the scrum, and the ball spilled in front of the England goal. However, the ball bounced towards England's No. 9 and No. 8, who were backing up it, and No. 9 saved the ball and secured it, creating a ruck, and No. 9 kicked it for touch again to escape the pinch. At this point, a water break was called. The game resumed with a lineout with Japan ball on the right of the 10m line, and a long ball was thrown to Matsuda, who secured it and created a ruck. The ball was carried by Gu, Leach, and Himeno, who created rucks in succession, and Osada's charge drew England offside, resulting in a penalty. In the 23rd minute, Matsuda scored a penalty goal and Japan took the lead (6-3). After that, at the kickoff, Japan did not kick for touch from a ruck in front of the goal, and Matsuda kicked a short punt behind. However, the kick was too long and FB Stuart's counter attack resulted in a touch kick to 5m in front of the Japanese goal. In the 24th minute, at a lineout 5m in front of the Japan goal, Itoje got involved with the catcher Leitch, and Fakatava was unable to secure the loose ball, resulting in a ruck for England. Finally, No. 8 Ludlam jumped into the in-goal to turn the game around (Ford's goal made it 6-10). After that, against England's kicking game, Japan also countered with bold kicks, led by Lemeki who was in fullback. Then, in the middle of the kicking exchange, Lemeki's skillful play resulted in a late charge foul, and in the 32nd minute, Matsuda scored a penalty goal, putting Japan in a tight game at 9-10. Japan was not to be outdone by England, who always went on the offensive after a point was scored, and launched an attack. In the 38th minute, Japan pushed a maul from an England ball lineout on the right of the 22m line, and earned a penalty kick for maul offside, but England did not aim for a penalty goal, but instead kicked for touch, aiming for a try. However, instead of a maul, a pass to a forward running sideways behind them was knocked on. In a scrum with Japan's ball, Lemeki kicked a good touch kick to the 10m line. Although it would have been nice to end the first half like this, England went on the offensive boldly, aiming for a try. Japan defended well, but in the 42nd minute of added time, England were awarded a penalty kick due to an offside play, which Ford easily converted, giving England a four-point lead at the end of the first half (9-13).
At the start of the second half, Japan replaced Val with Gu. Lemeki kicked off the ball to the 22m line in the center of England area, and Naikabula tackled England fullback. The strategy was to make it impossible for England to use their fullbacks from the ruck. England's SH kicked the ball to the 10m line to the right of Japan's half, but Matsushima caught it and passed it to Lemeki, who responded with a high punt. However, England secured the ball and moved it to the left. Sinckler passed it to Ford, who passed it to Daly, a wing waiting on the far outside, who ran alone along the line, but Japan fast lock Fakatava chased him and made a brilliant tackle just before the 22m line, pushing him into touch. After that, while both teams were kicking the ball back and forth, Ford kicked the ball deep into Japan's half, and England's consecutive attacks began. However, Himeno's perfect jackal on the 22m line saved them from a pinch. In the 48th minute, from a scrum on the left of the halfway line, fly-half Matsuda passed the ball to outside center Osada, who skipped the fullback Lemeki, who was peeking in, and passed it to wing Matsushima. Matsushima skillfully stepped around the opponent and gained 15m, but Himeno dropped the pass from the ruck. At this point in the 50th minute, Miller and Riley were brought in to replace Inagaki and Naikabula, and they went for the win. Riley made a good tackle on May, who caught Nagare's high punt, and prevented England from taking the territory. In a scrum with the Japanese ball on the left of the 10m line of the English territory, Nagare passed the ball flat to Osada, and they crossed the gain line, and Leitch, Cornelsen, and Riley tried to break through in succession, and England was forced to commit a not-roll-away foul. In the 54th minute, Matsuda scored his fourth penalty goal, bringing the score to 12-13, and they were once again within one point. However, as expected, England stepped up their game and started to attack after the kick-off. Then, from a ruck 10m to the right of the Japan goal, the incredible incident was made by England while moving left. In the 56th minute, under pressure from the Japanese DF, England's first receiver deflected the ball diagonally backwards. The ball hit the head of England's No. 1 Marler and bounced forward. In this flow, most of the players on both teams stopped moving, thinking it was a knock-on, but only England's captain Rose did not stop, catching the ball and scoring a try directly under the goal post (while appealing that it was probably his head (not a knock-on)). After a TMO decision, England was ruled to have not knocked on and a try was awarded (Ford's goal made it 12-20). There is no doubt that this damaged Japan's tense concentration. England's offensive continued after the next kick-off, but in the 58th minute, an English forward connected the ball and, approaching the left of the Japanese 22m, was tackled by Labuschagne. Horie made a save on the loose ball and passed it to Matsushima with one hand. Matsushima took down the England SH with a handoff, dodged the English defenders one after another and broke through the halfway line, but was tackled to the left of the 10m line in the English half. As it was a counter attack, there was no player who could effectively follow up. After this, Japan won several rucks and spread to the right, and Riley, who came around from the blind wing position, received a pass near the halfway line and made a great run, cutting through the English defenders. He was tackled beyond the 22m line, but the pass was passed to Lemeki, who advanced further and made a ruck. Nagare passed the ball from this ruck to Val, who was running to the side of the ruck. However Val dropped the ball, however, and the chance disappeared. If they had scored a try here, it would have been a chance to turn the tide of the game, but we can't blame Val, who supported them up to this point while enduring England's powerful scrum. If anything, they should have attacked the blind side where Matsuda and Leitch were lined up. 62nd minute: Sakate and Warner were substituted for Horie and Fakatava. 64th minute: At a scrum in front of Japan's goal, the ball was spilled and Nagare passed it to Matsuda with one hand, but Matsuda was hold by two English defenders to carry back, resulting in a 5m England ball scrum. After this, Saito was substituted for Nagare, who had been controlling the game that day. 66th minute: England pushed the scrum in front of the right goal of the Japanese side and won a penalty kick, then moved to the left, and England's SO Ford punted the ball wide with his left foot, which is not his strong foot, taking into account the Japanese defense. Fullback Stuart, waiting on the left side, easily caught the ball and put it in the in-goal. Japan's fullback Lemeki chased after the ball and tried to push it out of the in-goal, but he was just a little short and Stuart scored a try into the in-goal (Ford's goal makes it 12-27). After this, England seemed to slow down the game, but as soon as they saw an opportunity, they made dynamic plays and sent out speed runners. In front of the Japan goal, the forwards used their power to try to push the ball into the in-goal. The Japanese forwards also withstood this onslaught with the physical and mental strength they had developed through rigorous training.
In the 74th minute, England finally committed a foul, and Japan territory was reclaimed with a touch kick to the halfway line, where Shimokawa was substituted for Labuschagne. In the 78th minute, England pushed their own scrum to the right of the halfway line and won a penalty kick. In the 81st minute, England again approached the Japanese goal and their forwards repeatedly charged vertically. The Japanese forwards put their bodies on the line to stop the charge, but in the end, England gave up on the side attack and swung the ball outwards, and Marchant (No. 13) jumped into the in-goal to earn a bonus point (four tries or more) (Ford's goal makes it 12-34). With this, it was full time, but on this day, Japan firmly held off England's powerful scrum, and even in the defense in front of the goal, they showed the physical strength and tenacity they had developed through a lot of practice. As another set play the lineout should be fixed, and use the effective attacks of the backs to use speed runners, and do whatever it takes to win the next match against Samoa.