28 September 2023: G: Stadium de Toulouse（Toulouse） ; R: Jaco Peyper (RSARU)
○Japan 28-22 Samoa●
Data:
28/9/2023, RWC2023 French tournament Pool D 3rd game
Japan 28 – 22 Samoa
Stadium de Toulouse（Toulouse）, France
Half-time 17 – 8
Refree: Jaco Peyper (RSARU)
Crowd:
JAPAN: 15 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Ryoto Nakamura (23 Tomoki Osada 75), 11 Jone Naikabula, 10 Rikiya Matsuda (22 Seungsin LEE 76 ), 9 Naoto Saito (21 Kenta Fukuda75), 8 Kazuki Himeno (capt), 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch (20 Kanji Shimokawa 75), 5 Amato Fakatava, 4 Jack Cornelsen (19 Warner Dearns 63), 3 Jiwon Koo (18 Asaeli Ai Valu 47), 2 Shota Horie (16 Atsushi Sakate 58), 1 Keita Inagaki (17 Craig Millar 47).
Reserves:
HIA: Pieter Labuschagne (19 Warner Dearns 36)
Coach: Jamie Joseph.
Tries: Pieter Labuschagne, Michael Leitch, Kazuki Himeno; Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda(2); Penalty Goals: Rikiya Matsuda(3).
Yellow Cards: Shota Horie (36 High tackle).
SAMOA: 15 Duncan PAIAAUA, 14 Ed FIDOW (22 Neria FOMAI 73) , 13 Tumua MANU, 12 Alai DAngelo LEUILA (23 Danny TOALA 33 ), 11 Ben LAM, 10 Christian LEALIIFANO, 9 Jonathan TAUMATEINE (21 Melani MATAVAO 58 ), 8 Sa Jordan TAUFUA (20 Alamanda MOTUGA 58 ), 7 Fritz LEE, 6 (c) Taleni Junior AGAESE SEU (19 Steven LUATUA 5 ) , 5 Theodore MCFARLAND, 4 Chris VUI, 3 Paul Alo-EMILE (18 Michael ALAALATOA 51 ), 2 Seilala LAM (16 Sama MALOLO 51 ), 1 James LAY (17 Jordan LAY 51 ).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Seilala Mapusua
Tries: Seilala LAM, Duncan PAIAAUA, Christian LEALIIFANO; Conversions: Christian LEALIIFANO (2); Penalty Goals: Alai DAngelo LEUILA.
Yellow Cards: Jonathan TAUMATEINE (32 Obstruction).
Red Cards: Ben LAM (47 Dangerous play).
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 2min-pen Samoa, Alai DAngelo LEUILA (missed)-0-0, 23min-try Japan, Pieter Labuschagne-5-0;conv. Rikiya Matsuda-7-0, 25min-pen Samoa, Alai DAngelo LEUILA-7-3, 28min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-10-3, 32min-try Japan, Michael Leitch-15-3;conv. Rikiya Matsuda-17-3, 38min-try Samoa, Seilala LAM-17-8;conv. Christian LEALIIFANO(missed)-17-8, 49min-try Japan, Kazuki Himeno-22-8; conv. Rikiya Matsuda(missed)-22-8, 56min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-25-8, 65min-try Samoa, Duncan PAIAAUA-25-13;conv. Christian LEALIIFANO-25-15, 75min-pen Japan, Rikiya Matsuda-28-15, 78min-try Samoa, Christian LEALIIFANO-28-20;conv. Christian LEALIIFANO-28-22.
The match against Samoa is a must-win for the final tournament. It depends on how Japan can overcome Samoa's power plays, such as scrums and mauls, and keep stopping each powerful players with tenacious tackles from all the players. Japan wants to tire out Samoa heavy forwards by making them run.
The match started with a Samoa kickoff. Japan tried to take the field with a kick from SH Saito, but Japan committed a foul (kicking the ball forward from the ruck) at a ruck 5m inside the halfway line in the center of Samoa's territory, and in the second minute Samoa aimed for a penalty goal over 55m. Samoa's No. 12 Leiula's kick was just a little short, and Lemeki escaped with a touch kick. From that lineout, Samoa formed a powerful maul and gradually applied pressure to advance. Japan was pushed , but did not loosen the pack and did not give a penalty. After that, both teams repeatedly attacked each other, but time passed without scoring due to good defense, mistakes, and fouls. In the 5th minute, Samoa's No. 6 was injured and replaced by No. 19. In order to tire out Samoa, Japan tried to extend the in-play time by immediately introducing Samoa's touch kicks and continued playing. However, Japan's high punt was a little too long, and Samoa marked them or kicked them back easily. In the 8th minute, Samoa dropped Lemeki's high punt. Lemeki caught it well and advanced to make a ruck. However, Leach's pass was messed up, and Nakamura, who picked it up, tried to force a pass into the open, but the Samoan CTB came out and almost intercepted it, but fortunately it was a knock-on and no damage was done. Japan continued playing after that and launched an open attack, but it was warded off by Samoa's jackal.
In the 13th minute, Japan pushed the scrum on the right of the 10m line of the Samoa side, passed it to Saito and Matsuda, and passed it to Nakamura behind outside CTB Riley who ran vertically. When the ball was passed to FB Lemeki on the 10m line, he was tackled once, but the puck came off, and he immediately got up and ran hard, advancing 5m to the left of the goal to form a ruck. Behind Himeno who ran vertically to the ball, Labuscafni received a pass and jumped into the in-goal (Matsuda's goal made it 7-0). In the 19th minute, Samoa pushed a scrum on the left of the 22m line of the Japan side and earned a penalty kick. Samoa kicked a touch 5m to the left of the Japanese goal, and formed a maul from the lineout to push, but Japan held out well, and Samoa's consecutive attacks were not given a chance with the same persistent tackles as in the England match. However, after a Samoa knock-on, Nakamura was sent to run vertically from a scrum on the right of the Japanese 22m line, but the support was a split second late and the ball was not released, and Leuila scored a penalty in the 25th minute (7-3). After the restart, from a lineout on the left of the halfway line, Japan deployed their backs while sending strong runners such as Labuscafni, Himeno, and Leitch to run vertically, and at a disadvantage, Samoa committed an over-the-top foul on the left of the Samoa 10m line, and Matsuda scored the penalty goal in the 28th minute (10-3). After the restart, Samoa kept scoring penalties, but all of Japan's defenders remained calm and kept getting up to tackle, not letting Samoa take the lead.
From Japan ball scrum on the left halfway line, SH Saito used his speed to run to the right side, skipped Nakamura who was running vertically and passed to Matsuda. Matsuda made a sharp vertical run into the gap in the defense, connecting with Riley and Lemeki, who was in top form and broke through the 22m line to create a ruck. In the 32nd minute, Saito pick out the ball to the left and had Labuschagne run vertically, and from that ruck he passed to left open side. Matsushima received a pass from Matsuda and approached 5m in front of the goal and created another ruck. He swung left again, received a pass from Saito, and Matsuda read the Samoan defense, skipping Lemeki and Naikavula, and sent a mountain pass to Leitch who was waiting on the outside. Leitch caught the ball and slid from the front of the goal and scored a try (Matsuda's goal was successful, making it 17-3). During this series of plays, Samoa's No. 9 was yellow carded for obstruction. After the restart, Samoa went on the offensive, launching consecutive attacks with offload passes. Again, Japan responded with a calm tackle, and though Samoa's No. 13's kick into the in-goal, Saito calmly kicked out to the touch. However, an accident occurred during Samoa's consecutive attacks after the restart. Samoa's No. 15 cut inward and Horie's face hit the opponent's face, and he was temporarily sent off by the bunker system. Depending on the situation, it could be changed to a red, and Japan was forced into a tough situation (the bunker system's decision remained yellow). In the 38th minute, Samoa kicked the penalty kick out to 5m to the left of the Japanese goal, and from the lineout, they formed a maul and pushed hard, scoring a try by Lam (Leali Fano's missed goal made it 17-8). Japan's forwards held on well, but Horie's absence left them with seven men, which had an impact. After the restart, neither team scored a goal and the first half ended.
The second half started with a Japanese kickoff. In the 41st minute, Samoa knocked on, resulting in Japan ball scrum, and Sakate was temporarily substituted for Horie, who was in the sin bin due to a yellow card (Naikabula temporarily leaved the pitch instead). Both teams fought for territory by kicking, but Lemeki's wide-ranging defense stood out, and Japan did not let Samoa take control. In the 44th minute, Samoa launched a series of attacks with a good kick (50 - 22) from Leali Fano entering the left 22m of the Japanese territory, but in the midst of Japan's solid defense, Himeno won a penalty kick with his specialty, the jackal. After this, Samoa committed another foul, and Japan launched a series of attacks from a lineout with a penalty touch, and the phases continued. When Labuscafni charged in the right open attack, Samoa's No. 11 Lam tackled Labuscafni's chin by his shoulder, and he was temporarily sent off with a yellow card in the 47th minute (which was changed to a red card due to the bunker system). At this point, Horie returned, and Miller and Val were substituted for Inagaki and Gu. Labuschagne was also temporarily sent off for an HIA inspection, and Warner was substituted as lock with Cornelsen moving to No. 8. Japan took the penalty kick and kicked to touch, and pushed with a lineout maul, but Samoa committed a foul and Japan kicked to touch again. The maul was restructured from a lineout 5m to the right of the Samoa goal. However, judging that Samoa would not jump, Japan use the lineout low jump way, shifting the timing of Samoa's push and pushing the maul earlier, which proved to be effective. In the 49th minute, Himeno pushed through brilliantly and scored a try (Matsuda's missed goal made it 22-8). At this point, Samoa replaced all of their 1st row players. Japan pushed against Samoa, who had formed a seven-man scrum 10m to the left of the Samoa side, and earned a penalty kick. In the 56th minute, Matsuda made the penalty goal (25-8).
In the 58th minute, Sakate was substituted for Horie, and Samoa also replaced their SH. Samoa made a bold attack with offload passes, but made mistakes that destroyed their chances. Japan also created chances with Lemeki and Matsushima's fast runs, but they were unable to score. In the 63rd minute, Riley picked up a loose ball from a Samoan pass mistake on the right of the Japanese 10m line and passed it to Leitch, who passed it to Matsushima, who followed inside and ran into the in-goal, but the TMO ruled it a knock-on by Riley and the try was cancelled. In the 63rd minute, Warner was substituted for Cornelsen. After that, Samoa got going and began their offensive. They began to see scenes of powerful vertical runs down the ruck side and breaking through the Japanese DF. In the 65th minute, Samoa made multiple phases to close in on the Japan goal, and finally swung to the left and No. 15 Paiaaua jumped into the left corner (Leali Fano's goal made it 25-15). Even after the restart, Samoa continued to charge vertically along the ruck side like a fish in water, advancing their territory. It is certainly a strategy that has nothing to do with the disadvantage of being down to 14 men. In the 69th minute, Samoa knocked on and Japan took control of the scrum, attacking as open play and taking control. After that, Samoa was forced to commit an offside foul due to Japan's continuous attacks, and in the 75th minute, Matsuda successfully scored a penalty goal to make the score 28-15. At this point, Shimokawa, Fukuda (first cap for the national team), and Osada were substituted for Leitch, Saito, and Nakamura. However, in the 76th minute, Japan was penalized for falling down in a scrum 10 meters to the left of the Japan side, and Leali Fano's touch kick resulted in a Samoa lineout 15 meters to the right of the Japan goal. Japan replaced Matsuda with Li who played at RWC first time. Warner knocked on the ball during a lineout for Samoa, causing it to fall, but the Samoa SH picked it up and ran sideways, drawing out Samoa's momentum.
Samoa's No. 16 charges forward and approaches the Japanese goal, repeating phases from right to left eight times, but Japan can't help but commit a foul. Samoa's forwards repeatedly charge forward from the tap, and in the 78th minute, Lealiifano slips through the Japanese tackles with a low stance and dives into the in-goal (Lealiifano's goal is successful, making it 22-28). With two minutes left, Japan is pushed back to a six-point deficit. Lemeki kicks the ball deep, and Samoa naturally keeps it and attacks. Japan also calmly continues to tackle, not allowing them to gain. With just a few tens of seconds left, Osada tries the jackal to steal the ball, but falls in the ruck and instead gets a penalty kick. Lealiifano kicks for the touch to the 10m line of the Japanese side, and Samoa could get the lineout. However, the ball is spilled and Japan's Val picks it up to make the ruck. Li received a pass from Fukuda and kicks it for touch, marking full time. The flow changed midway through the game, and Samoa, who had regained their spirit, attacked fiercely, but Japan, with all 23 players, calmly repeated tackles to endure. The final pool match against Argentina, which will determine the final tournament, is finally here. I hope Japan will give it their all and win at all costs.