22 June 2024: G: National Stadium（Tokyo） ; R: Luc Ramos (FRFU)
●Japan 17-52 England○
Data:
22/6/2024, Challenge Cup 2024
Japan 17 – 52 England
National Stadium, Japan
Half-time 3 – 26
Refree: Luc Ramos (FRFU)
Crowd: 44,029
JAPAN: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki (23 Takuya Yamasawa 55), 14 Jone Naikabula, 13 Samisoni Tua, 12 Tomoki Osada, 11 Koga Nezuka, 10 Seungsin Lee (22 Rikiya Matsuda 55), 9 Naoto Saito (21 Shinobu Fujiwara 55), 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Tiennan Costley (20 Kai Yamamoto 60), 6 Michael Leitch (capt), 5 Warner Dearns , 4 Sanaila Waqa (19 Amanaki Saumaki 55), 3 Shuhei Takeuchi (18 Keijiro Tamefusa 47), 2 Mamoru Harada (16 Atsushi Sakate 49), 1 Takayoshi Mohara (17 Shogo Miura 63).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Eddie Jones.
Tries: Koga Nezuka, Takuya Yamasawa; Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda (2); Penalty Goals: Seungsin Lee.
Yellow Cards:
ENGLAND: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (23 Tom Roebuck 60) , 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman (19 Charlie Ewels 65) , 10 Marcus Smith (22 Fin Smith 65), 9 Alex Mitchell (21 Harry Randall 49), 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South (20Tom Curry 57) , 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole (18 Will Stuart 57), 2 (c) Jamie George (16 Theo Dan 44 ), 1 Bevan Rodd (17 Joe Marler 44).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Steve Borthwick
Tries: Chandler Cunningham-South, Marcus Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall, Sam Underhill; Conversions: Marcus Smith (4), Henry Slade (2); Penalty Goals:
Yellow Cards: 10 Marcus Smith (Unfair play), 19 Charlie Ewels (Dangerous play)
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 2min-pg Japan, Seungsin Lee -3-0, 14min-try England, Chandler Cunningham-South -3-5; conv. Marcus Smith -3-7, 24min-try England, Marcus Smith-3-12; conv. Marcus Smith -3-14, 29min-try England, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso-3-19; conv. Marcus Smith -3-21,42min-try England, Henry Slade-3-26; conv. Marcus Smith (missed), 43min-try England, Alex Mitchell-3-31 ;conv. Marcus Smith -3-33, 49min-try England, Ben Earl; conv. Marcus Smith (missed),58min-try England, Harry Randall-3-43; conv. Henry Slade -3-45, 66min-try Japan, Koga Nezuka-8-45; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-10-45, 69min-try Japan, Takuya Yamasawa-15-45; conv. Rikiya Matsuda-17-45, 77min-try England, Sam Underhill-17-50; conv. Henry Slade -17-52.
Head coach Eddie Jones returns to the team after eight years since the RWC 2015 in England. Eight members of the Japanese national team for the first match against England are playing for the national team for the first time, including five of the 15 starters and three of the eight reserves. Starting player No. 15, Yoshitaka Yazaki, is a second-year university student and would normally represent the U20 team. While boasting that he is going to win the match against England, he has also made selections with an eye on the future. Head coach Eddie's bold comment that "For the first 20 minutes after kickoff, we will surprise England with our super-fast rugby that they have never experienced before" has raised the expectations of Japanese rugby officials and fans.
Japan kicks off deep into the left of the England area, and England's No. 9 Mitchell kicks for touch, giving Japan a lineout just before the 22m line on the left. No. 5 Warner easily caught the accurate throw from No. 2 Harada, who was playing his first cap, and passed it to No. 9 Saito, No. 10 Lee, and No. 12 Osada, who passed it to No. 8 Maxi, who went in vertically. He induced a foul from England, and in the second minute of the first half, Lee effortlessly kicked a penalty kick 30 meters from the center (3-0). After attacking at a fast tempo and taking the lead, the next thing the Japanese team wanted is getting a try. After the kickoff resumed, Japan got the penalty kick for falling down by England in a scrum on the left 22-meter line of their own territory. Instead of a touch kick, Saito tapped the ball and Lee kicked it into the open space. England had their forwards go vertically in the midfield, and the SH raised a high punt from the ruck. Japan secured the ball on the right side of the midfield and started a super-fast rugby play. England's fast DF prevented them from crossing the gain line in two phases, but Lee assessed the situation on the left side and kicked a grubber kick. No. 13 Samisoni Tua, who was playing his first cap, caught the kick and advanced powerfully. He beats hard the opponent's No. 10 Smith to advance further. Japan shook up the midfield, and after 12 phases, No. 7 Tiernan Costley, who was also playing his first cap, advanced quickly along the left line and penetrated deep into the England half.
In the 14th phase, Maxi received a pass from Leitch and approached 3m in front of the goal, but made a mistake to spill the ball. However, the referee called a penalty 10m to the left of England's goal, and Lee's touch kick earned a lineout 5m in front of the left goal of England. Leitch caught the ball and pushed the maul, but he was entangled by the England forwards and was unable to get the ball out, ruining the chance. After that, England's free kick to touch was called a no-touch, and Nezuka caught the ball to the left of their own 10m line and passed it to No. 15 Yazaki, who was making his first cap at the age of 20. Yazaki launched a bold counter attack. No. 14 Naikabula received the pass and moved forward sharply to create a ruck, and Japan's super-fast rugby began. They launched consecutive attacks to left and right, but England team couldn't hold back and was offside. Japan got a lineout 5m to the right of England's goal with Lee's good touch kick. Leitch caught the ball and launched a maul, but Harada at the back dropped the ball under pressure from England, and England kicked it out of their own half. However, Naikabula caught the ball on the right of his own 10m line and cut in vertically, starting Japan's lightning-fast attack again. From successive rucks, Yazaki made a quick run up the left wing and tried to connect an offload pass to Samisoni Tua waiting on the outside, but it was knocked on. England pushed at this scrum and Japan committed a foul. From the right of the midfield, England's No. 13 Henry Slade made a brilliant touch kick and advanced to 10m to the right of the Japanese goal. England had entered deep into the Japanese goal for the first time, and Itoje caught the lineout and set up a maul. The Japanese forwards also had well-trained maul defense, preventing England from advancing. England team switched to a vertical charge by their forwards and approached the goal in five phases, and in the 14th minute, he handed the ball to No. 6 Cunningham South, who supported to No. 7 and No. 8 and he carried it into the in-goal (Marcus Smith's goal was successful, making it 3-7).
Japan attacked for 15 minutes with super-fast rugby, but failed to score a try. England scored a try on their first attack in front of the Japanese goal. It seemed like this would change the flow of the game, but after the kickoff, Japan's aggressive super-fast attacks continued and the game continued to go back and forth. However, Japan made mistakes when they had a chance and were unable to score. In the 21st minute, from a scrum with the Japanese ball near the center, Saito pretended to swing to the left and passed to Lee, who had moved to the right, and Lee passed to Naikabra, skipping Tua. Naikabra, who was now free, made a powerful vertical charge and blew away the England backup, bringing the ball to 10 meters in front of the goal, but he also knocked it on. Until the 20th minute, the game was almost even, and if they had scored two tries on the try chances, the game would have been very different. Japan made mistakes on this day. After this, a Japanese foul for not rolling away allowed England to enter the Japanese half, and in the 24th minute, a long pass was made to No. 12 Lawrence, who ran in from a left lineout beyond the halfway line. Without making a point, he connected with Mitchell and Smith, and Smith ran smoothly into the space created by No. 8 Ben Earl's vertical approach, shaking off the Japanese backup and scoring a try in the center (Smith's goal was successful, making the score 3-14).
Taking advantage of Japan's mistakes and fouls, England entered the Japanese half and scored a brilliant try with a sign play from a lineout. This series of attacks caused great damage to Japan. After 29 minutes, after a good touch by Smith at 50-22, the English forwards charged towards the Japanese goal with a furious charge, and Japan also fended off with several tackles, but in the end, Smith passed the ball to No. 14 Feyiwaboso, who was waiting on the far right, and it went through for a try (Smith's successful goal made it 3-21). Japan continued to challenge the super-fast rugby, and in the 34th minute, they approached the English goal and moved to the right with consecutive attacks. Costley received a pass from Nezuka and jumped into the in-goal, which seemed to be the first try, but Nezuka's pass was judged to be a knock-on. After the buzzer to end the first half, Japan did not end the game with a touch kick, but instead aimed for their first try. However, England took the ball back and attacked repeatedly, and in the end, Smith's kick pass went to No. 13 Slade on the right side, who scored a try (Smith's failed goal made it 3-26, the first half ended). Just like in the RWC match, England's kick passes and jumping catches were incredibly accurate, so Japan team must be well prepared to counter this.
At the start of the second half, England's consecutive attacks and Japan's fouls pushed them towards the goal, and in the third minute, after a lineout and maul, No. 9 Mitchell hit the side of the ruck and scored a try (Smith's goal was successful, making it 3-33). In the first half, the forwards rushed vertically, and when they were countered, they passed the ball wide and kicked it. And when a gap appeared in the Japanese DF, they were sure to use it to score it. England's play was based on accurate judgment. After that, amidst Japan's consecutive attacks, they were pushed towards the Japanese goal with another touch kick after a foul for not releasing the ball. Japan also managed to withstand the lineout and maul and consecutive attacks with everyone's pushes and tackles, but in the ninth minute, Mitchell hit the side again and Ben Earl, who was left over, scored a try (Smith's goal failed, making it 3-38). In the 53rd minute, Japan made multiple phases with a super-fast attack and approached the England goal, but free Yazaki, who was supporting Naikabula, was tackled by Smith's no-ball tackle and could not score a try. Smith was given a yellow card, but the try was not recognized, and Japan resumed with a penalty kick. Lee kicked the ball into touch and there was a lineout 5m to the left of the goal. Japan replaced Waqa, Saito, Lee and Yazaki with Saumaki, Fujiwara, Matsuda and Yamazawa. However, a Japan knock-on resulted in the England ball scrum . Japan then was judged a penalty for collapsing and were pushed back to the midfield, missing another chance for a try. From this lineout, England's open attack and continuous attacks began, closing in on the Japanese goal. Japan tackled with all their players, but England made no mistakes or fouls during the attack, even with 14 men.
At the 18th minute, substitute No. 21 Randall jumped over the ruck and jumped into the in-goal at last (Slade's successful goal made it 3-45). After that, England continued to show a furious offensive, but it was substitute No. 21 Fujiwara who stopped the flow. With his small body, he made a successful jackal and brought the momentum to Japan. Matsuda's situational judgment also gave Japan momentum. In the 26th minute, at a lineout to the right of the England 22m line, Yamamoto received a pass from Fujiwara, stepped around the England defender, and ran hard to 5m in front of the goal. From the ruck, a long pass was made to Fujiwara, Matsuda, Warner, and Nezuka, who was waiting on the left outside, and jumped into the left corner (Matsuda's successful goal made it 10-45). Japan's super-fast rugby finally led to a try. Encouraged, Japan regained their position at the halfway line with a penalty kick and continued their super-fast attacks. In the 29th minute, Matsuda received a pass from Fujiwara in the center of the midfield, but was tackled and made a difficult pass to Warner behind him. The pass was disrupted and went backwards, but the timing of the defense was disrupted, and Warner, who secured the ball with his long hands, used his natural speed to run behind the English defense. Yamazawa, who was supporting on the left, was free to catch the ball to dive under the post (Matsuda's goal was successful, making it 17-45). As the two teams continued to attack and defend, in the 73rd minute, No. 19 Jules was given a yellow card (which is red under the bunker system) for a dangerous tackle on Leitch at a Japanese ruck.
Japan continued to attack at lightning speed from any area until the end. In the 37th minute, Tua committed a foul for not releasing the ball in an attack in front of the Japanese goal, and England kicked to touch, resulting in a lineout 5 meters to the left of the goal. Japan had been fighting off mauls from lineouts up until that point, but they were unable to fight off this final maul and allowed No. 7 Underhill to score a try (Slade's goal was successful, making the score 17-52). Even after the full-time siren sounded, both teams continued to play aggressively. England's kick to the left side in front of the Japanese goal was knocked on, and the referee blew the whistle.
It is natural that there will be a difference in team strength between the England national team, which is a complete team after the Six Nations Tournament, and the Japan national team, which was formed after just 10 days of training camp, but this point difference should not be easily accepted. We hope that this valuable experience of choosing eight new members for their first caps and challenging the England national team without hesitation will help them mature and blossom in the future.