6 September 2025: G: Heart Health Park (USA California Sacramento) ; R: Craig Evans (WRFU)
○Japan 47-21 USA●
Data:
06/9/2025, Pacific Nations Cup 2025
Japan 47 – 21 USA
Heart Health Park (USA California Sacramento)
Half-time 28 – 14
Refree: Craig Evans (WRFU)
Crowd:
JAPAN: 15 Sam Greene, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence (22 Yuya Hirose 55), 11 Tomoki Osada (23 Haruto Kida 67), 10 Seungsin Lee, 9 Kenta Fukuda (21 Shinobu Fujiwara 41), 8 Amato Fakatava (20 Faulua Makisi 55), 7 Kanji Shimokawa (19 Akihito Okui 67), 6 Gunter Ben, 5 Warner Dearns (capt), 4 Waisake Raratubua, 3 Shyuhei Takeuchi (18 Keijiro Tamefusa 55), 2 Hayate Era (16 Kenji Sato 55), 1 Kenta Kobayashi (17 Sena Kimura 55).
Reserves:
HIA:
Coach: Eddie Jones.
Tries: Gunter Ben, Amato Fakatava (2), Warner Dearns (2), Kanji Shimokawa, Kippei Ishida.; Conversions: Seungsin Lee (6); Penalty Goals: None; Drop Goals: None.
Red Cards:, Yellow Cards:.
USA: 15 Erich STORTI, 14 Rufus MCLEAN (23 Mitch WILSON 41(Injure)) , 13 Dominic BESAG, 12 Tavite LOPETI, 11 Toby FRICKER, 10 Chris HILSENBECK (22 Luke CARTY 52), 9 Ruben DEHAAS (21 Ethan MCVEIGH 67), 8 Makeen ALIKHAN (20 Viliami HELU 14), 7 Christian POIDEVIN, 6 Paddy RYAN, 5 Jason DAMM (capt) , 4 Marno REDELINGHUYS (19 Tevita NAQALI 68, HIA 14~23) , 3 Kaleb GEIGER (18 Pono DAVIS 44), 2 Kapeli PIFELETI (16 Shilo KLEIN 55 ), 1 Ezekiel LINDENMUTH (17 Payton TELEA-ILLALIO 44).
Reserves:
HIA: Marno REDELINGHUYS (14~23: 19 Tevita NAQALI)
Coach: Scott Lawrence.
Tries: Kapeli PIFELETI (2), Payton TELEA-ILLALIO.; Conversions: Chris HILSENBECK (3); Penalty Goals: None; Drop Goals: None.
Yellow Cards: Christian POIDEVIN (Dangerous play).
Scoring sequence (Japan’s score shown first): 12min-try Japan, Gunter Ben-5-0; conv. Seungsin Lee-7-0, 22min-try Japan, Amato Fakatava-12-0; conv. Seungsin Lee-14-0, 26min-try Japan, Warner Dearns-19-0; conv. Seungsin Lee-21-0, 30min-try USA, Kapeli PIFELETI-21-5; conv. Chris HILSENBECK-21-7, 33min-try Japan, Kanji Shimokawa-26-7; conv. Seungsin Lee-28-7, 38min-try USA, Kapeli PIFELETI-28-12; conv. Chris HILSENBECK-28-14, 46min-try Japan, Amato Fakatava-33-14; conv. Seungsin Lee (missed)33-14, 62min-try Japan, Warner Dearns-38-14; conv. Seungsin Lee-40-14, 77min-try Japan, Kippei Ishida-45-14; conv. Seungsin Lee-47-14, 38min-try USA, Payton TELEA-ILLALIO-47-19; conv. Chris HILSENBECK-47-21.
The areas for improvement from the match against Canada were: 1) mistakes on chances (mainly knock forwards) and 2) easy offsides (especially positioning). Japan should maintain discipline to reduce these and, as they did last week, have their young players perform brilliantly to pull away from the US.
The match began with a kickoff from the US. Japan's knock forwards came out immediately, allowing the US to secure possession and launch an attack. However, Japan responded with tackles by all men, continuing to block the attack and eventually inviting the US knock forwards to play a scrum with Japan's ball. In the US vs. Canada match two weeks ago, the US dominated the Canadian scrum, and attention was focused on how Japan's scrum would respond on this day. However, with the US's No. 1 and No. 3 players having been replaced since then, Japan turned up the US scrum in the first scrum three minutes into the match and earned a penalty. Lee's excellent touch kick led to a lineout on the US's right 22-meter line. Thrower Era threw a long throw, and No. 7 Shimokawa caught it in the space behind him and advanced to form a ruck. Japan's continuous attacks began. However, Japan's passes on the shallow line were intercepted by the USA, leading to a counterattack (similar pass interceptions were seen several times in the early stages). However, Japan held off with tackles by all men. The USA aggressively passed the ball to their backs, launching a varied attack. This marked a departure from their traditional style of rugby, relying solely on the power of their forwards. Since their previous game, Japan has consistently gained possession of lineouts, led by Warner, and their attacks after gaining possession have become key. In the 12th minute, Japan continued to attack the USA goal with consecutive attacks. From a ruck on the right side of the goal, the ball was passed to No. 6 Gunter, waiting on the short side. Gunter smashed past one, two, then three tacklers, and broke into the try zone (Lee's goal made it 7-0). This power, lacking in the Japan team, combined with Warner and Fakatava, made for a truly reliable performance. Then, in the 23rd minute, Japan pushed the scrum close to the USA goal, and No. 8 Fakatava easily broke into the try zone (Lee's goal made it 14-0). Then, in the 26th minute, from a lineout on the left side of the US goal, No. 5 Warner, who ran from front side of lineout to back side of lineout to get the ball, smashed past one, two, then three tacklers to score a try (Lee's goal made it 21-0). It seemed like Japan was in control, but the US wasn't going to sit back and do nothing. In the 30th minute, Japan created a ruck after the US kickoff, but the ball spilled from the rack, and the US took it and closed in on the Japanese goal. They continued their aggressive attack, utilizing the physical strength of each forward players, and finally, No. 2 Pifereti burst into the try zone (No. 10 Hilsenbeck's goal made it 21-7). This proved that the US was no match for individual strength. In the 33rd minute, Japan launched a series of attacks, spreading the ball to the right from a ruck beyond the US's left 10-meter line. No. 12 Lawrence skipped over No. 13 Riley and passed the ball to No. 15 Green. No. 14 Ishida then received the pass and made a dash along the line. No. 9 Fukuda, supporting on the inside, received a pass and approached the goal, and finally No. 7 Shimokawa, receiving a pass from Fukuda, dove into the try zone (Lee's goal made it 28-7). However, in the 38th minute, the United States again approached the Japanese goal and launched a series of attacks, utilizing their physical strength. Pifereti again scored a try (No. 10 Hilsenbeck's goal made it 21-14), ending the first half. The Americans' dashing in front of the goal were powerful and threatening.
In the 46th minute of the second half, Japan launched a series of attacks, with No. 3 Takeuchi carrying the ball from a ruck just beyond the 10m line to the left of the US goal and charging forward. Supporting No. 4 Lalatubua received a pass and approached the US goal, and Japan moved from a lightning-fast ruck to the right.
No. 10 Li sent a long pass to Fakatava, who was waiting free on the far outside, and Fakatava ran quickly down the right wing for his second try (Lee's missed goal made it 33-14). In the 62nd minute, Japan again launched a series of attacks, moving from a ruck just beyond the 22m line to the left of the US goal and moving to the right. Hirose received a pass from Lee, stepped on the swerve, and ran quickly to the right side for a ruck. Moving from the left side of the ruck to the right, Warner received a pass and used his speed to shake off the defender and score an easy try (Lee's goal scored 40-14). Warner is not only big and strong, but also fast. A TV commentator commented, "He's on his way to becoming a world class rock.
In the 70th minute, Japan started a lineout 10 meters to the right of their own half, and Maxi charged into the US half. From the ruck, No. 21 Fujiwara pretended to be on the left and made a dynamic run to the right, and then made a perfect pass to Hirose, and Hirose passed the ball to Ishida, who used his speed to shake off the backup and score a try (Lee's goal scored 47-14). In the 78th minute, the US rallied once again and closed in on the Japanese goal, and No. 17 Payton scored a try before the clock reached full time (No.22 Carty's goal scored 47-21). Although Japan allowed three tries to the Americans' full-power attack, captain Warner, Fakatava, Gunter and Shimokawa showed their power and stamina, with the forwards scoring six of the seven tries. In addition, the WTB, Ishida, Osada and Kida, and the HBFukuda, Fujiwara and Lee showed their leg strength and decisiveness in attack, contributing greatly to the victory with their super-fast rugby. It is hoped that Japan will be able to use their super-fast rugby to its full potential to win the semi-final against Tonga and, most likely, against Fiji, who they will face in the final.