Saturday, May 5, 2012

TEST RUGBY: Asia5Nations-Japan v UAE

05.05.2012
United Arab Emirates v Japan in Fukuoka (Asia5Nations)

Venue:

Referee: Harold Mason (Singapore)

Preview
The omens do not look good for the UAE team. Despite a healthy build up and preparations, this team is well out of its depth in this competition.

The UAE lost 7-15 to Tunisia in a warm up game back in early April. They lost their opening Asia5Nations game 10-85 to Hong Kong at home last weekend. The thought of playing away to Japan must send a shudder down the visitors spines. They will be playing the giant of Asian rugby in their backyard.

Japan has made a number of changes to the team that started against Kazakhstan. Noteably, Yoshikazu Fujita becomes the youngest ever Japanese test rugby player at just 18. Other debutants are Hashimoto, Kuwazuru and Morikawa.

2012-japan-kazakhstan2
Japan began their Asia5Nations competition
with an 87-0 win over Kazakhstan.

Despite the changes the Japanese are going to have too much pace, power and possession. The UAE will be doing well to restrict the score to less than 100.

Other Previews
http://www.uaera.ae/english/representative_teams.php?news_id=636

‘A few changes, personnel and positional. Hirose again captains and Goromaru,Ono and Senba all keep their places. The most notable change is at 11 where Fujita becomes the youngest capped Japanese player with vet Onozawa not in the 22 this week (The reason given is he's moving house!).
2007RWC captain Sasaki switches from 7 to 8, Daiki Hashimoto at 7 is the other run on debutant, while Mochizuki (6), Tsuboi at 3 and Tatekawa at 12 will enjoy only their second caps ever and first this season. So the backrow is the most changed aspect of the lineup and even smaller than last week but still should be too good for the weal UAE team, especially as the front five are almost the same as last week.’
Thanks to ‘Yamaha Kiwi’ at http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3675&start=225

Previous Encounter
13.05.2011 Japan 111-0 in Dubai (Asia5Nations)

Japan Last Five
28.04.2012 v Kazakhstan W 87-0 in Almaty (Asia5Nations)
22.09.2011 v Canada D 23-23 in Napier (World Cup, Pool A)
21.09.2011 v Tonga L 18-31 in Whangarei (World Cup, Pool A)
16.09.2011 v New Zealand L 7-83 in Hamilton (World Cup, Pool A)
10.09.2011 v France L 21-47 in Albany (World Cup, Pool A)

United Arab Emirates Last Five
27.04.2012 v Hong Kong L 10-87 in Dubai (Asia5Nations)
06.04.2012 v Tunisia L 7-15 in Tunis (Friendly)
16.12.2011 v Kenya L 17-55 in Dubai (Cup of Nations)
13.12.2011 v Brazil L 3-66 in Dubai (Cup of Nations)
10.12.2011 v Hong Kong L 14-72 in Dubai (Cup of Nations)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Japan 13th, UAE 28th
Asia Table-Japan 1st, UAE 3rd

IRB Ranking Points do not apply

Prediction: Japan by 120 points

Teams

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

15   Timothy Fletcher Jebel Ali Dragons
14   Sean Hurley  Dubai Dragons
13   Imad Reyal  Dubai Exiles
12   Jonathon O’Connor  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
11   Steven Smith  Dubai Hurricanes
10   Murray Strang  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
9   Patrick Hegarty  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
8   Alistair Thompson (Capt.) Abu Dhabi Harlequins
7   David Matasio Dubai Wasps
6   Brett Williams  Dubai Exiles
5   Simon Osborne  Dubai Hurricanes
4   Gregory Thompson  Dubai Hurricanes
3   Daniel Boatwright Dubai Hurricanes
2   Peter Sampson Abu Dhabi Harlequins
1   Christopher Jones-Griffiths  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
       
16   Charles Lilley  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
17   Graham Murphy  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
18   Tristan Barnett  Dubai Hurricanes
19   John Fawls  Dubai Exiles
20   Antoine Bertheuil  Dubai Frogs
21   Joel Pikari  Abu Dhabi Harlequins
22   Mohammed Alsulaiman  Dubai Wasps
       
    HEAD COACH: Duncan Hall

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JAPAN

15   Ayumu Goromaru  Yamaha
14   Toshiaki Hirose  Toshiba
13   Tomohiro Senba  Toshiba
12   Harumichi Tatekawa  Kubota
11   Yoshikazu Fujita Waseda University
10   Kosei Ono  Suntory
9   Jun Fujii  Toshiba
8   Takamichi Sasaki  Suntory
7   Daiki Hashimoto Kobe Steel
6   Yuta Mochizuki  Toshiba
5   Shinya Makabe  Suntory
4   Hitoshi Ono  Toshiba
3   Hidetatsu Tsuboi  Chugoku Electric Power
2   Ryuhei Arita  Coca Cola
1   Kensuke Hatakeyama  Suntory
       
16   Takeshi Kizu  Kobe Steel
17   Yusuki Nagae Chugoku Electric Power
18   Shoji Ito Kobe Steel
19   Yusaku Kuwazuru Coca Cola
20   Keisuke Uchida  Tsukuba University
21   Kaito Morikawa Honda
22   Yasunori Nagatomo  Suntory
       
    HEAD COACH: Eddie Jones

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