RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER Volume 9, No.25

RiJ has been working back through the history of Japan tests and this week looks at the Junior All Blacks tour to Japan in 1958. The JAB were captained by Wilson Whineray and included Colin Meads. RiJ was in attendance at the wonderful game of rugby played between Samoa and Japan in Tokyo on Sunday. The JRFU really should be ashamed that there were only about 5,000 people at the ground as this palls into insignificance when one remembers that 30,000 people were at the same ground back in March 1958 to watch the Whineray led JAB beat Japan 56-3.

Enjoy the read.

Ian McDonnell lives and works in Japan. He can be contacted at ianmcdo@apost.plala.or.jp

CONTENTS

• Japan Test Match & Player History Project: 1958
• IRB Pacific Nations Cup: Round Three
• Odds and Sods-Japan and IRB Rankings
• Shane Williams
• Junior Japan
• Looking Ahead-Future Tours to Japan
• French Barbarians in Japan
  

The Japan Test Match & Player History Project

For nine years now RiJ has been documenting Japanese rugby across various levels of the game. More recently, however, RiJ has recognised the need to accurately document the history of Japanese test match rugby and the players that have represented Japan down through the years. With this in mind, RiJ has embarked on a project to write the history of Japanese international rugby, detail every test that Japan has played and profile every player that has represented Japan.

Junior All Blacks Tour to Japan 1958

In February and March 1958 the Junior All Blacks (New Zealand U23s) toured Japan playing nine games on tour winning all nine.

Game 1: Junior All Blacks 33 d All-Waseda University 12, 23 February 1958, Chichibu, Tokyo.
Game 2: Junior All Blacks 22 d Kanto Universities 3, 26 February 1958, Chichibu, Tokyo.
Game 3: First Test.
Game 4: Junior All Blacks 39 d Kansai 6, 5 March 1958, Nishinomiya.
Game 5: Second Test.
Game 6: Junior All Blacks 22 d Japan Universities 10, 12 March 1958, Mizuho, Nagoya.
Game 7: Junior All Blacks 55 d All-Meiji University 3, 16 March 1958, Chichibu, Tokyo.
Game 8: Junior All Blacks 33 d All-Keio University 3, 21 March 1958, Chichibu, Tokyo.
Game 9: Third Test.

Japan 3 – Junior All Blacks 34.Sunday, 2 March 1958, Heiwadai Stadium, Fukuoka. (Test No.15, Japan Game No.26)

Japan 6 – Junior All Blacks 32.Sunday, 9 March 1958, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.16, Japan Game No.27)

Japan 3 – Junior All Blacks 56.Sunday, 23 March 1958, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.17, Japan Game No.28)

In 1958 Japan played three tests for three losses under head coach Kozo Nishino (西野綱三). These were the only tests that Nishino coached Japan although he had been a successful coach at Waseda University.

Flanker Yoshiharu Umei became the fourteenth captain of Japan and he was captain in all three tests becoming the first player to captain Japan in consecutive tests.

On the other side, prop Wilson Whineray captained the Junior All Blacks (New Zealand U23s) in all three tests. Whineray made his international debut against Australia in Sydney in May 1957 and when he returned to New Zealand at the completion of this tour he also became the All Blacks captain for the three home tests against Australia in 1958. He then continued as the All Blacks captain in 30 of his 32 tests through to his retirement in 1965.

However, Whineray was not the only All Black in the squad that toured Japan. The young lock Colin Meads had also made his debut against the Australians in Sydney in 1957 and he would go on to become one of the greatest and most well known rugby identities New Zealand would produce. No8Rex Pickering would also make his international debut against Australia in Christchurch in September, while five-eighth Ross Brown, centre Terry Lineen and fullback Pat Walsh were current All Blacks at the time and wing Mike Cossey would play his one and only test against Australia in Wellington in August 1958.

Given the quality of the tourists it is not surprising that they made a clean sweep of all nine games on tour including comprehensive wins in all three tests. The first test played at the Heiwadai Stadium in Fukuoka was the third game on tour was won 34-3 by the Juniors who scored ten unanswered tries while all the hosts could manage was a solitary penalty goal to five-eighth Shigehiro Arai.

A week later in Osaka it was a similar story with the visitors winning 32-6. The Junior All Blacks only lead 8-3 at the break but five second half tries sealed the win. Flanker Toshiaki Tsuchiya scored what would be the only try for Japan in all three tests.

In the final game on tour, the Junior All Blacks overwhelmed their hosts 56-3 at the Prince Chichibu ground in Tokyo in front of an estimated 30,000 rugby fans. It proved to be all one way traffic with the young New Zealanders running in 12 tries after leading 27-3 at the end of the first half.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012

Samoa 27 d Japan 26

Samoa 27 – Tries: Faatiga Lemalu 2 and Kahn Fotuali’i; Conversions: Ki Anufe 2 and Lolo Lui; Penalties: Ki Anufe 2 d.

Japan 26 – Tries: Takashi Kikutani 2, Hendrik Tui and Toshiaki Hirose; Penalties: Ayumu Goromaru 2.
Competition: 7^th IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Date: Sunday 17 June 2012.
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.
Japan Test Number: 280.
Kick-off: 2:10 PM local Japan time.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland) (6^th test). Assistant Referees: Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan) and Taku Otsuki (Japan).

Conditions: Forecast maximum temperature for Tokyo 28 degrees Celsius. Cloudy becoming full sun in second half. Surface slightly soft from heavy overnight rain.

Attendance: 5,386.

Halftime: Samoa 14 – Japan 16.

Yellow Cards: Logovi’i Mulipola (Samoa No.3, 18 min 1H, use of shoulder in tackle); Sakaria Taulafo (Samoa No.1, 37 min 2H, repeated team infringements).

PNC Match Points: Samoa 4, Japan 2.

Head-to-head Encounters:

Japan and Samoa have met on thirteen occasions dating back to 1990. Samoa have won eleven and Japan two.

The first meeting between Japan and Samoa was at the combined Asia and Oceania qualification for the 1991 Rugby World Cup was held at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo, Japan in April 1990. The four team round-robin tournament involved Western Samoa, Japan, Tonga and South Korea with Western Samoa and Japan gaining qualification as the top two placed sides.

Japan and Samoa then met three times in the Pacific Rim Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2001 with Japan claiming their first win in 1999. In between, they also met at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham in October 1999 during the 1999 Rugby World Cup with Samoa easily accounting for Japan, avenging the loss from earlier in the year.

Japan and Samoa did not meet again till 2006 with the formation of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup tournament, or IRB Pacific Five Nations as it was known in that year only. Although there were a few close encounters, Samoa won the first four tests played at the PNC until Japan came out and beat Samoa 31-23 in their own backyard in Apia in June 2010 for their first away win and only second ever win overall. A developmental Samoan team then beat Japan at Chichibu in the autumn of that year, while Samoa won again at the same ground in the opening game of the PNC 2011. Japan were supposed to host the tournament that year but the Great East Japan Earthquake in March forced the organisers to move all but the opening game to Fiji.

The highest scoring win for Japan was 37-34 in Osaka in May 1999, while the biggest winning margin was 8 points in the 31-23 win in Apia in 2010. The longest winning sequence for Japan is one win in 1999 and 2010.

The highest scoring win for Samoa was 68-9 in Apia in June 2000, while the biggest winning margin was 59 points in the same test. The longest winning sequence for Samoa is seven wins in a row between 1999 and 2009.

Seven of the thirteen tests have been played in Japan, with four of those at Chichibu in Tokyo while three tests have been played in Apia. The other three tests were all played on neutral territory, at Wrexham in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, at New Plymouth in the inaugural IRB Pacific Nations Cup (Pacific Five Nations) in 2006 and at Sigatoka in the fourth PNC in 2009.

Official test results for Japan against Samoa

No.	Date	Result (Home – Away)	Venue	Tournament	Japan Test No.	W/D/L (For Japan)
13	17 Jun 2012	Japan 26 – Samoa 27	Chichibu, Tokyo	7thPNC	280	Lost
12	02 Jul 2011	Japan 15 – Samoa 34	Chichibu, Tokyo	6thPNC	265	Lost
11	30 Oct 2010	Japan 10 – Samoa 13	Chichibu, Tokyo		259	Lost
10	19 Jun 2010	Samoa 23 – Japan 31	Apia Park, Apia	5th PNC	257	Won
9	18 Jun 2009	Samoa 34 – Japan 15	Sigatoka	4thPNC	246	Lost
8	05 Jul 2008	Samoa 37 – Japan 31	Apia Park, Apia	3rdPNC	239	Lost
7	16 Jun 2007	Japan 3 – Samoa 13	Sendai	2ndPNC	224	Lost
6	17 Jun 2006	Samoa 53 – Japan 9	New Plymouth	1stPNC (P5N)	214	Lost
5	04 Jul 2001	Japan 8 – Samoa 47	Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo	6thPRC	173	Lost
4	10 Jun 2000	Samoa 68 – Japan 9	Apia Park, Apia	5thPRC	165	Lost
3	03 Oct 1999	Samoa 43 – Japan 9	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham	4thRWC	159	Lost
2	22 May 1999	Japan 37 – Samoa 34	Hanazono, Osaka	4thPRC	155	Won
1	15 Apr 1990	Japan 11 – Western Samoa 37	Chichibu, Tokyo	1991 RWC qualifier	105	Lost

RWC = Rugby World Cup

PNC = Pacific Nations Cup (The PNC was known as the Pacific Five Nations in 2006 only)

PRC = Pacific Rim Championship

Japan (IRB rank 16 (68.34), at 11 June 2012)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Yusuke NAGAE	Ricoh Black Rams	26	171/105	7
2	Takeshi KIZU	Kobe Steelers	23	183/111	14
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	26	178/111	34
4	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	25	192/112	9
5	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	34	192/105	61
6	Takashi KIKUTANI	Toyota Verblitz	32	187/100	51
7	Yuta MOCHIZUKI	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	184/105	7
8	Hendrik TUI	Panasonic Wild Knights	24	189/109	2
9	Atsushi HIWASA	Suntory Sungoliath	25	166/72	15
10	Harumichi TATEKAWA	Kubota Spears	22	181/93	7
11	Hirotoki ONOZAWA	Suntory Sungoliath	34	180/85	74
12	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	33	190/100	38
13	Tomohiro SEMBA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	183/97	7
14	Toshiaki HIROSE (c)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	173/81	8
15	Ayumu GOROMARU	Yamaha Jubilo	26	185/97	18
16	Ryuhei ARITA	Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	23	176/100	7
17	Hiroshi YAMASHITA	Kobe Steelers	26	183/121	13
18	Shoji ITO	Kobe Steelers	31	191/97	7
19	Takamichi SASAKI	Suntory Sungoliath	28	184/95	13
20	Jun FUJII	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	170/77	6
21	Kosei ONO	Suntory Sungoliath	25	171/81	12
22	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	26	176/85	9

Head Coach: Eddie Jones (AUS). (7^th test as head coach, for 4 wins and 3 losses.)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 13 min 2H.
17 subbed 3, 23 min 2H.
18 subbed 4, 25 min 2H.
19 subbed 7, 16 min 2H.
20 subbed 9, 29 min 2H.
21 subbed 10, 16 min 2H.
22 subbed 15, 17 min 2H.

Samoa (IRB rank 9 (77.23), at 11 June 2012)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Sakaria Taulafo	London Wasps (ENG)	29	183/118	17
2	Ti’i Paulo	Clermont Auvergne (FRA)	29	187/119	10
3	Logovi’i Mulipola	Leicester Tigers (ENG)	25	192/124	9
4	Faatiga Lemalu	Papatoetoe Club (NZL)	23	201/109	3
24	Joe Tekori	Castres Olympique (FRA)	28	198/119	21
6	Alafoti Faosiliva	Laumua O Tumua	26	193/110	10
7	Maurie Fa’asavalu	Harlequins (ENG)	32	194/112	16
8	Kane Thompson	Waikato Chiefs (NZL)	30	198/113	23
9	Kahn Fotuali’i	Ospreys (WAL)	30	184/94	10
10	Ki Anufe	Marist (NZL)	24	184/89	4
11	David Lemi (c)	Glasgow Warriors (SCO)	30	175/75	33
12	Paul Williams	Stade Francais (FRA)	29	190/100	13
13	Lolo Lui	Moataa	30	187/95	24
14	Paul Perez	Vaimoso	25	195/95	3
15	Fa’atoina Autagavaia	Vailoa Palauli	23	193/94	3
16	Ole Avei	Bordeaux Begles (FRA)	28	191/120	6
23	Census Johnston	Toulouse (FRA)	31	190/135	38
18	Daniel Crichton	Counties Manukau (NZL)	26	192/116	3
19	Ben Masoe	Auckland (NZL)	26	180/110	3
20	Jeremy Sua	Tasman (NZL)	23	181/86	5
21	Fautua Otto	Bristol Rugby (ENG)	26	180/94	(6)
22	Ken Pisi	North Harbour (NZL)	23	180/89	(2)

Head Coach: Stephen Betham (40). (3^rd test as head coach, for 3 wins).

NB: Cap count for Census Johnston includes 3 caps for Pacific Islands.

NB: Jerseys and numbers for Joe Tekori and Census Johnston had to be changed as the existing jerseys did not fit!

Subs
16 subbed 2, 16 min 2H.
17 subbed 3, 16 min 2H.
18 subbed 5, 21 min 2H.
19 subbed 7, 16 min 2H.
20 subbed 10, 25 min 2H.
21 not used.
22 not used.

Preview

This will be the third test in a row and the fourth time overall that Japan and Samoa have played at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo as they meet in the first match of the split third and final round of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 on Sunday 17 June 2012. The final game of the series between Fiji and Tonga was moved to Lautoka in Fiji on Saturday 23 June 2012 to accommodate the Fiji-Scotland test this weekend.

Western Samoa, as they were known at the time, first played Japan at the combined Asia and Oceania qualification for the 1991 Rugby World Cup held at the Chichibu ground in Tokyo in April 1990 with the visitors winning 37-17. The last two clashes at this venue have also seen Samoa claim victory, firstly 13-10 in October 2010 and then 34-15 in the opening round of the PNC in July last year, so Japan will be working for their first win over Samoa at Chichibu in four attempts.

After beating Tonga 20-18 in the opening round in Nagoya on Tuesday 5 June Manu Samoa then beat Fiji 29-26 last Sunday on this ground and so victory over Japan will hand them the PNC title for the second time after they won their first crown in 2010. Japan though, as the defending titlists have had two narrow losses from their two starts, firstly losing 25-19 to Fiji in Nagoya and then 24-20 to Tonga in Tokyo last Sunday. Eddie Jones as the new head coach of Japan this season will thus be keen to scratch out a win over Samoa and thereby avoid the wooden spoon. Japan lost all four games in the IRB Pacific Five Nations as this tournament was called in 2006 but in 2007, 2008 and 2009 had one win before claiming two victories in 2010 and then again in 2011 when they won the Cup for the first time. With Japan fully hosting the tournament for the first time this year the hosts will be working hard to give their home supporters something to cheer about in their final test of the series.

Over the course of the four tests played in the HSBC Asian Five Nations and now the PNC, Jones has been very consistent with sticking to a tight squad of players and this test is no exception with the coach using the same group of twenty-two players that did the job against Tonga last round. There are a few positional changes though with Kensuke Hatakeyama stating at tighthead with Hiroshi Yamashita moving back to the bench. Similarly, in the backrow the experienced former Japan captain Takashi Kikutani comes into the starting line-up on the blindside with Takamichi Sasaki on the bench after starting in all six test this season. In the backs, the bigger Harumichi Tatekawa moves into the playmaking position to replace diminutive Kosei Ono who was well and truly targeted by the big Tongan backs last round drops back to the reserves while Ryan Nicholas also moves in one place to his more familiar inside centre position with Tomohiro Semba, who was on the bench last week back in the run-on side at outside centre.

Thus, Yusuke Nagae, Takeshi Kizu and Hatakeyama make up the front row with Shinya Makabe and Hitoshi Onothe locking combination for the seventh test in a row this season while Yuta Mochizuki moves across to the openside for Kikutani to come in at No.6 while Hendrik Tui keeps his place at No.8 for his second test. Atsushi Hiwasa is the halfback with Tatekawa at five-eighth, Nicholas and Semba the centres while Hirotoki Onozawa is on the left wing, Toshiaki Hirosewill captain the side from the right wing and the goal-kicking Ayumu Goromaru is the fullback. Ryuhei Arita is the back-up hooker with Yamashita the spare prop and Shoji Ito and Sasaki will cover the back five positions. Jun Fujii sat unused on the bench last week as the second halfback and he once again has No.20 on his back for Samoa while Ono and Yasunori Nagatomo, who was also unused last round will cover the rest of the backline.

For Samoa, making the best of their resources has been the key to their success in recent years with a very fluid crossover between their Sevens programme and their test match squad. Not only are there a number of players in this Samoa XXII that played on this same ground back in April at the Tokyo leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series but coach Stephen Betham has also made the transition from the abbreviated form of the game to the test arena. Samoa made the final in Tokyo but ended up losing to Australia at the death with the blockbusting flanker Alafoti Faosiliva, fullback Fa’atoina Autagavaia, 195cm wing Paul Perez, centre Lolo Lui and Ken Pisi all part of that squad.

There are five changes to the Samoan side that beat Fiji last Sunday with Ti’i Paulo into the starting team at hooker for Ole Avei who drops to the bench, Logovi’i Mulipola moves up from the bench to replace James Johnston at tighthead, the taller Joe Tekori comes into the second row for Daniel Crichton who will start from the bench, Kane Thompson replaces Ben Masoe as the run-on No8 and the experienced halfback Kahn Fotuali’i links up with the team from Europe for his first test of the tournament.

Thus, Sakaria Taulafo, Paulo and Mulipola will start in the front row for Samoa with Faatiga Lemalu and Tekori the tall timber in the second row, while Sevens ace Faosiliva is blindside flanker, Maurie Fa’asavalu the openside and Thompson at No8. Except for Fotuali’i at halfback the rest of the Samoan backline is intact from last week with Ki Anufe the goal-kicking five-eighth, captain David Lemi on the left wing, Perez on the right, Williams and Lui are the centres with Autagavaia the fullback. Avei is the back-up hooker while 37 test veteran in man-mountain Census Johnston at 135kg and far and away the heaviest man on either side is the reserve prop. Chricton and Masoe will cover the other forward positions while Jeremy Sua who started at halfback last game is on the bench this week. Fautua Otto and Pisi are there to cover the rest of the backline.

With one hand already on the Cup Samoa will know that victory over Japan will clinch the deal. However, Betham is trying to keep things in perspective when he made the following comment during the week, “We are not trying to put any pressure on them (the team). This is just another hurdle we need to get over. If we do get the cup, then that will be a bonus.”

On the other side of the fence, Jones said in the build-up to the test, “We are aware of what we have to do to beat Samoa. It’s a physical challenge and we have to stop them at the gain line. With the bench we have picked, we will look to finish stronger than we did last week and convert the opportunities we create into points. If we do that we will win the game.”

Wrap-up

Samoa had to fight all the way, but at the end of the day the dramatic 27-26 win over tournament hosts Japan at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Sunday 17 June 2012 was enough for the islanders to collect the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 trophy.

Although Fiji and Tonga are yet to play the final game of the 2012 tournament in Lautoka next weekend, Samoa are in an unassailable position on top of the table on 12 points followed by both Fiji and Tonga on 5 points. Samoa claimed three victories in Japan in 2012, firstly 20-18 over Tonga in Nagoya on Tuesday 5 June followed by a 29-26 win over Fiji in Tokyo on Sunday 10 June. Although Samoa failed to pick up any four-try bonus points in their three wins the 12 competition points ensured they took the PNC title for the second time after also being named champions in 2010.

On the other hand, it was a tough initiation for new Japan head coach Eddie Jones into the rigours of Pacific Nations Cup rugby with three narrow losses in which they picked up losing bonus points in all three tests for losing by seven points or less. In their opening game in Nagoya, Japan went down to Fiji 25-19 then lost 24-20 to Tonga in Tokyo and finally this one point loss to ultimate champions Samoa. In all five PNC games to date this season, every losing side has scored a losing bonus point while Japan has been the only side to come up with a four-try winning bonus point. That is an indication of the overall competitiveness at the Cup this year and had a few things gone differently it could well have been the Japan side up on the dais receiving their winning medals with three straight wins.

After captain David Lemi led the Sivi Tau it was down to business with centre Lolo Lui kicking off with Samoa defending the northern scoreboard end of the ground. The Samoan forwards managed to regain the short kick-off but a knock-on handed possession to Japan who were subsequently penalised by Irish referee John Lacey at the breakdown. Lemi handed the ball to five-eighth Ki Anufe for an ambitious shot at penalty from 55 metres and although the kick had the distance it sailed left of the posts.

Both sides had their hands on the ball in the early exchanges with both outfits expressing their intent to run. However, in the 7^thminute Samoa were pinged for holding on at the breakdown and Japan fullback Ayumu Goromaru stepped up to land the opening points from just inside the Samoan side of halfway straight out in front of the posts. He had another opportunity to post points a few minutes later when Samoa were again penalised at the breakdown, this time for not rolling away and this time Goromaru had a much easier kick in front of the posts on the Samoan 22 metre line. The kick raised the flags and Japan were 6-0 up after ten minutes of play.

Then, in the 18^th minute big Samoan tighthead prop Logovi’i Mulipola was sinbinned for not using his arms in a tackle and Japan captain Toshiaki Hirose turned down a long range shot at penalty for a lineout. The kick for touch failed to find the line, however, as luck would have it for Japan, Samoa knocked on giving Japan a scrum inside the 22 along the right hand touchline. Japan got clean, quick ball from the resulting scum with halfback Atsushi Hiwasa passing to five-eighth Harumichi Tatekawa who then passed to inside centre Ryan Nicholas with Tatekawa looping and firing a long pass left to left wing Hirotoki Onozawain space. Onozawa was brought down by the defence just inside the left hand corner but from the ruck Atsushi simply popped a pass to No8 Hendrik Tui who barged over for the opening try of the match. Goromaru failed with the wide out conversion but by the halfway mark of the first half Japan were out to a handy 11-0 lead.

With Samoa still one man down Japan kept the pressure on in defence, especially with Nicholas putting in some big hits in the mid field while upping the pace in attack. In the 24^th minute of play Samoa put the ball directly into touch from a scrum outside the 22 and this gave Japan an attacking line-out on the left hand side of the field. With good ball from the top of the line Japan spread the ball right before the attack broke down. Nevertheless, Japan retained possession and quickly moved the point of attack back right for flanker and former captain Takashi Kikutani to score in the left hand corner. Goromaru could not land the conversion from the touchline but the hosts had now added ten points in the sinbin period to extend the lead to 16-0.

With Samoa back to their full complement, the men in blue started playing their way back into the game. On the half hour mark Lemi turned down a long range penalty for a line out deep in the Japan half. The forwards drove a maul up from the line out before five-eighth Ki Anufe punched up mid field. With the defence in sixes and sevens the quick thinking halfback Kahn Fotuali’i hurdled the melee to scramble over under the posts for the first points for Samoa. Anufe landed the easy conversion to put Samoa back in the match at 16-7 down.

Late in the half with Samoa gaining the ascendency Japan were again penalised at the breakdown forcing referee Lacey to speak to the Japan captain about the mounting penalties in his area of the game. Samoa again elected to go for a line-out rather than a shot at goal and from the line-out about 20 metres out down the left hand side of the field the big Samoan forwards caught Japan somewhat unawares by mauling the ball and with momentum behind them mauled their way all the way to the Japan try line for lock Faatiga Lemalu to come up with the try. Anufe kicked the conversion and this took the sides to the break with the Japan lead reduced to 16-14.

Under full sun Anufe kicked off the second half and in the first minute of play Japan were penalised for a high tackle. Samoa went for a line out and again used a driving maul to good effect forcing a further penalty after Japan were deemed to have brought the maul down. This time Samoa chose to kick for penalty and the successful kick by Anufe put Samoa in front for the first time at 17-16. After coming back from being 16 points in arrears the Samoans had finally hit the front and now looked to take control of the flow of the game.

Around the hour mark of the test, Samoa once again used a driving maul from a line down the right hand side of the field out to suck in the Japanese defence. However, this time Fotuali’i unleashed the backs with centre Lui brought down by the scrambling defence within the field of play in the left hand corner. However from the next play the halfback popped up a quick pass for the 201cm and 109kg Lemalu to use his size and strength to score his second five-pointer of the afternoon. Lui kicked the conversion and when Anufe kicked his second penalty in the 25^th minute when Japan loosehead prop Yusuke Nagae was penalised at a scrum it looked like the visitors were home and hosed with a 27-16 lead.

Japan are not known as being a team to come back against bigger island teams, rather they are known as fading over the closing stages of Pacific Nations Cup matches but on this occasion Jones used his bench astutely to keep the bite in the Japanese game. In the 27^th minute, the Japan captain made a neat break down the right hand touchline only to be bundled into touch by the covering defence within sight of the Samoan goal line. As things would go though, the long throw at the line out went horribly wrong for Samoa as the ball fell into the hands of replacement prop Hiroshi Yamashita at the back allowing Japan to go on the offensive. Japan continued to move the point of attack to the left but then brought the ball all the way right for Kikutani to score his second try in similar circumstances to his first. With Goromaru having just been subbed the responsibility fell on Nicholas to kick the crucial conversion. However, his kicking eye was not in place yet and he made a terrible hash of the kick leaving the scoreline at 27-21.

As things would have it, Samoa received their second yellow card in the 37^th minute when loosehead prop Sakaria Taulafowas sinbinned for repeated team infringements at the breakdown. This gave Japan one last shot at victory but three points from a penalty was not going to be enough and so from a line out down the left hand side of the field the ball was phased infield and then spread right for Hirose to score the first four-try bonus point try of the tournament. Then it was left to Nicholas to win the game for Japan with the conversion from a similar position to where he fluffed one a few minutes earlier. This time though he connected sweetly with the ball and it looked for all money that the kick was good but it faded past the outside of the right hand upright leaving Japan one point behind.

From the re-start, the fulltime siren sounded in the background and when Japan were penalised Samoa simply booted the ball into touch to bring down the curtain on an enthralling game of rugby with Samoa winning the battle 27-26 and also winning the war by taking the ultimate prize of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 title.

After the test, Samoan head coach Stephen Betham commented, “We came out knowing the Japanese were not going to give us the Cup. We had to win it. Credit to the Japanese as they forced us to make a lot of mistakes. They gave us a good fight today.”

Samoan captain David Lemi said, “Credit to the Japan side. Even though they did not win the last three games they performed well. You’ll see them do well in the future.”

When asked about the use of the driving maul in this test Betham responded, “We worked very hard at it in training this week. Teams don’t know us as good at it and we know Japan are good at the driving maul. We knew they would not expect it.”

On the other hand, losing head coach Eddie Jonessaid, “We lost three games by 6, 4 and 1 point. Today we put ourselves in a position to win it in the first twenty minutes and then again late in the game. But the reality is we are not good enough. I am enormously pleased with the players, but not the result.”

Japan captain Toshiaki Hirose lamented, “So near but yet so far! The team is getting better and over the next year we are going to work hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again next year.”

Jones went on to say, “I’m impressed with the mindset of the players. They’ve got the courage to play the way we want to play. They had the intent today to take on Samoa with our game.” Further, he said, “Today we had good balance attacking off 9, 10 and 12. We rarely got double tackled today. This gives us a good base to go forward.”

Japan v Samoa at the PNC

17 Jul 2012, Samoa 27 d Japan 26, Tokyo.
02 Jul 2011, Samoa 34 d Japan 15, Tokyo.
19 Jun 2010, Japan 31 d Samoa 23, Apia.
18 Jun 2009, Samoa 34 d Japan 15, Sigatoka.
05 Jul 2008, Samoa 37 d Japan 31, Apia.
16 Jun 2007, Samoa 13 d Japan 3, Sendai.
17 Jun 2006, Samoa 53 d Japan 9, New Plymouth.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 Schedule and Results

Round	Date	Team	Score	Team	Kick-off	Venue	Referee (TBC)
One	Tuesday 5 June 2012	Samoa	20-18	Tonga	17:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	Wayne Barnes (RFU)
		Fiji	19-25	Japan	19:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	John Lacey (IRFU)
Two	Sunday 10 June 2012	Fiji	26-29	Samoa	12:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	Wayne Barnes (RFU)
		Japan	20-24	Tonga	14:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	Pascal Gauzere (FFR)
Three	Sunday 17 June 2012	Samoa	27-26	Japan	14:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	John Lacey (IRFU)
	Saturday 23 June 2012	Tonga	-	Fiji	15:40	Churchill Park, Lautoka	Keith Brown (NZRU)

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 Table

Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts
Samoa	3	3	0	76	70	6	-	-	12
Fiji	2	1	1	51	48	3	-	1	5
Tonga	2	1	1	42	40	2	-	1	5
Japan	3	0	3	65	76	-11	1	3	4

Four points for win, two points for draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries or more and one for losing by seven points or less.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 Point Scorers

Name (Country)	T	C	P	Total
Ayumu Goromaru (JPN)	1	3	8	35
Ki Anufe (SAM)	-	5	8	34
Kurt Morath (TGA)	-	3	7	27
Setareki Koroilagilagi (FIJ)	-	3	5	21
David Lemi (SAM)	3	-	-	15
Faatiga Lemalu (SAM)	2	-	-	10
Takashi Kikutani (JPN)	2	-	-	10
Hendrik Tui (JPN)	2	-	-	10
Nalu Tuigamala (SAM)	1	-	-	5
Kahn Fotuali’i (SAM)	1	-	-	5
Aisake Katonibau (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Waisea Nayacalevu (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Vereniki Goneva (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Alaska Taufa (TGA)	1	-	-	5
Taniela Moa (TGA)	1	-	-	5
Paula Kaho (TGA)	1	-	-	5
Toshiaki Hirose (JPN)	1	-	-	5
Ben Masoe (SAM)	1	-	-	5
Nemia Kenatale (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Netani Talei (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Tuapati Talemaitoga (FIJ)	1	-	-	5
Lolo Lui (SAM	-	1	-	2

NB: Japan were awarded a penalty try against Fiji.

Odds & Sods

Odds & Sods brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

News in Japan: Catching the headlines in Japan this week are:

IRB ranking on 18 June 2012 - Japan were 16 on 67.93 points.

The Think-tank:

Wales legend Shane Williams is to link up with Mitsubishi Dynaboars on a one year deal reputedly put at 600,000 pounds.

Junior Japan

A Junior Japan side made up of fringe national players and younger players took on Tonga at Chichibu in Tokyo on Friday 15 June 2012 going down 45-24.

Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead gives the reader future dates for the diary and other great things to look forward to in Rugby in Japan.

Into the Future

With the IRB working towards re-introducing traditional long tours there will be spin-offs for Japan in the lead-up to this country hosting the 2019 RWC. Although it is not set in concrete, a bevy of tier one countries are pencilled in to tour Japan with Wales touring in 2013, Scotlandin 2016, Ireland in 2017 and Italy in 2018.

French Barbarians

A French Barbarians side made up of players in the France league will play Japan on Wednesday 20 June and Sunday 24 June 2012 with both games at Chichibu in Tokyo.