RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER: Vol.10, No.26

Congratulations RIJ Newsletter 10th Anniversary 2003-2013

Japan continue on their winning way with a gritty 16-13 win over Canada in the wet in Nagoya.

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

CONTENTS

• IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013-Japan v Canada
• IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013-Fiji v USA
• IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013-Points Table
• Odds and Sods-Japan’s IRB Ranking
• Looking Ahead: Japan v Scotland November 2013

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013

Schedule

Date	Team	Score	Team	Kick-off	Venue	Referee
Saturday 25 May 2013	Japan	17-27	Tonga	14:10	Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium, Yokohama	Angus Gardner (AUS)
	Canada	16-9	USA	14:10	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	Francisco Pastrana (ARG)
Saturday 01 June 2013	Fiji	22-8	Japan	15:40	Churchill Park, Lautoka	Garratt Williamson (NZL)
Wednesday 05 June 2013	Canada	20-18	Fiji	18:40	Twin Elms Rugby Park, Nepean	JP Doyle (ENG)
Saturday 08 June 2013	Canada	36-27	Tonga	14:10	Richardson Stadium, Kingston	JP Doyle (ENG)
Friday 14 June 2013	USA	9-18	Tonga	19:30	Home Depot Centre, Carson, California	Francisco Pastrana (ARG)
Wednesday 19 June 2013	Fiji	35-10	USA	17:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	Greg Garner (ENG)
	Japan	16-13	Canada	19:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	Jonathon White (NZL)
Sunday 23 June 2013	Tonga	-	Fiji	12:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	TBC
	Japan	-	USA	14:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	TBC

Japan 16 d Canada 13

Japan 16 – Tries: Ayumu Goromaru; Conversions: Ayumu Goromaru; Penalties: Ayumu Goromaru 3 d.

Canada 13 – Try: Ciaran Hearn; Conversion: James Pritchard; Penalty: James Pritchard 2.

Date: Wednesday 19 June 2013.
Venue: Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya.
Japan Test Number: 291.
Japan Game Number: TBC.
Kick-off: 19:10 local time (10:10 GMT/UTC).
Referee: Jonathon White (New Zealand) (1^st test). Assistant Referees: Richard
Kelly (New Zealand) and Taku Otsuki (Japan).
Conditions: Daily forecast for Nagoya 24-28 degrees Celsius, steady rain and
high humidity, no breeze. Surface well grassed but wet and slippery.
Attendance: 4,456.
Halftime: Canada 3 – Japan 0.

Head-to-head Encounters:

Japan and sides from Canada, including the full national side (22 times) and British Columbia (6 times) have met on 28 occasions dating back to 1930. Japan have won 14, Canada/British Columbia 10 and there have been four draws.

Moreover, there have been twenty-two official tests played between Japan and Canada with Japan winning 12, Canada 8 and there have been two draws. Caps were not awarded to the Canadian players who represented British Columbia although these games count as tests in Japanese statistics with caps awarded accordingly. In the six games played between Japan and British Columbia, both sides won two apiece while there were two draws.

The highest scoring win for Japan was 46-8 in Sendai in November 2009, while the biggest winning margin was 38 points in the same test. The longest winning sequence for Japan is three wins in a row between 1982 and 1986.

The highest scoring win for Canada was 62-18 in Toronto in July 2000, while the biggest winning margin was 44 points in the same test. The longest winning sequence for Canada is three wins in a row between 1991 and 1996 and again between 1997 and 1998.

Seventeen of the 28 games have been played in Japan, with twelve of those at Chichibu in Tokyo while nine games have been played in Canada and the other two tests were played on neutral territory. Japan and Canada have met twice at the Rugby World Cup finals, in Bordeaux in 2007 and Napier in 2011 resulting in draws on both occasions.

No.	Date	Result (Home – Away)	Venue	Tournament	Japan Test No.	W/D/L (For Japan)
28	19 Jun 2013	Japan 16 – Canada 13	Mizuho, Nagoya	8th PNC	291	Won
27	27 Sep 2011	Japan 23 – Canada 23	McLean Park, Napier	7th RWC	273	Drew
26	21 Nov 2009	Japan 27 – Canada 6	Chichibu, Tokyo		251	Won
25	15 Nov 2009	Japan 46 – Canada 8	Yurtec Stadium, Sendai		250	Won
24	25 Sep 2007	Japan 12 – Canada 12	Bordeaux	6th RWC	230	Drew
23	29 May 2005	Japan 10 – Canada 15	Chichibu, Tokyo	SC final	205	Lost
22	30 May 2004	Japan 34 – Canada 21	Chichibu, Tokyo	SPC final	195	Won
21	08 Jul 2001	Japan 39 – Canada 7	Chichibu, Tokyo	6th PRC	174	Won
20	15 Jul 2000	Canada 62 – Japan 18	Toronto	5th PRC	167	Lost
19	01 May 1999	Japan 23 – Canada 21	Chichibu, Tokyo	4th PRC	153	Won
18	20 Jun 1998	Canada 34 – Japan 25	Vancouver	3rd PRC	147	Lost
17	03 May 1998	Japan 22 – Canada 30	Chichibu, Tokyo	3rd PRC	142	Lost
16	14 Jun 1997	Canada 42 – Japan 18	Vancouver	2nd PRC	140	Lost
15	18 May 1997	Japan 32 – Canada 31	Chichibu, Tokyo	2nd PRC	137	Won
14	13 Jul 1996	Canada 51 – Japan 30	Vancouver	1st PRC	134	Lost
13	09 Jun 1996	Japan 18 – Canada 45	Chichibu, Tokyo	1st PRC	131	Lost
12	11 May 1991	Canada 49 – Japan 26	Vancouver		110	Lost
11	07 Jun 1986	Canada 21 – Japan 26	Vancouver		89	Won
10	18 Apr 1982	Japan 16 – Canada 6	Chichibu, Tokyo		72	Won
9	11 Apr 1982	Japan 24 – Canada 18	Hanazono, Osaka		71	Won
8	12 May 1976	British Columbia 38 – Japan 7	Vancouver		51	Lost
7	22 Mar 1970	Japan 32 – British Columbia 3	Chichibu, Tokyo		31	Won
6	13 Apr 1963	British Columbia 6 – Japan 33	Vancouver		22	Won
5	22 Mar 1959	Japan 11 – British Columbia 11	Chichibu, Tokyo		19	Drew
4	15 Mar 1959	Japan 17 – British Columbia 21	Hanazono, Osaka		18	Lost
3	11 Feb 1932	Japan 38 – Canada 5	Meiji Jingu, Tokyo		3	Won
2	31 Jan 1932	Japan 9 – Canada 8	Hanazono, Osaka		2	Won
1	24 Sep 1930	British Columbia 3 – Japan 3	Vancouver		1	Drew

RWC = Rugby World Cup
PNC = IRB Pacific Nations Cup
SC = Super Cup (2005 only)
SPC = Super Powers Cup (2003 and 2004)
PRC = Pacific Rim Championship (1996 to 2001)

Japan (IRB rank 15 (70.91), at 17 June 2013)

Pos.	Name (Test Player Number)	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Yusuke NAGAE (551)	Ricoh Black Rams	19/07/1985	27	171/107	12
2	Shota HORIE (530)	Panasonic Wild Knights	21/01/1986	27	180/104	22
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA (515)	Suntory Sungoliath	02/08/1985	27	178/113	45
4	Justin IVES (544)	Canon Eagles	24/05/1984	29	196/100	13
5	Shinya MAKABE (533)	Suntory Sungoliath	26/03/1987	26	192/119	16
6	Hendrik TUI (565)	Suntory Sungoliath	13/12/1987	25	189/110	13
7	Michael BROADHURST (566)	Ricoh Black Rams	30/10/1986	26	196/111	11
8	Takashi KIKUTANI (474)	Toyota Verblitz	24/02/1980	33	187/106	62
9	Fumiaki TANAKA (510)	Panasonic Wild Knights	03/01/1985	28	166/75	36
10	Harumichi TATEKAWA (557)	Kubota Spears	02/12/1989	23	181/93	18
11	Kenki FUKUOKA (TBC)	Tsukuba University	07/09/1992	20	175/83	7
12	Yu TAMURA (555)	NEC Green Rockets	09/01/1989	24	181/93	12
13	Male SAU (TBC)	Yamaha Jubilo	13/10/1987	25	183/98	8
14	Toshiaki HIROSE (c) (495)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	17/10/1981	31	173/80	14
15	Ayumu GOROMARU (467)	Yamaha Jubilo	01/03/1986	27	185/99	28
16	Takeshi KIZU (534)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	15/07/1988	24	183/115	21
17	Masataka MIKAMI (TBC)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	04/06/1988	25	178/115	8
18	Hiroshi YAMASHITA (523)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	01/01/1986	27	183/122	24
19	Hitoshi ONO (445)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	06/05/1978	35	192/105	72
20	Shoji ITO (553)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	02/12/1980	32	191/101	16
21	Atsushi HIWASA (545)	Suntory Sungoliath	22/05/1987	26	166/72	26
22	Seiichi SHIMOMURA (454)	Panasonic Wild Knights	20/09/1981	31	175/85	(4)
23	Yoshikazu FUJITA (562)	Waseda University	08/09/1993	19	184/91	8

Head Coach: Eddie Jones (AUS). (18^th test as head coach, for 12 wins and 6 losses)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 38 min 2H.
17 subbed 1, 29 min 2H.
18 subbed 3, 29 min 2H.
19 subbed 4, 33 min 2H.
20 subbed 5, 14 min 2H.
21 subbed 9, 26 min 2H.
22 not used.
23 subbed 11, 36 min 1H.

NB: The IRB announced a number of global law amendment trials to start on 1 September 2012 in the northern hemisphere and 1 January in the southern hemisphere. One of these amendments is to permit international teams to nominate up to eight replacements.

Canada (IRB rank 13 (72.40), at 17 June 2013)

Pos.	Name	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Hubert BUYDENS	Prairie Wolf Pack	04/01/1982	31	191/120	19
2	Ryan HAMILTON	British Columbia Bears	09/04/1988	25	182/104	16
3	Jason MARSHALL	La Rochelle (FRA)	05/02/1985	28	191/117	22
4	Jon PHELAN	The Rock	20/01/1986	27	203/111	11
5	Brett BEUKEBOOM	Plymouth Albion (ENG)	13/08/1990	22	196/113	6
6	Tyler ARDRON	Ontario Blues	16/06/1991	22	194/110	10
7	Nanyak DALA	Prairie Wolf Pack	18/06/1984	29	178/100	23
8	Aaron CARPENTER (c)	Cornish Pirates (ENG)	09/01/1983	30	183/107	52
9	Sean WHITE	British Columbia Bears	28/06/1988	24	181/85	22
10	Liam UNDERWOOD	Ontario Blues	03/06/1991	22	189/91	5
11	Taylor Paris	Ontario Blues	06/10/1992	20	183/90	9
12	Nick BLEVINS	Prairie Wolf Pack	11/11/1988	24	187/98	12
13	Ciaran HEARN	The Rock	30/12/1985	27	190/100	29
14	Connor BRAID	British Columbia Bears	31/05/1990	23	185/82	8
15	James PRITCHARD	Bedford Blues (ENG)	21/07/1979	33	175/85	50
16	Ray BARKWILL	Ontario Blues	26/08/1980	32	180/103	7
17	Tom DOLEZEL	Ontario Blues	13/08/1984	28	190/120	12
18	Andrew TIEDEMANN	Ontario Blues	21/07/1988	24	183/115	20
19	Cam PIERCE	Selection Paloise (FRA)	26/10/1991	21	200/102	1
20	Aaron FLAGG	British Columbia Bears	16/06/1989	24	188/111	1
21	Eric WILSON	British Columbia Bears	27/04/1983	30	173/84	(2)
22	Michael FUAILEFAU	British Columbia Bears	20/03/1992	21	185/99	1
23	Patrick PARFREY	The Rock	01/11/1991	21	185/95	4

Head Coach: Kieran Crowley (NZL) (35 tests as head coach for 19 wins, one draw and 15 losses)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 0 min 2H.
17 subbed 1, 35 min 2H.
18 subbed 3, 26 min 2H.
19 subbed 4, 26 min 2H.
20 subbed 8, 20 min 2H.
21 not used.
22 subbed 11, 20 min 2H.
23 subbed 10, 24 min 2H.

Sources:
Statistics for Japan and Canada from RiJ database, IRB Match Preview and JRFU website.

Wrap

In wet conditions at the Mizuho Park Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Japan hosted Canada in an evening match on Wednesday 19 June 2013 in their clash at the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

Canada kicked off the test well aware that a win would all but wrap up the PNC title but they were not going to have things all their own way. The visitors gained position from the kick-off and despite the rain and slippery conditions kept the ball in hand inside the Japanese half. Canada turned this pressure into points with fullback James Pritchard booting a penalty in the second minute of play to put his side 3-0 up.

Japan then went on the attack with possession from the re-start but a breakdown penalty for not releasing the ball gave the impetus back to Canada. The Canadians could not take advantage with Japan turning over the ball and kicking deep into the Canadian half. However, the return kick forced a lineout in the Japan side of halfway with a steal allowing the Canadian backs to again test the Japanese defence out wide.

In the ninth minute Canada were penalised for off-side giving fullback Ayumu Goromaru his first chance for points. However, the shot flew across the face of the posts leaving the score unchanged. Nevertheless, Canada were still under the hammer with Japan maintaining the pressure by turning down subsequent kickable penalties in favour of quick taps.

Both sides were trying to play positive, open rugby but with the combatants relatively evenly matched there was little between them over the opening 15 minutes. The conditions too had their role to play with Japan in particular grounding the ball on a number of occasions as they tried to play their usual high-paced game.

As the match reached the half hour mark, Japan were obtaining their fair share of possession and playing the game in the Canadian half. However, the arm wrestle continued with the Canadian defence repelling everything the Japanese could throw at them. Then, in the 32^nd minute Japan were penalised at a ruck giving long kicker Ciaran Hearn the opportunity to stretch the lead but the kick was off the mark leaving the score at 3-0 to the visitors.

In the 35^th minute, left wing Kenki Fukuoka was forced from the field with what looked like a twisted right ankle picked up in a tackle and his place was taken by Yoshikazu Fujita.

Japan were not making the most of the possession and territory that was going their way as the clock ticked down to halftime and with Canada hanging in there the lack of points to show for their efforts could come back to haunt them in the second half as the sides went to the break with Canada maintaining that 3-0 lead.

Japan five-eighth Harumichi Tatekawa kicked off the second half giving Canada first use of the ball. A lazy Japanese runner was then penalised for interfering with play by New Zealand referee Jonathan White officiating in his first international with Hearn opting for a 55 metre kick at goal. The kick was short and wide allowing Japan to clear up field.

Soon after, Canadian No8 and captain Aaron Carpenter was penalised for going off his feet at a ruck in the fifth minute giving Goromaru another chance to post the first points for the home side with an easy kick from in front. Goromaru secured the point to tie things up at 3-all.

Another breakdown penalty against Canada in the 50^th minute was enough for Goromaru to land his second penalty and put Japan into the lead for the first time in the test at 6-3. However, Japan failed to secure the re-start and Canada countered from broken play with the end result that centre Hearn dotted down under the posts for the opening try of the match. Pritchard slotted the conversion to regain the lead 10-6.

In the 54^th minute lock Shinya Makabe left the field with what looked like a knee injury with Shoji Ito coming on in his place.

The try seemed to lift Canada who started to up the ante in attack. But Japan found the energy to lift as well with Goromaru finishing off a period of sustained pressure to score Japan’s first try just to the left of the posts. He converted his own try to put Japan back in the lead 13-10 with 15 minutes to play. Again, the lead was short-lived with Pritchard kicking his second penalty in the 66^th minute to once again level the score at 13-all.

Japan were presented the chance to retake the lead when replacement halfback Atsushi Hiwasa was caught in a high tackle in the 72^nd minute and Goromaru kicked the crucial penalty to give Japan the lead 16-13.

With the remaining time creeping inside five minutes the onus was now on Canada to come from behind, but the Canucks were unable to get out of their own half to get into a scoring position. In the end, the clock beat Canada with Japan holding on for a 16-13 win with Goromaru scoring all his team’s points through a try, a conversion and three penalties.

On the field after the match, Canada captain Aaron Carpenter said, “It was really coming down tonight but Japan played better in the conditions. We needed the win to take the title but that’s rugby.”

Japan captain Toshiaki Hirose said, “The hard work is starting to pay off. I’m very proud of the players but we still have one more game to play yet.”

After the match, Japan head coach Eddie Jones said, “Four weeks ago, if we had gone down 10-6 we would have lost. But today we recovered mentally and got back in our rhythm. In the last 20 minutes there was no doubt we were going to win. It was just a matter of time before we got the points.” He also went on to say, “It’s our consistency of performance. In the past two games the scrum has been outstanding. Today the lineout was equally as good. When you have that stability in those conditions it allows us to play the type of rugby we want to play. Test match rugby is all about the set piece. We are definitely a skilful and fit team. If we keep improving our strength, set piece and breakdown skills, then we will keep getting better.”

 
Japan captain, right wing Toshiaki Hirose (JRFU, H. Nagaoka)

Fiji 35 d USA 10

Date: Wednesday 19 June 2013
Venue: Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya
Kick-off: 17:10

Fiji used their power game to out-muscle a lacklustre USA side 35-10 in Nagoya in an early evening game on Wednesday 19 June 2013. The Flying Fijians scored two tries in each half to pick up a bonus point and keep their IRB Pacific Nations Cup title aspirations alive as the win keeps them in striking distance of front runners Canada. The American scrum was constantly back-peddling and the Fijians took full advantage of this with the first half try to halfback Nikola Matawalu and the second half five pointer to flanker Netani Talei were a direct result of the pressure they applied on the Eagles scrum. The USA have now lost all three starts in the PNC and go on to face Japan in Tokyo in their final game of the tournament.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013 Table

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts
Canada	4	3	0	1	85	70	15	0	1	13
Fiji	3	2	0	1	75	38	37	2	1	11
Tonga	3	2	0	1	72	62	10	1	1	10
Japan	3	1	0	2	41	62	-21	0	0	4
USA	3	0	0	3	28	72	-44	0	1	1

Four points for win, two points for draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries or more (BP1) and one for losing by seven points or less (BP2).

Odds & Sods

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

 

IRB ranking on 17 June 2013 - Japan were 15 on 70.91 points.