- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Japan and the USA fought valiantly despite neither being able to reach the quarter finals which, in turn resulted in quite the entertaining match up in this final game of the round stages.
The Japanese were strong in attack out on the edges but the brute force of the USA in the scrums and rucks caused havoc for the Land of the Rising Sun.
An early try laid the foundation for Japan but the USA fought back to score a try of their own but the missed conversion only had them up by one. Before Japan scored again to take the lead and a late penalty took them into the half time break.
The USA battled throughout the second half but their inability to capitalise on field position hurt them badly. In the end Japan ran out 10 point winners and finished an agonising third spot in their group only separated by bonus points.
Final Score
Japan – 28
USA – 18
Japan will be looking to gain an unlikely top two finish in their Pool B clash with the USA who will be fighting to pick up their first victory in this World Cup. Join The Roar for live scores of the action from Kingsholm from 6:00am (AEDT).
Although the Japanese will be relying on a Samoan upset of Scotland, they are still within reach of a historic quarter finals berth. While the US have had a tough tournament they’ll be looking to end it on a high note with their first World Cup victory since their defeat of Russia in the 2011 edition.
Japan are coming off the back of a dominant victory against higher ranked Samoa and have been in historical form through the pool stages after, of course, their monumental triumph over South Africa in the opening game of Pool B.
After a hard fought, but ultimately disappointing, loss to Samoa the US were swiftly taken care of by Scotland in a one sided affair. However, they will be coming into this Japanese clash on the heels of a mammoth 64 point loss to the Springboks which will have no doubt crushed their confidence.
Although Japan are on a hot streak and sit at $1.14 favourites because of it, USA are undefeated against Japan at World Cups and also beat the land of the rising sun the last time they met earlier this year. So the US will undoubtedly be looking to carry history with them into this clash.
Despite their fairytale tournament, Japan (and former Wallaby) coach Eddie Jones still believes they haven’t reached their full potential, saying “We still haven’t played as well as we can at the World Cup and that’s the disappointing thing”, and if that wasn’t enough to frighten the Eagles then Jones’ specific targeting might just do the job: “We’re looking to play our best game against the USA”.
The US will be aggressive against the Japanese and should produce one of their strongest showings this World Cup. However, Japan are coming into the contest with form on their side, and with a chance to make history with a finals placing – I just can’t see Japan losing their motivation or the match on Monday morning.
Can Japan continue one of the best underdog stories in World Cup history? Or will the pace and determination of a winless United States pull out an upset?
Find out by joining me on The Roar Monday morning at 6:00am (AEDT) for all the big plays and exciting action.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.