The Wallabies have their spring tour off to a flyer with a 63-30 romp over Japan in their Test at Yokohama’s International Stadium.
Playing at the venue which will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup final and their first match against Japan on home soil, Australia hit the ground running.
With regular playmaker Bernard Foley out sick, Reece Hodge made his Test debut at five-eighth on Saturday and didn’t miss a beat.
The 23-year-old, who has played all of his Wallabies’ Tests this year on the wing, had a hand in many of their nine tries, feeding a backline hungry for points, while he was on target with all conversions.
The visitors led 35-3 at halftime, with centre Tevita Kuridrani collecting two of his treble for the match. Star fullback Kurtley Beale and winger Marika Koroibete were in the thick of the action.
The 40,000-strong crowd came alive early in the second half when South African-born lock Wimpie van der Walt scored on debut, with a penalty goal soon after by Rikiya Matsuda boosting their tally by 10.
But after some strong lead-up work by Henry Speight, Samu Kerevi galloped away for his second of the day to stall Japan’s momentum.
Australia’s forwards deserved credit for the try-scoring spree, with hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, flanker Sean McMahon and try-scoring lock Rob Simmons among their best.
Japan’s rookie lock Kiazuki Himeno scored at fulltime, while their Melbourne Rebel back-rower Amanaki Mafi, who last month was named Australia’s Super Rugby player of the year, was also rewarded with a late try.
The margin meant the Wallabies were able to empty their bench, giving lock Matt Philip his debut, and their starters some extra rest before taking on Wales next Saturday followed by Tests against England and Scotland.
Fionn
Guest
Reverse Wheel, Timani wasn't given something like 10 starts to prove himself this year. Just a few cameos off the bench. They said, I don't think many want to see him in the 15 anymore. McCalman is rightfully getting a lot of love. Underrated Wallaby.
Fionn
Guest
Has Koroibete even proved himself to be better than Naivalu? I'm not sure, both are fantastic, and thankfully they are fairly like-for-like. Either one of them gets injured and you can swap the other one in and not really lose anything. Koroibete perhaps a bit stronger through contact but Naivalu more elusive on his feet and also faster.
Marlin
Guest
I didn't see the game but I have heard this mentioned elsewhere too. Why play a bloke in an unfamiliar position and then complicate it by defending out of position? Like Taking Moore on tour and many things Cheik does it just doesn't make any sense
PiratesRugby
Guest
Yes it is criminal that penalties are turned down even though Beale and Hodge are on the field. All because Foley gets so much protection. It's now obvious that Foley gives us very little.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Are we talking about the same Higgers who was injured playing against Scotland and never returned to Super rugby after the June Tests? I’m not sure but I reckon that’s why he only played the one Test. It would make sense.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
"heads and shoulders above the Os competition." CP was that meant to be Oz or OS? I'd agree if it is Oz - although I still wonder how good Naivalu can be. If it's OS then I'd have see how he goes on the rest of the tour and also consider Ioanie, Dagg, and even Ben Smith. As much of a Powell fan as I am, I think he needs a lot more game time in tests before I would anoint him as Genia's successor.
double agent
Guest
Powell plays 10 minutes in a game decided an hour before and you annoint him as the successor?
double agent
Guest
Why don't you just wait till you see the game?
double agent
Guest
Amazing how much Phipp's pass improves when he's not behind a pack being monstered by the All Blacks.
double agent
Guest
Pirates bagging Foley. Never seen that before.
double agent
Guest
Hodge did remarkably well for a guy that hasn't played 10 for years. Maybe we do have a backup for Foley.
double agent
Guest
Mac played well.
Cynical Play
Guest
You've drunk too much
Reverse Wheel
Guest
Higgers is just another guy who should be so much better than he is. Ill disciplined and lazy.
Ouch
Guest
“Koriebete is f…ing great. He just gets better he is heads and shoulders above the Os competition.” Yep. Agree. A couple more years and he’ll be one of the best.
Redsback
Guest
Foley's clearances are awesome. He never gets charged down and regularly makes 40m gains... ...
Redsback
Guest
He's so talented. It's outrageous. The bias gets to the point of being ridiculous. We finished on top of the tags and yet have 2 players in the 23?! Whereas when one WallaTah goes down he is replaced by the erson playing on the bench in his position at the Tahs. It's just absurd. I don't mean to whine about this, but it's absurd. Cheika has always come across as a NSW fan boy and it gets to the point that it feels, sometimes, that he is doing it for a laugh.
Redsback
Guest
Hodge was the only thing worth commenting on in the game. Of course we were going to.be talking about it. As for Hodge not taking the kicks, he has only been considered, to this point, as an extreme long range option. Today it became clear that he is a good option everywhere. It was an audition and he passed it with flying colours. We need cheap points in Europe. Rarely do teams get rewarded there turning down goals and going for the corner. Across the board, a Foley-less backline looks more balanced. Undoubtedly, Hodge has to.be the kicker on this tour. There is no objectve basis for taking a different view (concerning who should be kicker - I accept that a different view could be reasonably arrived at in relation to who should play 10, I just disagree with it).
Dave_S
Guest
Yes, that's the gist of it, especially left to right passing. He's not going to be Bernie in that regard. But he showed that if he has a good target either coming to his inside shoulder, or at 12 like Kerevi (who continues to show he can bust a tackle and then offload), then it's feasible to fashion a game plan around his strengths. Probably fair to say he hasn't done Foley out of a job yet, though.
Redsback
Guest
Sorry, but it hasn't all been travelling we'll ever since. His poor kicking in Brisbane kept the All Blacks in it. We were two tries to one up at half time and losing because he couldn't buy a goal. How many inadequacies can a person have and still get selected? His win loss ratio speaks for itself. Chieka's and his fellow Waratahs are the only people who can't see that. Both Hodge and Cooper are better options. I would suggest Paui'ua is a better option and possibly Lance. I think Beale could do a better job there. The fact is, he had a couple of good games at the world cup a couple of years ago (before a shocker against Scotland which nearly saw.us booted prematurely) and he has done very little since. We're not.winning a world cup with him. Bench him.