To state the obvious yet again, the Cherry Blossoms are the real deal.
Japan dominated the first half with 79 per cent possession, scoring three tries to one. Japan’s ability to move the ball quickly and efficiently out to the back three of Will Tupou, Kotaro Matsushima and Kenki Fukuoka, allowed them to exploit the space Scotland conceded to them in the outer channels.
This effort was matched by the Japanese forwards, who handled the ball well and used their brute force to get over the gain line.
Japan’s third try on the stroke of half time was a thing of beauty, a neat chip in behind by the five-eighth Yu Tuamura cleverly juggled and then collected by Fukuoka who then proceeded to burn past the helpless Stuart Hogg to dot it down.
After the Scots’ early try, they looked shellshocked by the intensity and concentration of the Japanese.
A moment that briefly threatened to ruin the exhilarating competition on display, relates to a tackle by Johnny Gray in the 30th minute.
A slightly falling Shota Horie had his head split open thanks to a hard hit by the Scottish lock. In terms of narrating this tackle. The first point of contact was between Johnny Gray’s head and the head of Shota Horie.
Gray clearly wrapped his arms, with his wrap sliding up onto Horie’s neck at the tackle completion. After a TMO review, referee Ben O’Keeffe chose not to penalise the incident, much to the relief of Gray.
I appreciated the common sense attitude that O’Keeffe showed, who stated he was happy that it was a rugby collision and so decided not to act rashly and keep his cards safe in his pocket.
What I believe must be said, however, is that if instead it was Gray’s shoulder that had made the impact with Horie’s head, there is no doubt that O’Keeffe would have shown the Scottish player a red card.
Therefore, we now have a new high tackle precedent. If you don’t want to get penalised when making a tackle, make sure you get your head in the way.
Given the Wallabies’ awful record with high tackles at this World Cup, I hope they were watching.
Japan started the second half as if the first hadn’t ended. Japan’s final try gave the match a sense that the team was surely heading to the knockout stages.
Yukuoma’s ability to strip the ball in the tackle, maintain possession and race 40 metres to score was absolutely sublime.
The most pleasantly shocking thing about Japan at this World Cup has been the skill and technical ability of the players.
Japan’s passing has been accurate and the team has managed to execute high-risk, high difficulty passing, offloads and counter-attacks with a low error margin. It’s been superb to watch.
Scotland’s two try comeback put the match on a tender-hook and made it ever more enthralling to witness. But the Japanese response was immense and the team’s performance clearly worthy of a victory.
For Scotland, this was not how Gregor Townsend and his men had envisioned this tournament to go. After that lifeless performance against Ireland, the Scots have officially been bundled out at the first hurdle, with the trip home all that is left.
The Japanese go on to face the Springboks in the quarters with the following question on everyone’s lips: they couldn’t beat the Boks again, could they?
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
Fair enough
Kane
Roar Guru
Garlands committed to the Lions in 2021 so he won’t be in the All Blacks mix
Carlin
Roar Rookie
I did not realise the tension early on. I guess they have the balance right. Joseph the hard bugger and Brown the creative mind.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
Exactly, my thought is that Japan's high-tempo game will eventually catch up with them. Especially because the South African forwards seem to be made of granite. They're so big and solid. It'll take a massive effort to reduce the threat that they pose.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
Haha yeah, that's because they're second guessing themselves after World Rugby publicly disavowed the refs after the first round of matches
Harry Jones
Expert
Good point.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
I noticed in some matches, the referees were having a "conference" with language similar to corporate mumbo-jumbo before reaching a decision. Decision by consensus gives you camels instead of horses.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Plus the 8 forwards from SA are much stronger than the Japanese. I think that overtime, the collisions will benefit the Boks. On the other hand, as you say, the Japanese have been brilliant at specific game planning, I wonder what Joseph has in mind.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
Whingemania will erupt if the Wallabies lose I am sure
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
Yeah that's an interesting one. O'Keeffe relied on his touch judge for a lot of the scrum decisions in the Scot vs Japan game. So it's a case of whether all three of the on field refereeing team are prepared to be ruthless and call pens as they see them. Or whether they'll let a team play on if they manage to get the ball out, even if the props collapse/ stand up in the scrum, etc.
Harry Jones
Expert
Yes, I’m just a little worried about the way scrums will be adjudicated. The Bok scrum is the best one left in the tournament, maybe only Ireland can withstand it. But I don’t know if a ref will really reward that against Japan, with all the mania etc.
Ex force fan
Guest
Did Japan played their final against Scotland? They have done very well to make the finals, but did the game take too much out of the players and do they have enough time to recover. England, South Africa and New Zealand's best players are very well rested and injury free and had more than a week to prepare for the finals. If the Boks can keep the game tight and cut Japan's space down and force the backs to take contact inside backs to take contacts the Boks should have enough to get through to the semis. The Boks and NZ should get through to the semi. The game against NZ was as I said at that time a good game to loose with NZ winning not only the pressure of the favourites tag allow the Boks to progress below the radar but also a tougher path to the final. NZ has to beat (likely based on betting odds) Ireland and then England to get to the final while Boks has likely Japan and Wales on their path to the final. However any team can easily get unstuck with a red card or poor decision by player or official and this RWC is full of boogey traps. I hope the final will be the 100th game between the rugby heavy weights NZ vs Boks as they have been the best teams this year. However the best do not always win as much is left to chance.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
De Klerk, Pollard and Le Roux are going to do their absolute best. They need to make sure their kicks are accurate, strategic, and get their wingers to chase hard. It's a good plan and will put tremendous pressure on Japan's back three.
Was pretty much the same team, just some shuffeld to the bench or starting. there were 5 players that didn’t play vs SA. two starters Shota Horie and Himeno, and three new bench players vs Scotland, Hendrik Tui, Tanaka and Yamanaka. So not far off.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
In terms of taking down the ball carrier with multiple players coming in from different angles, their tackling was quite rugby league like.
Samlaurence26
Roar Rookie
I suspect there will be no competition for biggest whingers at the World Cup if the Wallabies do indeed lose to the Poms
Harry Jones
Expert
Boks won’t be taking the Blossoms lightly, even if the last meeting ended in a 41-7, 6 tries to 1, whipping, in September. Japan’s starters in that match were almost identical to those who beat Scotland. But Japan has been clever at varying their game plans. 32 kicks vs Samoa; 8 vs Scotland. South Africa will look to suffocate the Blossom backs, and test them with sky-high bazookas.
Kane
Roar Guru
"proven history as a duo." It's interesting how well they have hit it off together considering why Brown was brought in in the first place. He was hired to basically challenge Joseph's my way or the highway rules. Word is they nearly came to blows before morning tea on the first day.
Kane
Roar Guru
The sooner they give the whinging crown back to their celtic neighbours the better. I suspect the transfer will happen sometime this weekend.
Colvin Brown
Roar Guru
SJ, Jamie Joseph's just agreed an extension with Japan rugby. Tony Brown returns to the Highlanders next season.