Wallaroos fullback Lori Cramer missed a penalty from almost in front as the fifth ranked Aussies fell to 12th-ranked Japan 12-10 in their Test match on the Gold Coast.
The Australians struggled with their execution and discipline but a penalty with 90 seconds left on the clock set them up for a come from behind victory.
Cramer had earlier missed two conversions as the teams scored two tries apiece.
“Lori Cramer will be filthy,” said former Wallaroos hooker Averyl Mitchell on the Stan Sport commentary after the Waratahs No.15 dragged her attempt wide.
“She’s by and large the best place kicker in Australia at the moment and it’s super uncharacteristic for her to miss those.”
Cramer went to the referee to complain about what she felt was movement by the opponents off the line as she moved in to take the attempt.
“There was an issue but the referee refereed the game and we take her on what she has seen,” said Wallaroos captain Shannon Parry.
“Our concern was that Japanese players were basically coming off the line on her approach to kick putting off the kicker. The referee was happy with it so we left it.
“We had a sight difference of opinion but the game doesn’t fully come down to that kick – we had a number of other opportunities to win the game and unfortunately couldn’t slot that goal.”
The Wallaroos got around in support of Cramer after fulltime.
The Aussies, who scored a strong win over Fiji on Friday were off form at Bond University. Japan had also beaten Fiji in the series nine days ago.
“It was definitely a tough Test match and to be honest we were probably our worst enemy today,” said Parry. “Every time we turned over the ball the Japanese made us pay – credit to them.
“They really smothered our attack, we struggled to secure our break down and get the ball back. We came in with a game plan and weren’t able to execute it.”
The match against Fiji was the Wallaroos first in more than 900 days and they were still fighting to find cohesion on Tuesday night.
“You look at this group we’ve been together less than 10 days, this is a good stepping stone and hopefully the team can learn from this,” said Parry.
Mitchell said it was a disappointing performance from the Wallaroos and left them with plenty of work ons as they continued to build towards a series against New Zealand and then the World Cup.
“A bit of whether it’s strategy, rejigging or game plan I’m not sure what it needs, but some work ons,” she said.
Aussie coach Jay Tregonning said she found positives from the performance.
“But there were definitely some execution things we could have done better we thought we had a good game plan going in but all credit to Japan – their defence was outstanding.”
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Jacko
Roar Rookie
yes…With Japan :laughing: :laughing:
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Unexpected result. Good for Japanese Womans rugby and Aus will gain from it.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Disappointing result, Wallaroos had the possession and opportunities to get the points but were thwarted by the Japanese. In some ways it is expected, Japan have developed since 2019 and the Wallaroos haven't had the opportunity to do so. Probably need to lower our expectations of the team.
James584
Roar Rookie
Gee, with the match against Fiji as preparation, this is a very disappointing result. Brad Thorn wasn’t involved was he? :laughing:
Hooter
Roar Rookie
I thought we were our own worst enemies last night. The cleanout and the latch arriving at the breakdown late allowing the Japanese the ability to get over the ball in good position, balls between the legs resulting in tries, trying to do too much rather than consolidating and starting again. In my view we expected the result to be like the last time the Wallaroos played Japan, did not show them enough respect and they turned up to play. You could see what it meant to the Japanese women at full time.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Tony, I want to say thanks about the article with regards to Woman’s Rugby and it is not mentioned enough.. :thumbup: :rugby:
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Japan, away from home, presumably similar issues wrt playing matches, they'd be very happy. We should be disappointed
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Australian women will be disappointed for sure, but congratulations to Japan as they are showing that it is not just about the men.
DJ
Roar Rookie
Bit of a tough watch tonight, maybe end of the season, national fitness work and not getting the combinations going yet, but i thought we looked a little slow and a few errors. Hopefully, they manage plenty more time together in the lead up to the World Cup. Congrats to Japan who executed plenty of things really well technically and were looking quite quick and dangerous.