Late try: Hirotoki Onozawa
Hirotoki Onozawa's try four minutes from the end secured Japan a 34-23 victory over Romania on Saturday in the opener of their four-match tour.
Both sides conceded penalty tries in a three-minute span, Romania deliberately collapsing a maul, and Japan collapsing a scrum, to leave Japan leading by one with eight minutes to go.
But then Fumiaki Tanaka set up Onozawa for a converted try, and there was enough time left for Ayumu Goromaru to bang over his fifth penalty in a personal 19-point haul at the match in Bucharest.
Japan struggled to handle Romania's strength in the scrums and breakdowns, but enjoyed the edge in ball and territory.
The visitors led 17-9 at the break, with a late try by Takashi Kikutani, who capped a flowing move.
On the hour, Romania closed to within a point when pressure on a Japan scrum put-in ended with Romania winger Madalin Lemnaru racing from halfway for a converted try.
Comments
paulynz says...
@tokyojb
Haven't seen that game but shame if Eddie Jones has changed Japan's style of play. As you say, Japan's high-tempo passing & off-loading game is more suited to the quick and agile type of player that the Japanese are. Shame because that high-tempo passing & off-loading game is what made them such an attractive team to follow.
Posted 18:37 11th November 2012
melkdave says...
Unfortunatly i didnt see the match,as it conflicted with the Wales and England matches.If only it was on at 17.00 same time as Irelands .I would have definatly watched it,as i just love watching Japan play,such pace ect .
Posted 10:57 11th November 2012
NHsaints says...
Japan have the same problem as Australia...they love running rugby but they don't develop any real tight forwards because of it. If they can bring in the coaching and fitness knowledge into their age group squads they could build up these players who wouldn't naturally be huge but with some fine tuning make decent props eg: Paul Doran-Jones or Mike Ross.
Posted 10:53 11th November 2012
Scrumpoacher says...
I really wish these 2nd tier games got some air time-sounds a lot mor interesting than eng v Fiji for a start! Well done Brave Blossoms
Posted 09:50 11th November 2012
tokyojb says...
Well played Japan but they will need to be a lot more physical against Georgia next week if they are to stay in the game.
Also at the 2011 RWC Japan played a high-tempo passing & off-loading game that worked well against teams like France, however under Eddie Jones they seem to have dropped that for a more predictable game plan to which I don't think they're suited.
Posted 08:19 11th November 2012