Yamada leads Japan past Hong Kong

TOKYO (May 2) – Akihito Yamada crossed for two of Japan’s seven tries as the Brave Blossoms made it two bonus-point wins from as many games in the Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday with a 41-0 win over Hong Kong.

Yamada – who is currently contracted with Super Rugby’s Western Force – touched down in the 15th and 48th minutes at Prince Chichubu Memorial Rugby Ground to make it 10 tries for his country in 11 tests, all of which he has won.

The speedster was joined on the scoresheet by Karne Hesketh, Luke Thompson, Yu Tamura, Ryu Koliniasi Holani and Yoshikazu Fujita with Ayumu Goromaru ending the day with three conversions.

The victory, Japan’s 13th straight over Hong Kong sees them top the ARC standings with 12 points from two games, with South Korea second on six and Hong Kong third with two.

On a warm sunny day in the nation’s capital, Yamada’s first effort came from a quick tap penalty, while his second owed much to some good work by Ryuhei Arita following a turnover on the halfway line.

Hesketh’s score in the 27th minute saw the centre use his strength to power over while Thompson finished off a period of good interplay between forwards and backs nine minutes before the break.

Japan led 19-0 at halftime and then made the most of their numerical advantage in the second half after Hong Kong had two players sent to the sin bin.

Tamura’s try came from a well-worked move between Harumichi Tatekawa and Hesketh, Holani went over following a tighthead scrum in the 64th minute, before Fujita wrapped up the scoring in the 72nd minute.

Japan takes on South Korea next week in Fukuoka before they finish their campaign in Hong Kong on May 23.