Match Review: Brave Blossoms v British & Irish Lions

EDINBURGH (June 26) – Japan coach Jamie Joseph said he was proud of his team’s performance despite the Brave Blossoms going down 28-10 to the British and Irish Lions at Murrayfield on Saturday.

   In a tough rugged game that saw Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones go off with a dislocated shoulder in the seventh minute that will mean he misses their tour of South Africa, the Brave Blossoms got a lot better the longer the game went on following a first half.

     Joseph rued some missed opportunities and thought the score “did not reflect just how good our performance was. Little mistakes here and there cost us dearly in the result. But our game is in good hands and we can only get better from it.”

   “In the second half we were able to play at our pace and display our skillset. It was a very physical game and there are a lot of battered players. It was a game the Lions needed and was a good starting point for our campaign, but we need to get better.”

     The first half was dominated by the Lions as Japan, in their first game since Rugby World Cup 2019, struggled to contain the physicality of the hosts and adapt to the interpretation of referee Pascal Gauzere.

     “I feel that there were many penalties in the first half and that allowed them to score,” said prop Keita Inagaki. “We need to improve our discipline and eliminate those penalties.”

    Centre Ryoto Nakamura agreed saying discipline and some errors with ball in hand had helped the Lions increase their lead following their opening try in the 12th minute.

     A powerful break by center Bundee Aki set up the position from which wing Josh Adams crossed for the opener before the Lions’ other wing Duhan van der Merwe crossed in the same corner six minutes later following good work from the other Irish center Robbie Henshaw.

    Henshaw was then rewarded for his efforts in the 23rd minute when he crossed for a simple try following some poor defense from Japan, and with Dan Biggar, who was later named man-of-the-match for his poised performance in the No. 10 jersey, adding the extras to all three tries it was 21-0 at the break.

     Despite the scoreline there had been some encouraging signs for Joseph with Lappies Labuschagne winning a couple of key turnovers and Kotaro Matsushima looking a threat every time he got his hands on the ball.

     “We knew the Lions would target out set piece and spoke about varying our options and making sure we got a few of the basic things right,” Japan new cap Jack Cornelsen said of the message given at halftime. 

     The second half started with the Lions knocking on twice over the try line in the space of four minutes.

     And when a huge gap in the midfield allowed flanker Tadhg Beirne to cross in the 49th minute, the home fans in the crowd of 16,500 sensed a rout.

     But with Joseph deploying his bench, the game started to turn with Kazuki Himeno and Tevita Tatafu impressing in the forwards and Naoto Saito increasing the pace of Japan’s attack with his swift service.

    “We were down by (28) points so it was time to try and change the momentum and I thought the guys that came on did a really good job,” said Joseph, adding that Himeno and Tatafu in particular gave his side some “go forward and created some different opportunities that weren’t quite there (before).”

     “As the game went on, we started getting opportunities on the edges,” said Japan centre Timothy Lafaele, who described the game as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

     Matsushima continued to be a threat to the Lions defense and in the 59th minute, the Brave Blossoms finally got some points on the board when Himeno powered over from a line-out.

     A 69th-minute penalty from Yu Tamura closed the gap even further and provided the launch pad from which Japan laid siege to the Lions line, helped in part by the Lions being down to 14 men after injuries saw them empty their bench early.

    Himeno almost added a second in the 74th minute following some good flowing rugby from his teammates but the back-row forward, who only met up with the team mid-week following his performance in the Trans Tasman Super Rugby final, was held up over the line.

     “We felt the pressure at the breakdown and told the team to improve their physicality in the second half,” said Japan captain Michael Leitch.

     “The impact players did a pretty good job today and the new caps gave the team a good impact in the second half.”

Japan take on Ireland next week in Dublin and Leitch said he was “very much looking forward to the game. We will fix the issues that came up in today’s game.”

     It was a view reflected by the whole team.

     “We need to be 100 percent ready for the match against Ireland,” said Himeno, while Inagaki said he was “very excited about the match against Ireland. We need to focus on our preparations for a week and perform at 100 percent and the results will follow.”