Japan tops Philippines 99-10
CALAMBA, Philippines (May 3) – Japan began their campaign to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015 with a 99-10 win over the Philippines on Saturday.
The win – Japan’s 25th straight bonus-point victory in the Asian 5 Nations – came on the back of 15 tries and 12 conversions, though they had to come from behind having given up an intercept try in the fifth minute to trail 10-7.
Hendrik Tui opened the scoring just 35 second into the game with Ayumu Goromaru adding the conversion to make it 7-0.
But the hosts hit back with a penalty by Ollie Saunders before his brother Matt added a try, converted by his sibling.
Using the opportunity behind the posts to regroup, the Japan backs adjusted their line of attack and with a plentiful supply of ball from their dominant pack, the Brave Blossoms added a further six tries to lead 45-10 at the break.
Tui added a second, Yoshikazu Fujita crossed twice, Hayden Hopgood and Kotaro Matsushima both marked their international debuts with five-pointers while Goromaru added a try and another four conversions.
The second half started with Japan again crossing early on through Hopgood. And with the Volcanoes rarely getting their ball on their hands, Fujita and Matsushima also added further five-pointers. The forwards’ effort was rewarded with tries for Yusuke Nagae, Kyosuke Horie (another debut try), Takeshi Kizu and Justin Ives, while replacement scrumhalf Keisuke Uchida also touched down.
Goromaru knocked over a further seven conversions to finish the day with 29 points.
The six points Japan picked up for the win sees them go second in the standings behind Hong Kong, who play their second game of the A5N, which this year doubles as Asia’s qualifying tournament for RWC 2015, later Saturday in Sri Lanka.
