Japan Fall to Ireland in Newcastle
The Brave Blossoms suffered a 20-36 defeat to Ireland in Round Two of the Nations Championship in Newcastle, Australia on Saturday night. Played on a cold, still evening in front of a crowd of just over 11,000, the match was a close-run affair, with both teams giving their all in a highly entertaining display of attacking rugby.
Japan fought bravely throughout the match and trailed by just six points with 10 minutes left on the clock. Yet the men in green showed their class by not letting the Brave Blossoms come any closer, before closing the match out with a penalty and converted try to give them a somewhat flattering, yet well-deserved 16-point victory.
The Brave Blossoms started the match well with a solid first half performance. Despite having to travel 8,000 kilometres for a home fixture, Japan showed little by way of travel fatigue. They came out strongly in defence, while also spreading the ball wide and attacking the flanks with speed and purpose.
Young flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito, in just his second test managed his backline well, distributing fast, attacking ball that showed an early promise of a Japanese ‘chosoku’ performance. His long and sharp, pinpoint cut-out passes were a highlight, and he continues to show his suitedness and comfort in playing at the highest level.
The Japanese forwards also put in a solid shift against the world’s number three ranked side. Their physicality and work rate kept Japan in the fight, with Captain Warner Dearns, alongside flankers Kanji Shimokawa and Ben Gunter, three of the standouts in highly credible performance by the Brave Blossoms pack.
Commenting after the match, Japan Captain Warner Dearns said: “Ireland put on an awesome show, we couldn’t handle them in the second half and they took it away. We came out with a game plan, and I think we executed it pretty well in the first half. In the second half we got a bit stuck in terms of how we controlled the game and let Ireland play the game they wanted to play. We’re always looking to play into space, with speed and tempo to get into that space. Today it didn’t quite work out for us.”
While the one-week round trip to Australia adds additional complexity to Japan’s Nations Championship home leg, the team will have no doubt recognised the trade-off benefit in playing at the same venue where they will face Samoa next year in their first Pool E match at Rugby World Cup 2027.
Japan now return home to take on France in Round Three of the Southern Hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship. Taking place at Tokyo’s National Stadium on Saturday, July 18, the match kicks off at 17:40 JST. Fans looking to catch the action live can pick up tickets via the JRFU’s English-language ticketing website at: https://quick.pia.jp/japan-rugby_en/.