Japan Rugby

[rey200 Profile]

France vs Japan FT 23-23

Japan were closer to win this one

[Bogdan_DC Profile]

Lucky escape for France. Japan rhythm is unreal.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

Japan played with far more intensity than they did against Australia. Scrum needs some work though. That’s still a good result however, will get a nice rankings bump.

[4N Profile]

Full match

[amz Profile]

Hell of a match by Japan but they lacked the skills to finish off France. Not sure what happens with Les Bleus.

4N, no concern regarding the 8 non-Japanese born players? I didn't counted Leitch.

[4N Profile]

Average ago of the Japanese XV was 26.7, one player over age 30. I know you want to justify Romania bringing in loads of foreigners to compete with Spain and Germany, but perhaps get younger ones so they can play effectively until 2019 and beyond.

[Armchair Fan Profile]

Well, the reality is that if Romania brings loads of foreigners, they certainly don't do it to compete with Spain and Germany but with Georgia, Samoa and Tonga...

[amz Profile]

OK so I get that you don't want to answe 4N to my question.

[4N Profile]

Well, the reality is that if Romania brings loads of foreigners, they certainly don't do it to compete with Spain and Germany but with Georgia, Samoa and Tonga...

They just lost to Tonga, who they beat in 2013 with one naturalized player in the 23 (Turashvili). So...

[Armchair Fan Profile]

By 5, with half their star squad off, the week after beating Samoa. To deny they belong to that group is just fanaticism.

[4N Profile]

A Samoa team in complete flux.

Half their star team? No idea what you're on about. Some more old players who won't be around in 2-3 years?

[amz Profile]

So keeping Scotland close and scoring them 4 tries is a bad Samoan team, right? You seem to have an obsession with age, look at AB squad who won WC and their ages at the time, best OC of tournament was 34 at the time of the final if I remember well. McCaw was 34, Carter 33, Mealamu 36, Nonu 33, Read 30. About missing players, Antonescu is pretty young, 24 I think, Macovei and Ursache score tries for their teams this week-end, Gorcioaia I think scored a try as well. Fercu is still the best Romanian back and I can continue.

Tongan team who played versus us was slightly better than the one used vs Japan and although we missed few players it was a game who could have be won by any team. Vlaicu missed some penalties from positions where he used to be a sure bet, young players had both a good game and showed potential, Simionescu I think missed only one tackle in Samoa and Tonga matches and we had the occasion to score at the end. Tongans got away easy with only one yellow.

But haters gonna hate

[Armchair Fan Profile]

A Samoa team who who just gave a late scare to Scotland.

And rugby is about what you can put on the field, I'm talking about what Romania can put on field this February, with just less injuries and players being released in France, not hypothetisizing about a distant future. If that what the case Portugal awesome junior generations would rock the REC and we all know that's not happening anytime soon.

[4N Profile]

Scotland vs Samoa was 32-10 at one point. Scotland were never in danger of losing, though they did take their foot off the pedal and let Samoa back into it. The results in Romania and England are a fairer reflection of Samoa's tour and the current state of their rugby.

[Armchair Fan Profile]

Cherry-pick as much as you want... I'm tired.

[4N Profile]

You're the one who said Romania were missing half their star team. Any of them under 30? Even Fercu is old now, I remember when he was their great young hope.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

Watching the match again Japan could have easily score another 2 or 3 tries to really put France away. Still a positive result, though they should have won by at least 10-12 points. It's evident now that Japan have to really start at a high intensity in order to compete with these bigger teams, but they also need to be able to capitalise on the scoring opportunities they create. They lost the second test against Scotland last year because they couldn't find a way to finish what they started. Anyway this is Japan's record against T1 teams over the last 5years:

2013 - 2017
France: D 23-23
Australia: L 63-30
Ireland: L 35-13
Ireland: L 50-22
Wales: L 33-30
Argentina: L 54-20
Scotland: L 21-18
Scotland: L 26-13
South Africa: W 34-32
Scotland: L 45-10
Italy: W 26-23
Scotland: L 42-17
New Zealand: L 54-6
Wales: W 23-8
Wales: L 22-18

Interesting to note, Japan have played fifteen tests against T1 opposition in the last 5 years. The average score of these fifteen T1 tests is 35 - 20, so a difference of around 2 tries. It took 13 years for them to play as many matches against T1 opposition before 2013. The results are interesting in comparison:

1999 - 2012
New Zealand: L 83-7
France: L 47-21
Italy: L 36-12
Australia: L 91-3
Wales: L 72-18
Italy: L 52-6
Ireland: L 47-18
Ireland: L 44-12
Wales: L 98-0
Scotland: L 100-8
France: L 51-29
Scotland: L 32-12
Wales: L 64-10
Wales: L 53-30
Argentina: L 33-12

The average score between 1999-2012 is 60 - 13, about 6 and a half tries difference. The closest they got to a win was a 20 point loss. In the last 5 years they won 3 matches, drawn 1, and came within 7 points of another 3. They've conceded only 50 points on three occasions since 2013, compared to 9 between 1999-2012.

[kearnc25 Profile]

It is good to see Japan progressing easily my favorite tier 2 team. Hopefully they'll be at tier 1 level by 2027. I'd love to see them take another tier 1 scalp before the RWC who have they got next year? They are grouped with Ireland and Scotland who are both looking better than they ever have before.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

They've got the All Blacks and England in November. Not sure what their June schedule is like. Playing England next year means they've played every 6N and RC team in the last 6 years. Last time they played England was 30 years ago.

[kearnc25 Profile]

They've got the All Blacks and England in November. Not sure what their June schedule is like. Playing England next year means they've played every 6N and RC team in the last 6 years. Last time they played England was 30 years ago.

It will be interesting to see how close they can keep it against 1a and 1b of world rugby. They were pretty handily dealt with by a very inexperienced Ireland this summer they would want to have significantly improved by next year as to not be blown out.

[olivier]

Just a confirmation that competition means progress. That's the main reason why Tier 1 nations continue to play between each other.

[kearnc25 Profile]

Just a confirmation that competition means progress. That's the main reason why Tier 1 nations continue to play between each other.

The best teams wanting to play the best teams to see who is the best team is hardly a novel argument lad haha. It also makes more money.

[olivier]

Just a confirmation that competition means progress. That's the main reason why Tier 1 nations continue to play between each other.

The best teams wanting to play the best teams to see who is the best team is hardly a novel argument lad haha. It also makes more money.

That's exactly where they lie. Globalization means more money.

[JRugbyPodcast Profile]

We talk with Kyodo News journalist Rich Freeman about Japan's exploits in the Autumn series, especially their record win against Tonga and their draw against France. We also discuss Dan Carter's move to Kobe Steelers, Sunwolves coaching staff and speculation surrounding Eddie Jones and Goldman Sachs! Please listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-260271034/3 ... ch-freeman The podcast cover is kindly provided by www.nadegatapenguin.com/ who are releasing a special 2018 calendar. Please check out their website to buy your Japanese penguin-themed calendar now!!

[Canalina Profile]

I've read that in 2014 a rugby movie called "Hanazono old boy" was broadcasted on tv and that it will be re-shown next saturday january 13rd, after a rugby final.
It's about an old rugby player, his fellows and a girl who knows nothing about rugby. Seems interesting. Do you know if it's possible to find online a video of the drama, even just few minutes? I haven't found anything on google

https://www.nhk.or.jp/osaka-blog/program/287400.html