Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Japan finished off their record Rugby World Cup with a 28-18 win over the USA at Kingsholm. The victory gives the Brave Blossoms a 3-1 record in pool play. Unfortunately for the side, Scotland’s narrow win over Samoa means that Japan becomes the first team in World Cup history to finish 3-1 in pool play and not make the quarterfinals.
In a scrappy first half, Japan took control of the scoreboard late in the half and never relinquished although the Eagles made several brave attempts to get back into the match. Ayumu Goromaru slotted 13 points for the Brave Blossoms while Kotaro Matsushima, Yoshikazu Fujita, and Amanaki Mafi each scored tries for the victors.
USA Captain Chris Wyles and Taku Ngwenya each crossed the line for the Eagles in the losing effort.
The USA got their match off to a fine start with AJ MacGinty giving the side a 3-0 lead with a 5th minute penalty goal. Matsushima scored the first try of the match just two minutes later. The conversion from Goromaru gave Japan a 7-3 lead.
After a run of extremely scrappy play where the two sides traded possession and territory, the Eagles pushed the ball deep into Japan’s territory. After a number of forward-heavy phases near the Japanese goal line, the Eagles got the ball out wide to Ngwenya who scored in the corner. MacGinty couldn’t add the difficult conversion, but the USA led 8-7 with 25 minutes gone.
As with the USA’s first score, a lapse in focus on the kickoff led to Japan getting the ball back deep in the Eagle’s half. Japan formed a maul just outside of the USA’s five meter line. As the maul looked as if it was going to stall, Japan added some of their backs to the mix. Fujita, who started on the wing, found his way into the mix and was the beneficiary of the drive as he scored in the 28th minute. The Goromaru conversion gave Japan a 14-8 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the match.
Japan added to their total just before half when Goromaru slotted a penalty to push the Brave Blossom’s lead to 17-8. Just on the other side of the half, Goromaru added another penalty to give Japan a 20-8 lead at the 44th minute.
Sensing the match slipping away, the USA was able to cut into the lead when MacGinty added a penalty goal in the 55th minute to cut the score to 20-11 as the match shifted into the final quarter of play.
Japan answered back in the 62nd minute with a try from Mafi after the USA’s Eric Fry was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements. The try from Mafi gave Japan a 25-11 lead with just over 15 minutes left to play.
Down a man and trailing by two tries, the USA began to show the sense of urgency that they had lacked the entire tournament. A few key substitutions gave the Eagles some go forward and momentum. After a long series of phases just outside of the Japan goal line, the Eagles spun the ball wide where team Captain Chris Wyles touched down to put the USA closer. The conversion from MacGinty left the score at 25-18 with less than ten minutes to play.
As had been the theme most of the tournament for Japan, the Brave Blossoms answered back quickly. Goromaru nailed a 77th minute penalty to seal Japan’s 28-18 win.
The match statistics reflected the scoreboard as the two sides performed fairly evenly throughout the match. The big difference being the USA’s inability to execute at critical moments of the match. The Eagles turned the ball over with excellent field position multiple times throughout the match. The straightforward USA attack was easily defended by the Brave Blossoms.
As the match reach it’s final moment, so did the Pool stage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The tournament’s darling, Japan, ended on a high note despite missing out on the quarterfinals. The USA ends another disappointing run at the World Cup. The squad finished the tournament 0-4 and looked out of sorts throughout the tournament. The Eagles have only managed one win in the past three World Cups and appeared no closer to turning the corner than they did in 2003 or 2007.
