Japan coach Eddie Jones got the fast start he wanted as his side moved up a gear to beat South Korea 66-10 at Fukuoka’s Level-5 Stadium to clinch the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship, successor to the Asian Five Nations.
Having struggled to play at any real pace in either of their two opening games, Japan put in a much more fluid performance, with the forwards giving their speedy backs plenty of good ball.
Kenki Fukuoka marked his return to international rugby with a hat-trick of tries, while Karne Hesketh bagged a well earned brace. There were also tries for Ryu Koliniasi Holani, Luke Thompson, Harumichi Tatekawa, Kensuke Hatakeyama and Ayumu Goromaru, who banged over eight conversions.
“Today was all about attitude,” Jones said. “Today the team were in their worst physical condition in three years in terms of fatigue and I am pleased they worked through it. We got a little tired 10 minutes after half-time, but the reserves came on and did their job and lifted things again.”
Jegal Bin, who plays his rugby in Japan for NTT Communications Shining Arcs, crossed for South Korea’s only try with Park Hang-yul adding a conversion and Oh Youn-hyung kicking a penalty.
Korea coach Chung Hyung-suk said: “We knew Japan were a level above us. They had much better teamwork than when we last played them in round one; that and their defence made it really difficult for us.”
Fukuoka hadn’t played for his country since June 2014 due to injury, but scored with his first touch following a great cross kick from Yu Tamura in the first minute. Korea hit back 10 minutes later when Jegal intercepted a loose pass from Goromaru, but they were never able to repeat their heroics of three weeks ago when they led Japan halfway through the first half of the opening game.
Tatekawa finished off some free-flowing rugby in the 16th minute even though Japan were a man down with Goromaru in the sin bin for a late tackle. Hesketh powered over in the 24th minute, Goromaru made up for his time in the naughty chair with a try in the 29th minute and Hatakeyama was on the end of a well-worked driving maul just a minute before the break as Japan led 31-7 at half-time.
With both coaches going to the bench, the second half started slowly before Japan’s new combinations started to click, resulting in a further five tries, with Fukuoka showing his impressive speed to score the try of the half in the 64th minute.
Hatakeyama, who led the side in the absence of Michael Leitch on Super Rugby duties, said: “The attitude of the players was very good and we fought it out for the whole game. Considering how intense the training has been I think we played well and I am proud of our effort.”
Korea will next focus on the upcoming clash with Hong Kong, hoping to again beat the rivals and secure second spot in the three-team table.
Chung said: “We have to try and make the players forget this game and prepare for the next match and hope that we play like we did two weeks ago. We were aggressive today but it didn’t last and we couldn’t finish things off.”
Japan are hoping to finish their campaign in style on May 23 in Hong Kong, where they’ll seek to continue their winning run in Asian competition.
In the curtain-raiser, the Japan women’s team completed a 27-12 victory over Kazakhstan. Japan dominated the possession and territory stakes for large swathes of the match, taking a 16-0 lead at the break after captain and fullback Ai Tasaka slotted two penalties in the opening quarter, followed by tries to winger Noriko Taniguchi and flanker Chisoto Yookoo.
Kazakhstan came storming back in the second half, the defending Asian champions notching their first try through towering centre Lyudmila Korotikh in the 42nd minute.
Tasaka pushed Japan’s lead to 19-5 with her third penalty moments later, but Kazakhstan were building momentum as their physicality began to wear down the Japan defence. The pack accounted for the visitors’ second try with hooker Yelena Yevdokimova crossing over in the corner.
Fullback Aigerym Daurembayeva’s impressive conversion from the touchline further lifted Kazakhstan as they closed in on a bonus point, trailing 19-12 with 10 minutes remaining.
But Japan’s Sakura XV, playing in front of a vocal home audience, were not to be denied, rallying to ruthlessly snuff out the Kazakh comeback with a try through winger Mizuki Honma in the 34th minute. Tasaka added her fourth penalty in the 39th minute to round off the scoring.
The result keeps the Asia Rugby Women’s Championships alive into week three. Kazakhstan top the table on six points after their 40-0 win over Hong Kong in Almaty in Round 1. Japan are second on five points with a game in hand on Kazakhstan. Japan will travel to Hong Kong to play the hosts ahead of the men’s ARC match.
The Kazakhstan men’s team marked the celebrations of Victory Day at home with a 32-12 win over Singapore to claim third in the ARC Division I tournament in Philippines.
