Japan got what they prayed for in the first half against woeful opponents
Eddie Jones was joking in midweek that Japan needed to find a temple and say a few prayers before this match. Had they done so, they would have prayed for a loose and possibly complacent England to play like headless chickens for the first half. Which is exactly what they did.
England were so lacking rugby intelligence, not to mention intensity and sharpness, for the first 40 that they deserved to go down the tunnel at half time 15 points down rather than five.
It was U15B rugby against a well-motivated, extremely fit side of brilliant ball handlers that just want to run and pass all day in a game devoid of all structure. Japan thought all their Christmases
“It was U15B rugby against a well-motivated, extremely fit side of brilliant ball handlers”
had come at once and suddenly the prospect of another miracle win began to loom. Surely not?
It was baffling, not least because as soon as they sat down in the changing room and talked it through England immediately made the necessary changes and bossed the second half, winning it 25-0 in a totally convincing manner.
Ultimately England finished the match in credit and will have learned a host of lessons but that opening first half is a worry and all the players were shaking their heads and fretting about it at the break.
Psychologically it’s an interesting one. If England had started with the team that lost so agonisingly to New Zealand the week before you could perhaps point to a hangover syndrome, but Eddie Jones rang the changes and introduced eleven new starters, many of whom will have been desperate to impress when being granted rare game time.
The build up was a bit odd generally. After the magnificent win against South Africa at RWC2019 and off the back of some outstanding performances since then, including a draw with France in Toulouse last Autumn and a narrow defeat against Wales, you would think Japan, in public at least, would be offered some respect.
An acknowledgement of their progress and the areas of the
“England redeemed themselves with a ruthless and much improved second half”
game – such as handling and offloading – in which they could probably still teach British sides a lesson.
But no, we were informed that England would batter them up front and that the Cherry Blossoms needed to say their prayers. Did that approach backfire? Did England, even if subconsciously, think they were playing just another T2 nation and that victory would follow just as night follows day? For 40 minutes it certainly looked like it.
All this was accentuated by England consciously trying to mimic week two of the World Cup when they have a four day turn around – which includes travel – from their opening game against Tonga in Sapporo and their second game, against the USA, in Kobe when they will almost certainly field a squad XV.
Training time was cut this week to replicate that turnaround and the wholesale changes also mimicked what will happen in New Zealand.
But then England redeemed themselves with a ruthless and much improved second half which vanquished the prospect of defeat and augers well for this week against Australia. In the final 40 there was much more control, the discipline sharpened up and the points came.
That will have pleased Jones and rightly because that is the reality of World Cups. The big high profile clashes of the titans – in this case England v Argentina followed by England France – take care of themselves, it’s the other games that need to be negotiated as smoothly as possible.
Sometimes you just have to slug it out and find a way of winning on the hoof, rather as England did against Samoa in 2003 or, indeed, South Africa did in their 2007 quarter-final against Fiji.
As for Japan, brilliantly led by Michael Leitch, there was so much to enjoy in their performance and like many this Autumn they are quite a few players down, not least up front. Their handling is wonderous and happily defies the flat earth brigade and quasi scientists who flood social media insisting that it is impossible to pass backwards at speed.
The other eye-popping aspect of their play is the speed at which both scrum-halves – the ageless Fumiaki Tanaka and Yutake Nagare – distribute the ball at the base of the ruck.
It’s breath-taking and emphasises how turgid and predictable that part of the game has become here up in the North with scrumhalves massively over protected. Play the game as it was intended and there is no need to build a Berlin Wall to protect your nine.
In Timothy Lafaele Japan have also unearthed a world class centre which might frustrate both Samoa – he is of Samoan parentage – and New Zealand where he was raided and learned his rugby.
Japan, it must be said, have ruthlessly used the hiring of mainly Pacific Island players by their clubs to attract talented players and to ‘persuade’ them to qualify via residency.
Their squad is awash with bone fide Samoans and Tongans with a sprinkling of Kiwis and South Africans. It’s not illegal, they have no doubt got the paperwork to prove it, but nor is it particularly commendable.