Bottas will not make it easy for Hamilton despite slim hopes
VALTTERI Bottas will not make life easy for Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton even though the Briton is now within touching distance of a sixth Formula One world championship.
The Finn roared to victory in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix to narrow the gap to Hamilton, who finished third and set the fastest lap, to 64 points.
The 30-year-old Bottas is now the only driver who can still overhaul Hamilton, with a maximum of 104 points remaining to be won from the final four races, but his hopes are more mathematical than realistic.
Hamilton need not win again to clinch the title and would still be leading even if he fails to score for two races and Bottas takes maximum points. The Briton could take the title as early as the next round in Mexico on 27 October.
With Mercedes having wrapped up a recordequalling sixth straight constructors’ crown yesterday, and sure of an unprecedented title double for the sixth year in a row, the Finn can pull out all the stops.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to give up as long as there is a theoretical chance,” he said.
“What happened here is a good example because I was starting third with two Ferraris ahead, so it was going to be difficult to win, from this point of view.
“So, it’s possible. But I’m realistic as well and I would need to be very lucky – that’s a fact – to win all the rest of the races.”
Bottas has three wins to Hamilton’s nine this season.
The Finn rebounded strongly from a winless year in 2017, leading the championship early on after two wins in the first four races.
His form has waned since, with Sunday’s victory his first since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of April.
In his third season with Mercedes and already confirmed for next year, Bottas has tended to fade in the second half of the year.
While blaming himself for falling behind Hamilton in the title battle this season, he used some earthy language to counter those detractors questioning his staying power over the course of a campaign.
“I nearly said some swear words again, I don’t know if I did,” said Bottas of his comments over the radio after taking the chequered flag, before then using an expletive on live television.
He made his point with similar directness after his win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.
“It’s such a good feeling and obviously there’s quite a few people say that normally I don’t perform in the second half of the season,” he said of his latest win. — SuperSport JAPAN produced a stunning first half performance of typhoon like proportions to set up an outstanding 28-21 win over Scotland in the Pool A decider in front of a rapturous home crowd at the Yokohama Stadium that propels them into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
Japan will come back here next Sunday to host the Springboks in an appetising sequel to the most memorable game of the 2015 World Cup, when the minnows of world rugby pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time.
Make no mistake it would still be a major surprise if Japan repeat that feat next week. But on the basis of the way they have played at this tournament, and particularly tonight in front of 67 000 rapturous fans who produced a cacophonous yet rhythmical din that was only ever silenced when a kicker lined a kick for posts, it wouldn’t be nearly the shock it was four years ago.
The Boks should know what they are up against next Sunday - it isn’t just the Japanese team, but the whole Japanese nation, who have thrown themselves behind their team in the same manner that South Africans famously did their team back in 1995.
This game was in the balance until fairly late on the morning of the match as World Rugby and the Japanese Organising Committee assessed the damage wreaked by Typhoon Hagibis that passed through Japan on Saturday night. Thank goodness they decided to go ahead for this was surely the match of the tournament so far, with the Scots also playing their part with their never say die attitude.
The way Japan play is reminiscent of the way the late great Smoking Joe Frazier used to box. To some it up they are just as busy as bees, constantly probing and stretching defences with their blend of speed and sublime ball skills. They are astoundingly fit, something they first showed with the way they ran the ball from everywhere against the Scots in the first half and then their busy, aggressive and unrelenting defence when Scotland came back at them later on.
Scotland were first to score when Japan produced a rare defensive error to let flyhalf Finn Russell through for the try that put the visitors 7-0 ahead after seven minutes. But then for the next 40 odd minutes it was all Japan, as they scored four unanswered tries and 28 unanswered points.
Their passing game always threatened to outflank the Scots and sure enough, after 17 minutes left wing Kenki Fukuoka was away down the left. With a man to beat he transferred inside to his fellow wing Kotaro Matsushima who ran through to score.
Yu Tamura had missed a penalty a minute or two earlier but this time he made no mistake with the angled conversion and the scores were level. Japan were never headed again. They took the lead through a stunning attack through the middle that saw prop Keita Inagaki score between the posts, and then it was Kukuoka’s turn to get on the scoreboard as he was set up by an excellent grubber from outside centre Timothy Lefaele, who was at the heart of much that went right for Japan on attack.
Japan took a 21-7 lead to the break and they needed to respond quickly after the break. But they had won only 25 percent possession in the first half and when the Scotland players did have the ball the quickly advancing Japanese defensive system was all over them. And it was that kind of aggressive defence that saw Fukuoka dispossess a Scotland player in the tackle and then use his pace to run in the try.
At 28-7 Japan were sailing, and as it was their bonus point try, it was also a significant moment in the game. For Japan to be knocked out of the World Cup, they needed to be kept to a minimum of one log point. So it meant that at that point Scotland needed to win by eight.
They fought their way back manfully and scored two tries through front-row forwards to set up a thrilling last quarter. Somehow though with the crowd behind them and with their energy levels so high, it just always looked as though Japan would prevail, and they did.
Roll on next Sunday. If the quarterfinal is anything like this it will be a game we’ll all remember for a very long time. Regardless though of next week’s result, Japan have exceeded all expectations at their own World Cup, and have done so playing an admirable brand of rugby. — SuperSport