Player ratings Scotland

6 15 Stuart Hogg

Marshalled the back line well in the build-up to Nel’s try. Battled hard but fumbled in his own 22 with 15 minutes left.

5 2 Fraser Brown

A lot of pressure on Brown as he replaced World Cup captain Stuart Mcinally. Struggled with Japan’s intensity.

6 14 Tomy Seymour

Better defensive nous early on than against Ireland. But Fukuoka and the rest of the Japanese back three caused him trouble.

6 3 WP Nel

Tenacious in dealing with the challenges of the low Japan scrum and took his chance to score his try to begin his side’s fightback.

6 13 Chris Harris

Did nothing overtly wrong, just not given a chance to assert his influence. Good rapport building with Johnson and Russell.

6 4 Grant Gilchrist

Seemed somewhat overawed by the occasion and tired from the amount of tackling necessary to gain so little.

6 12 Sam Johnson

Made a good run when Scotland were 28-7 down, but it was the first time he had a decent chance to run with the ball in hand.

7 5 Jonny Gray

Came into his own in the second half and was instrumental in both of Scotland’s second-half tries. Brave in defeat.

7 11 Darcy Graham

Key to the build-up of Scotland’s first try. Was not particularly poor, but struggled with the tricky angles run by the Japanese.

6 6 Magnus Bradbury

Tireless early on in defence but looked as he was flagging as he allowed Inagaki to slip through for the Brave Blossoms’ second try.

7 10 Finn Russell

Scored the opening try and is looking to come back to his best as an inventive playmaker. A key instigator in the fightback.

8 7 James Ritchie

Huge defensive effort. Showed consistency at the breakdown early on and continued in the second half with some crucial turnovers.

6 9 Greig Laidlaw

A commanding captain. Directed Scotland well, but the Japanese line speed and angles of running looked to drain his energy reserves.

7 8 Blade Thomson

A decent performance, grew in confidence as Scotland nudged their way back into the game but was outplayed by his opposite number.

6 1 Allan Dell

Showed bravery early on to throw his body over the ball. Worked hard to cope with low Japan scrum, but left the field exhausted.

Replacements

B Kinghorn (Seymour (52), S Cummings (Gilchrist 52),

G Horne (Laidlaw 52), G Reid (Dell 52) S Mcinally (Brown 52), Z Fagerson ( Nel 52), P Horne (Graham 61).