Wales ease into their stride

Wales 72-18 Japan:  Wales recaptured their attacking fluency to trounce Japan with 11 tries in a 72-18 victory in their Pool…

Wales 72-18 Japan: Wales recaptured their attacking fluency to trounce Japan with 11 tries in a 72-18 victory in their Pool B match at the Millennium Stadium tonight.

Wales, easing to their second win of the tournament, secured a bonus point by halftime, Alun-Wyn Jones scoring the first of four first-half tries for the hosts.

A superb counter-attack that spanned the length of the pitch culminated in Kosuke Endo scoring for Japan in the corner but further scores for James Hook, Rhys Thomas and Kevin Morgan and the accurate kicking of Stephen Jones put Wales 29-11 ahead at the break.

Wales kept up the tempo in the second half, delighting the home fans with some fine handling against a tiring Japanese defence. Mike Phillips, Shane Williams (2), Dafyyd James, Gareth Cooper, Martyn Williams (2) added further tries.