Japan 42 Chile 12
Japan had to withstand a ferocious physical challenge from debutants Chile in their bonus-point 42-12 Rugby World Cup Pool D clash in Toulouse on Sunday as coach Jamie Joseph said their opponents “tackled like demons” in the searing heat.
Japan scored six tries from Folau Fakatava (two), Jone Naikabula, Michael Leitch, Ryoto Nakamura and Warner Dearns in what looks a comfortable win on the scoreboard but was anything but that in reality for the 2019 World Cup quarter-finalists against a fired-up, emotional South American side, many of who were in tears at the anthems.
“Chile came with a really spirited performance, really hearty, tackled like demons, turned our ball over, really put us under pressure. We had to deal with that without losing confidence,” Joseph said.
He expected Chile to fight for everything on their World Cup debut and in front of a fervent crowd, but knowing that and dealing with it are two different things.
“It doesn’t matter how much you say to the players that Chile are going to come to play today,” Joseph said. “The support for their team was amazing. They cheered for everything, as the Japanese do, so you really feel they had a whole bunch of people behind them.”
Japan next face England in Nice on September 17th, which Joseph knows will be a step up in quality.
“We know that it’s a different prospect, but it’s been a difficult couple of weeks for us so we’ll just enjoy this,” he said.
Japan captain Yutaka Nagare conceded they struggled with the physicality of Chile at times in the game.
“Every game is not an easy one so it’s really important that we grabbed the win. Chile fought really hard,” he said. “We struggled a little bit physically, but we executed our game plan, which was great for us.”
JAPAN: S Masirewa; K Matsushima, D Riley, R Nakamura, J Naikabula; R Matsuda, Y Nagare; K Inagaki, A Sakate, J Gu; A Saumaki, A Fakatava; M Leitch, K Shimokawa, J Cornelsen
Replacements: A Ai Valu for Gu (41 mins); S Horie for Sakate, S Fukui for Shimokawa (both 50); W Dearns for Saumaki 55); L Lemeki for Masirewa (56); C Millar for Inagaki (58); N Saito for Nagare (61); T Osada for Naikabula (63).
CHILE: I Ayarza; S Videla, D Saavedra, M Garafulic, F Velarde; R Fernandez, M Torrealba; J Carrasco, D Escobar, M Dittus; C Saavedra, J Eissmann; M Sigren, R Martinez, A Escobar.
Replacements: I Gurruchaga for Velarde (30-36 mins) and for Dittus (68); S Lues for Carrasco (54); JI Larenas for Velarde, S Pedrero for Eissmann (both 56); A Bohme for D Escobar, I Silva for Martinez (both 58); L Carvallo for Ayarza (61); P Huete for Saavedra (65).
Referee: N Berry (Aus).
