Japan ease past Italy with 34-17 win at Oita Stadium

Japan 34-17 Italy, Oita Stadium
Scorecard

A dominant second-half performance from Japan saw them beat Italy 34-17 at Oita Stadium on Saturday.

The result also means Italy's winless streak continues in 2018. Prop Tiziano Pasquali got Italy off the mark with a 15th minute try and Tomasso Allan kicked a conversion to take them to 7-0 but three minutes later Italy responded back with a try of their own coming from Amanaki Mafi and Yu Tamura followed it with the extras.

The home side soon went on to the lead when Kenki Fukuoka dotted down and Tamura kicked a conversion and a penalty but as the half time was approaching, Braam Steyn crashed past the line as the teams headed into the break with a 17-14 lead.

After the first 10 minutes in the second half went without a point, Allan and Tamura traded penalties as Japan maintained their three-point lead but the Brave Blossoms dominated the remainder of the game with tries from winger Lomano Lemeki and fullback Kotaro Matsushima in the 60th and 65th minutes respectively and Tamura kicked the extras on both the occasions to complete a 34-17 victory.

The two teams will meet once again for the second and final game of the series in Kobe on 16th June.

#JPNvITA Tour Estivo 2018, a Oita il Giappone batte 34-17 l'#Italrugby nel primo test match

Sabato 16 giugno a Kobe secondo ed ultimo test pic.twitter.com/u0AIwQPjjY

— Italrugby (@Federugby) 9 June 2018