Rugby World Cup Match Report - New Zealand 83 - 7 Japan

Friday 16 September 2011

The New Zealand All Blacks completed dominated an understrength Japan team 83-7 in the first major blow out of the Rugby World Cup 2011 tournament. The All Blacks scored 13 tries as Japan played for making unforced errors and missing too many tackles.

The All Blacks sounded a warning early on when Conrad Smith waltzed over for the opening try after three minutes following a Victor Vito break.

The onslaught continued as the Japanese team struggled to contain the powerful ball carriers including Jerome Kaino, Victor Vito, Adam Thomson, Ma'a Nonu, Richard Kahui, Conrad Smith and Isaia Toeava making several breaks. The Japanese were competitive enough at set pieces, but didn't get enough territory or possession to remain competitive.

Richard Kahui scored the second try after a rolling maul sucked in the defence. The floodgates opened with the All Blacks big ball running players causing havoc which saw Jerome Kaino, Keven Mealamu, Andy Ellis and Colin Slade all score first half tries leaving the match a forgone conclusion at half time with a 38-0 lead to the men in black. Japan missed 14 first half tackles which you just can't do against these New Zealanders.

Both teams made lots of changes in the second half. The most intriguing was the introduction of Sonny Bill Williams onto the wing for Cory Jane. It was a bit unfair really unleashing SBW onto the already tired Japanese.

Kahui, Sonny Bill Williams (twice), Isaia Toeava, Andrew Hore, Ma'a Nonu and Adam Thomson all scored second half tries for the All Blacks while wing Hirotoki Onozawa was able to pick up a consolation try for Japan.

Colin Slade had a mixed bag with the kicking boots with nine out of 14 attempts at goal, but seemed to grow in confidence during the match.

For the All Blacks this ended up being a training run. We found that Colin Slade is no Daniel Carter and I would rather see Piri Weepu coming off the bench to take match winning shots at goal in a Rugby World Cup final. We also found that Sonny Bill Williams was good on the wing, making more impact than Cory Jane against the small Japanese, but it is difficult to know if you would want him starting on the wing against the better teams.

Japan should take heart that they could rest ten players and still keep the All Blacks to under one hundred points. Japan really got thrown in the deep end playing France followed by New Zealand, but I think it was probably good getting these matches out of the way early before the big teams start peaking. Canada and Tonga are both winnable matches for the Japanese. This pool has three really even teams with results between them a lottery. Good luck Japan!
Result:

New Zealand 83 (Richard Kahui 2, Sonny Bill Williams 2, Conrad Smith, Jerome Kaino, Keven Mealamu, Andy Ellis, Colin Slade, Isaia Toeava, Andrew Hore, Ma'a Nonu, Adam Thomson tries; Colin Slade 9 con)

Japan 7 (Hirotoki Onozawa try; Murray Williams con).

HT: 38-0 NZ.

Man of the Match
In a match that the All Blacks dominated so much it is hard to single any one person out. While Jerome Kaino and Richard Kahui were great, I would give the award to Ma'a Nonu who was gifted one try by the impressive Sonny Bill Williams, but also made busts with ease and was involved in several of the All Blacks 13 tries. Japan's New Zealand born loose forward Michael Leitch was gutsy in defeat.

rugbyworldcuptips.com