Canada shut down by Japan

Japan defeated Canada by a score of 20-6 at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose in the second game of the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup. It was a game filled with inaccuracy, with neither quite hitting their stride, but Japan finding far more success with their continuity.

An early penalty from Japan stand-in captain Ayumu Goromaru gave the Brave Blossoms an early lead, one they never looked back from. Unfortunately they would have to continue without flyhalf Harumichi Tatekawa, who went off with a jaw injury after 14 minutes and never returned.

A searing break in the midfield from Kotaro Matsushima caught Connor Braid and Ciaran Hearn in two minds, and once through the line he found Yoshikazu Fujita on a nice line to race in for the score and what would turn out to be the only try of the game.

Canada replied with a penalty goal from Gordon McRorie, but Goromaru erased that with one of his own. The break would come with no further scores, despite Yu Tamura being sent to the bin for a dangerous lifting tackle.

The remaining minutes of the yellow card went unpunished, and in fact it was Japan who earned a penalty despite being a man down, with Goromaru’s penalty signalling Tamura’s return to the field. The fullback would add another before Canada got one back through McRorie, but again Goromaru was on song, and the gap remained at two converted tries.

Canada tried to get back into the game late but could not breach the Japanese defense, and saw several chances disappear with stray passes. The frustration was clear on their faces as the final whistle sounded.

The tournament continues on July 24 as Japan travel north to Sacramento to play the US Eagles, while Canada head home to BC to face Tonga in Burnaby.

CANADA 6
Pens – G. McRorie 2 (20, 62)

JAPAN 20
Tries – Y. Fujita (17)
Pens – A. Goromaru 5 (8, 29, 44, 54, 64)
Yellow cards – Y. Tamura (34)

CANADA
1 H. Buydens (D. Sears-Duru 69) 2 R. Barkwill (A. Carpenter 27-35, 56) 3 D. Wooldridge (A. Tiedemann 45) 4 B. Beukeboom 5 J. Phelan (T. Hotson 65) 6 T. de Goede (C. Morrison 62) 7 R. Thorpe 8 T. Ardron (capt.) 9 G. McRorie (P. Mack 69) 10 L. Underwood (N. Hirayama 76) 11 D. van der Merwe (P. Mackenzie 65) 12 C. Braid 13 C. Hearn 14 J. Hassler 15 M. Evans

JAPAN
1 H. Hirashima (K. Inagaki 52) 2 S. Horie (T. Kizu 70) 3 H. Yamashita (S. Kakinaga 52) 4 H. Ono (K. Usami 65) 5 L. Thompson 6 J. Ives 7 M. Broadhurst 8 H. Hopgood 9 A. Hiwasa 10 H. Tatekawa (T. Hirose 14) 11 K. Fukuoka 12 Y. Tamura (T. Bennetts 65) 13 K. Matsushima 14 Y. Fujita 15 A. Goromaru (capt.)

Not used: T. Murata, K. Uchida