Japan survive Kenya scare to stay undefeated

What was supposed to be a routine victory was anything but as Kenya were within two points of Japan at the hour mark, only to slip away in the final quarter. The Baby Blossoms needed help from their reserves to get the job done in the 48-34 victory that kept their undefeated record intact.

Halani Vailea was playing in the unusual spot of wing after starting as a flanker in the first two matches. The experiment worked a charm as Vailea racked up three tries himself in the first half, wrestling in under the posts just two minutes into the game. Dominic Coulson responded for Kenya with a penalty.

After nearly 15 minutes of stalemate, the game exploded with three tries in five minutes. Syohei Tsujimura took the offload from Shota Fukui in for a score, followed quickly by Taihei Kusaka after a long break-out on the restart. It was Kenya’s turn next, with Hibrahim Ayoo diving over for the finish.

Vailea again showed his strength as he worked through contact to score his second in the corner. His opposing winger, Timothy Okwemba, popped up at first receiver and stepped his way in for a seven-pointer. The half came to a close with Vailea powering his way to the line for his hat trick.

Japan were very slow coming out from the break, allowing Kenya to come storming back. Sustained pressure ended with Ian Masheti driving low and hard to the line. Right winger Geoffrey Okwach injected his pace on a set move with Coulson’s conversion closing the gap to only two points as the clock ticked over to 60 minutes.

The scrum went to work and the Chupi forwards couldn’t hold out, conceding a penalty try to the Brave Blossoms. Okwach showed his pace again as he tore around the outside on a counter-attack to keep Kenya in touch.

That seemed to spark a bit of urgency in the Japanese side, and they wrapped up the win with two tries. Replacement hooker Terutaka Oka got in the good books with a hard-charging try, but then got himself in trouble with a shoulder charge earning a yellow card. Samuel Asati followed for a high tackle, and the scoring wrapped up with a try in the corner from replacement winger Futo Yamaguchi.

Next up for the Brave Blossoms is a rematch of the 2017 Final as they meet Portugal on Sunday with a winner earning promotion to the Championship. Kenya finish third in their pool and will play Canada in the 5th-place play-off.

 

SCORING

JAPAN 48
Tries – H. Vailea 3 (2′, 30′, 40′), S. Tsujimura (18′), T. Kusaka (20′), Penalty try (64′), T. Oka (69′), F. Yamaguchi (77′)
Cons – T. Aoki 3/5 (3′, 21′, 40′), R. Kawase 0/1, R. Fukuyama 0/1
Yellow cards – T. Oka (71′)

KENYA 34
Tries – H. Ayoo (22′), T. Okwemba (33′), I. Masheti (49′), G. Okwach 2 (59′, 66′)
Cons – D. Coulson 3/5 (34′, 50′, 60′)
Pens – D. Coulson 1/2 (4′)
Yellow cards – S. Asati (73′)

 

TEAMS

JAPAN u20
1 Gun Tajima, 2 Daiki Nishiyama, 3 Syohei Tsujimura, 4 Kouki Matsumoto, 5 Ohgi Yanamoto, 6 Akito Okui, 7 Hayato Fukunishi, 8 Shota Fukui (capt.), 9 Ryota Tomoike, 10 Takumi Aoki, 11 Moeki Fukushi, 12 Taihei Kusaka, 13 Tomoki Osada, 14 Halatoa Vailea, 15 Keita Inayoshi

Replacements: 16 Terutaka Oka, 17 Yota Kamimori, 18 Sho Maeda, 19 Mamoru Harada, 20 Takamasa Maruo, 21 Kaisei Tamura, 22 Ryuto Fukuyama, 23 Futo Yamaguchi, 24 Ryosuke Kawase

KENYA u20
1 Andrew Siminyu, 2 Bonface Ochieng (capt.), 3 Ian Masheti, 4 Emanuel Silungi, 5 Hibrahim Ayoo, 6 Samuel Were, 7 Brian Amaitsa, 8 George Kyriazi, 9 Barry Robinson, 10 Dominic Coulson, 11 Timothy Okwemba, 12 John Okoth, 13 James McGreevy, 14 Geoffrey Okwach, 15 Andrew Matoka

Replacements: 16 Wilfred Waswa, 17 Ian Njenga, 18 Rotuk Rahedi, 19 Collins Obure, 20 Frank Aduda, 21 Sheldon Kahi, 22 Samuel Asati, 23 Owain Ashley, 24 Jeff Mutuku, 25 Douglas Kahuri

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistants: Gonzalo Ventoso (URU) & Matías Esteban (URU)