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It was a bad ending for Uruguay. Los Teritos were torn apart by Japan in Edinburgh on Wednesday. The 73-22 defeat was a far cry from the performances in the same tournament a year ago. Uruguay were beaten finalists in 2023.
Japan’s dominant display means the Asian’s finish the tournament in third position and the South Americans in fourth. Japan were related from the World Rugby u20 championship in 2023 and demonstrated that the team ought to be in the superior tournament which only has 12 teams.
The Japanese flurry of tries included a double to three players: hooker Kenshin Shimizu, flanker Shusui Kamei and winger Tasuku Masuyama. The wing’s tries came in the opening night minutes of the match.
Francisco Landauer opened Uruguay’s account on 12 minutes with penalty. It was 12-3 at that stage. Kamei scored his first try at the close of the opening quarter. Rite Ito converted and Japan were in total control with a 19-3 advantage.
Uruguay looked to their forwards to hit-back. They took some time but were rewarded in the end. Hooker Francisco García scored following a riling-maul. It was his this try of the tournament. His stocks continued to rise after featuring for Peñarol in Super Rugby Americas.
Kenshin Shimizu quickly added a further try for Japan. The 34th minute score was the final scoring at of the opening half. Japan led 26-8 at half-time.
Uruguay needed to scored first in the second-half but were unable to do so. Instead, Kamei scored his second try. The 43rd minute score was responded to by Los Teritos; Franco Bertini went over. Landauer converted for a 33-15 scoreline.
Japan then ran-in four unanswered tries. Rieto Ito, Shimizu, Kent Iioka and Jingo Takenoshita all scored before Uruguay added further points. Felipe Bofill crossed on 73 minutes, doing so with Los Teritos down to 14 men.
There was no time for celebrating Uruguay’s try. Japan showed no mercy with replacement Takaya Motohashi scoring two tries in the final two minutes.
