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Wallabies overcome Brave Blossoms tussle to win fifth straight
It didn’t come easy, but the Wallabies have extended their winning streak to five matches after beating Japan 32-23 at Oita Stadium on Saturday afternoon. As Stan Sport mentioned after full-time, it’s the first time since 2008 that the Australians have won that many Tests in a row outside of a World Cup.
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The Wallabies returned to Oita for the first time since their Quarter-Final against England at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where they lost 40-16.
The men in gold came into this clash as clear favourites, on the back of two impressive wins over both South Africa and Argentina. But as we all know, Japan are more than capable of an upset, and they definitely came to play.
The Wallabies controlled the opening passages of the Test, as they played with a majority of the possession in the first five minutes. But this was arguably a taste of what was to come from the Brave Blossoms, with their enthusiasm in defence proving tough to crack.
But after a bit of back-and-forth in attack, the first real point-scoring opportunity of the match came in the sixth minute, after some clever link-up play from Rob Valetini and Quade Cooper. Off a scrum near halfway, Cooper sent the Number Eight charging down the field after a clever no-look inside ball, before Valetini returned the ball with a one-handed pass.
“Cooper is still throwing skip passes, but, when he does, they are sticking and when the play is simply not there, he hasn’t pushed a bad 50-50 ball or turnover-potential pass.” #Wallabies #JAPvAUS
Analysis from @BenSmithRugby ? https://t.co/XyT5SCjJUo
— The XV Rugby (@TheXV) October 23, 2021
After six phases of attack, the Wallabies finally broke through the Brave Blossoms defensive line for the opening score of the Test.
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Cooper was again front and centre as he has been over the Wallabies’ recent winning run, running at the Japan defensive line 22-metres out from the try-line, before handing the ball off to winger Tom Wright who beat the covering Japan defender on his way to his second Test try.
Japan registered their first points of the afternoon in the 16th minute, with Rikiya Matsuda converting a penalty.
But the Wallabies answered back five minutes later, with substitute Jordan Petaia scoring the second try of his Test career, after crossing in the corner. The 21-year-old made his Test debut at Oita Stadium during the World Cup, where he scored his first international try.
The Brave Blossoms scored their first Try of the afternoon shortly after as well, with winger Lomano Lava Lemeki crossing in the corner after some fast feet saw him beat his opposite in Tom Wright. As reported by Stan Sport, it was the first time since 1987 that Japan had scored a first-half try against the Wallabies.
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The two sides traded penalties to round out the half, with the Wallabies leading 13-17 at the break.
Shortly after half-time, Taniela Tupou scored after a clever lineout move from the visitors. It was a forwards masterclass, with Fainga’a, Izack Rodda, Michael Hooper and Rob Valetini all playing their part in the build-up.
Japan went down to 14-men in the 50th minute, with try-scorer Lemeki shown a yellow card for a no-arms tackle.
The Wallabies made the most of this, as they scored as they scored an impressive team try.
Quick thinking from Len Ikitau sent Nic White in a gap, who put a kick through, which the Wallabies regathered inside the Japan 22. But it was the no-look Quade Cooper flick pass that got the ball out wide, with Rob Leota crossing for his first international try, making the scores 13-27.
Against the run of play, inside centre Ryoto Nakamura intercepted a Quade Cooper pass to run 22-metres to the try-line. The conversion from in-front was converted, bringing the scores to 20-27.
While a Yu Tamura penalty in the 74th minute brought the hosts to within a try of the lead, they weren’t able to register the points needed in the dying stages of the Test.
Instead, the Wallabies scored with two minutes to play through Test debutant Connal McInerney, on the back of an unstoppable maul from the Wallabies.
With the gap between matches decreasing from 78 years to 23 years to seven years, the USA are quickly becoming a hot ticket item for the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby. #AllBlacks #USAEagles #USAvNZL
?? @TomVinicombehttps://t.co/Fx6r1iCTeh
— The XV Rugby (@TheXV) October 23, 2021
The Wallabies have three more matches to play in 2021, as they head off to Europe for the rest of their Spring Tour. They’re set to take on Scotland, England and Wales next month.
But there is one injury cloud having over the Wallabies coming out of this Test, with Fullback Reece Hodge leaving the field with an injury inside 15-minutes.
Japan are also set to take on Ireland, Portugal and Scotland in November.
Japan – 23: Tries (Lemeki, Nakamura); Conversions (Matsuda, Tamura); Penalties (2 Matsuda, Tamura)
Wallabies – 32: Tries (Wright, Petaia, Tupou, Leota, McInerney); Conversions (2 Cooper); Penalties (Cooper)
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments