Scotland v Japan, 23 September

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SCOTLAND V JAPAN
23 September 2015
KO: 14:30 BST
Kingsholm, Gloucester

Live on [tbc]

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: George Clancy (Ireland) & Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

A. Head to Head

4 Played 4
4 Won 0
0 Drawn 0
0 Lost 4
221 Points 45

B. Recent Form

09 Nov 2013
Scotland 42 - 17 Japan
Murrayfield, Edinburgh

13 Nov 2004
Scotland 100 - 8 Japan
McDiarmid Park, Perth

12 Oct 2003
Scotland 32 - 11 Japan
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville

05 Oct 1991
Scotland 47 - 9 Japan
Murrayfield, Edinburgh

C. Teams

SCOTLAND

15 Stuart Hogg
14 Tommy Seymour
13 Mark Bennett
12 Matt Scott
11 Sean Lamont
10 Finn Russell
09 Greig Laidlaw (c)

01 Ali Dickinson
02 Ross Ford
03 Willem Nel
04 Grant Gilchrist
05 Jonny Gray
06 Ryan Wilson
07 John Hardie
08 David Denton

16 Fraser Brown
17 Ryan Grant
18 Jon Welsh
19 Richie Gray
20 Joshua Strauss
21 Henry Pyrgos
22 Peter Horne
23 Sean Maitland

JAPAN

01- Keita Inagaki
02- Shota Horie
03- Hiroshi Yamashita
04- Luke Thompson
05- Justin Ives
06- Michael Leitch (captain)
07- Michael Broadhurst
08- Amanaki Mafi

09- Fumiaki Tanaka
10- Harumichi Tatekawa
11- Kenki Fukuoka
12- Yu Tamura
13- Male Sa'u
14- Kotaro Matsushima
15- Ayumu Goromaru

16- Takeshi Kizu
17- Masataka Mikami
18- Kensuke Hatakeyama
19- Shinya Makabe
20- Shoji Ito
21- Hendrik Tui
22- Atsushi Hiwasa
23- Karne Hesketh

I don't think there are any actual Japanese fans on here, other than folk adopting them as their 2nd/3rd nation, but well done to them. They played well for the majority of the game and caused us real issues at times.

They need to look at some of the mistakes they made during the game, as if they can improve on them they will continue to give teams a real scare.

Imperialbigdave wrote:Ach lads we knew wed get painted as the bad guys after this game whatever happened. Cant win. Oh wait... yeah we did!

This, we were always going to be the bad guys, even if we had played out our skin. There are people on this thread happy to make snide remarks about Scotland, attribute them to supporting Japan, and pushing the claptrap that the main reason for the loss was the short turnaround.

Not saying scotland didn't earn it or anything (Like EFS on twitter)

Scotland played a great game (Went to sleep a couple of times but that was it).

But the rugby world cup really now needs to be lengthen now IMO to allow more rest as the lower league teams are now upping there game it is a more physical tournament for more teams and needs to be re-looked at.

Back to the game, some key stats:

Scotland 192 tackles and missed only 10

Japanmade 104 tackles and missed 16

John Hardie made the most tackles - 21

gentlemen thank you for all the good wishes this morning.

runs lines like David Campese .

Dozer put in a shift.

Dancer is quality.

I'm waiting for word but I think I've got the job sticking sequins on the female contestants on Strictly Come Dancing. £50 a week but I can't afford to pay them anymore.

p.s. Glasgow 4 tries Land of the Rising Sun 1 try.

mikey_dragon wrote:Note to 'rugby fans' - Wales have a 6 day turnaround between Uruguay and England, followed by a 5 turnaround before facing Fiji, in perhaps the toughest and most physical group in rugby world cup history. Where is our sympathy?

In the dictionary between sh1t and syphillis...
;-) :-)

RDW_Scotland wrote:Back to the game, some key stats:

Scotland 192 tackles and missed only 10

Japanmade 104 tackles and missed 16

John Hardie made the most tackles - 21

I thought John Hardie would have been a good shout for man of the match. I'm a fan.

mikey_dragon wrote:Note to 'rugby fans' - Wales have a 6 day turnaround between Uruguay and England, followed by a 5 turnaround before facing Fiji, in perhaps the toughest and most physical group in rugby world cup history. Where is our sympathy?

mikey, Wales are not expwected to win the tournament any way.

Japan on the other hand, well, with their win over SA, they have a chance. maybe.

Notch wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Back to the game, some key stats:

Scotland 192 tackles and missed only 10

Japanmade 104 tackles and missed 16

John Hardie made the most tackles - 21

I thought John Hardie would have been a good shout for man of the match. I'm a fan.

He's currently looking for a club!

I wish the IRFU would allow us to have another non-Irishman in the back row, but we really need a 6 or an 8 not a 7... doubt he'll have any problems finding a team in Scotland or elsewhere.

If tigers were not getting Brendon O'Connor i wouldn't mind Hardie.

Would suit our pack.

Why do people keep writing we scored 4 tries pretty sure it was 5 

Pretty good performance considering it was our first match! Good schedule to get the USA next to make sure any rust is gone before the Springboks!

monty junior wrote:Why do people keep writing we scored 4 tries pretty sure it was 5 

Pretty good performance considering it was our first match! Good schedule to get the USA next to make sure any rust is gone before the Springboks!

It's not that they think you scored less tries than you did, its that they got the four try bonus point. The last try is just a little bonus.

To be fair that scoreline is probably what we would have expected before the tournament began. Brave effort from Japan but I think we had too much quality, and Eddie Jones' assertions about fitness prior to the game turned out to be nonsense.

Short turnaround now for Scotland, facing the USA on Sunday. Some decisions to be made by Cotter re: rotation.

Well done Scotland, I don't anyone really thought you'd slip up against Japan. Think Japan, played out of their skins, but the 4 day turn-round showed later on.

Only real gripe from me, is Lacey.. The Japanese Yellow was really harsh, and when Scotland where pinged later for very similar offence, why wasn't a Yellow shown then. Think Lacey was really inconsistent. Lets hope he doesn't progress past the pool stages, as bad ref'ing will ruin this tournament.

I'll watch the match when I'm home from work later, but who were the top performers from a Scotland PoV?

The headline stat for me is Hardie with 21 tackles and none missed, plus a very well taken try!

RDW_Scotland wrote:I'll watch the match when I'm home from work later, but who were the top performers from a Scotland PoV?

The headline stat for me is Hardie with 21 tackles and none missed, plus a very well taken try!

I'm in the same boat - will need to watch it later.

I'll be very interested to see what Vern does with the Scotland team for USA, and whether this will have impacted the decision.

RDW_Scotland wrote:I'll watch the match when I'm home from work later, but who were the top performers from a Scotland PoV?

The headline stat for me is Hardie with 21 tackles and none missed, plus a very well taken try!

Tight five did their jobs without too much fuss. Denton and Hardies contributions on attack and defence were outstanding. Wilsons less so.

Laidlaw was Laidlaw. Organised, but nothing flashy. Russell challenged the defence a few times, and his try was neat, but didnt get much opportunity. Scott mixed some moments of sublime with too many moments of sloppiness, crucial contributions to a couple of the tries though so overall pass marks. Bennett touched the ball about 5 times in the game and got two tries. His second was reminiscent of Jonathan Josephs against Wales this year. Back three were really quiet. Done their jobs though.

What little Japan got, they got from our mistakes. When we were just defending, we were soaking up their pressure. Gave a bit too much ground and didnt compete for the ball on the deck enough, but never looked particularly panicked.

Well done Scotland

Didn't see it (blinking work) but hope to catch the highlights. You did the job, and did it very well by the sounds of it. Kudos, in what was potentially a tricky game.

VinceWLB wrote:I actually thought Japan did well considering the huge disadvantage of having only 3 days of rest.

4 days actually, they also had 8 fresh players so not half as bad as you are implying. Its swings and roundabouts because every team has their short turnaround. Will we have massive disadvantage when we play on Sunday?

But yes I agree they were the better team for 60 mins, they were the only side looking to score tries and were unlucky not too. However they would have been massively confident and playing on adrenaline, where we are fairly low on confidence particularly in closing games out.

So I thought we did fairly well, some new players to bed in, great defence, five try BP win, no injuries....... and most importantly a WIN

Did Laidlaw really get MOM?

Yeah, I thought Denton or Bennett were more deserving but he did what he had to do. He kicked his points and played pretty well. As others said organised and nothing flashy. Kind of what you want from your scrum half in that kind of game.

It does smack a little of sentimentality though. As I said Denton and Bennett probably produced more.

Also an honourable mention to Gilchrist who also put in a very tidy shift.

Biggest complaint why the hell are we receiving kick offs like taking a line out. That idiocy nearly cost us a try when the game was still in the balance. Take the ball on the deck and stop peeing about.

The result was fantastic and had it been offered at half time or before the game I would have bitten your hand off. We were the better team and we are a better team there's no doubt about that but I think the emotional and physical hangover undoubtedly played a part in the margin of victory, as soon as it became apparent that Japan were not going to win then their heads went down and it became a stroll for Scotland. That said, Scotland didn't write the schedule and we have to be pragmatic and deal with it the best we can, we all knew it in advance and citing it as a reason for Japan's failure is to be ignorant of the fact that the tournament is a marathon and not a sprint, Japan knew they'd have to make changes and they did and it showed that as of yet they don't have the depth to compete with two tier one nations in five days, that's not a criticism, I think maybe only three teams in the world do. You can't judge the impact of the schedule until the end of the pool stages, Japan have more than enough time to prepare completely and fully for the Samoa game and if they fail to win that we'll know more about whether the Scotland or South Africa result was most representative of Japanese rugby.

If Japan do beat Samoa we will be in an excellent place.

Welly wrote: LOL at Scots trying to compare

Playing SA and Scotland to playing Japan and then USA.

LOL

All teams considered at the time ranked 1 and 2 in the pool have around 6/7 days rest before play each other.

That's us fecked then as we are 3rd Seeds

Imperialbigdave wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I'll watch the match when I'm home from work later, but who were the top performers from a Scotland PoV?

The headline stat for me is Hardie with 21 tackles and none missed, plus a very well taken try!

Tight five did their jobs without too much fuss. Denton and Hardies contributions on attack and defence were outstanding. Wilsons less so.

Laidlaw was Laidlaw. Organised, but nothing flashy. Russell challenged the defence a few times, and his try was neat, but didnt get much opportunity. Scott mixed some moments of sublime with too many moments of sloppiness, crucial contributions to a couple of the tries though so overall pass marks. Bennett touched the ball about 5 times in the game and got two tries. His second was reminiscent of Jonathan Josephs against Wales this year. Back three were really quiet. Done their jobs though.

What little Japan got, they got from our mistakes. When we were just defending, we were soaking up their pressure. Gave a bit too much ground and didnt compete for the ball on the deck enough, but never looked particularly panicked.

Very good summary from IBD.

I didn't see the first half, which it seems was just as well.

Generally speaking:
- it all seemed very slow and ponderous. Can we assume that it was raining at Kingsholm because it looked like the players were wading through waist deep treacle at time?
- I don't think that we can feel too clever about that win. Two pivotal things happened in very quick succession - Japan's 8 had to leave the field and Seymour ran in an intercept try. That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Japan side but the position could easily have been different.
- There were a number of basic  mistakes which any high school PE teacher would be screaming at his charges to correct. I have never, ever seen a ball allowed to bounce from a kick off and we just seem to turn to stone when faced with a restart. What the merry feck is going on?
- Once we had settled, defensively we looked strong.

Additional braindroppings from me:

- Hardie was absolutely superb. He is up so fast in defence, has great hands and must be an utter pain in the hole to play against. The test quality player that his past 3 years starting for the Highlanders suggested that he always was. The *actual* MoM.
- Wilson and Gilchrist did very little as far as I could see, the latter at least putting in a good shift in defence. Doubtless fans of Wilson (both of them) will claim that Strauss benefited from playing against a more tired Japan side but the honest truth is that Strauss was twice as dynamic, especially in defence.
- I am not convinced that Denton has the sort of control at the back of a scrum which we need him to have. I would move him to 6 with Strauss at 8 to see how that goes.  
- Despite a decade in the role, Ross Ford cannot throw to the back of a line-out. It's staggering.
- Lamont put in a huge defensive shift, the syphilis-ridden old love monkey. Well done him. He never lets us down.
- Seymour had a mixed bag with a couple of defensive brainfarts which he was slow to cover.
- Hogg did fine.
- Mark Bennett can most likely unlock any international defence if you find a way to get him the ball.
- Matt Scott veered between the sublime and the incompetent. He was stepped by a number of Japanese midfield backs, which was a worry to me.
- Nel needs to listen to referees and change his scrummaging approach if the match official gives him some 'constructive feedback'.
- From his match commentary, Chris Paterson would be a wonderful person to discuss male moisturisers, cuticle pens and sprint technique with. But he's a bloody boring commentator. Bring back Brian Moore just so that he can call someone a 'halfwit'.

Extremely dissapointed in a few reffing decisions, if your going to make a deal of neck wists at lest take a look at one on a try line with a replay and a booing crowd, it's been good enough to take a look so far.

There is a tendancy of when in doubt give the tier 1 nation the benefit of the doubt in a lot of games so far, England and Scotland have had so, and today Austrlia were extremely fortunate!

Scotland were professional without being great, did their jobs and lived off Japanese mistakes, almost waiting for the last 20 for Japan to tire.

Grey bros have to start

Just saw the match stats, which were a bit worrying for Scotland:
Scotland        Japan
40% Possession 60%
36% Territory 64%
345 Metres Run 363
9 Penalties Conceded 11

Yes, we really should not be overly overjoyed by that performace, but at least it was a win, with TBP and no injuries

I say no more, in case I get told off for not being positive enough

GO SCOTLAND


(Please catch a restart)

I enjoyed the game and I thought Scotland did well. Japan started to look tired at the very end of the first half, but were knackered on the 60 minute mark, Scotland took full advantage of the situation. They need to recover quickly now for the USA game, but their looking pretty good so far.

Highlights for RDW et al:

George Carlin wrote:Highlights for RDW et al:

Missing Bennets second...

I would be tempted to go for a more expansive approach against the USA, only worry would be the revolving door twins of Seymour and Visser. I would also like to see how Horne/Bennett midfield works, appreciating that Scott still needs game time. Finally I wouldnt risk Russell AT ALL, and to be honest the same goes for Matty needs to work on his game on the training field and Lamont (rest the old man for SA).

15 Maitland
14 Seymour
13 Bennett
12 Horne
11 Visser
10 Weir
9 Pygros
8 Strauss
7 Wilson
6 Stroko
5 Gray Snr
4 Swinson
3 Welsh
2 Brown
1 Dickinson

16 Grant
17 Nel
18 Bryce
19 Gray Jnr
20 Hardie
21 Vernon (6/8/13)
22 Laidlaw (9/10)
23 Hogg (10/15)

Good grief I think I watched a different game. Scotland were never in danger and didn't really get out of second gear. They scored done great tries and were pressured. A good opening I think. I think Scotland will win the group and get stronger throughout the tournament.

Just to clarify, Bennetts foot was over the line but not down when he touched the ball down.

Having just got in from work and watched the game, I find some of these comments a bit odd as well. We won our opening game with a bonus point, what's not to like!

When England did Fiji and NZ did the Argies in the last 20 mins, that was considered good game management, with us it seems we were lucky because the japs ran out of steam!

There was a lot of very positive stuff there for Scotland and it was our first game, where all that really matters is the result.

I say well played, enjoy the moment and move on to the next game. As a long standing Scotland fan, there have not been many 5 try wins in competitive games (which this was!), to cheer me up. I could get used to this!

I suspect it is down to hindsight, but having watched the game now it was actually better than I was expecting. A few key points:

- Our defence was outstanding. 180.tackles, 95% success rate,most of the tackles dominant. Japan don't have the big ball carriers that Samoa and SA do, but it is massively encouraging. Special mention to Hardie - 21 tackles and some big hits

- Our tries were very well taken and showed some great attacking play. The first try was the best IMO - a great break from Hogg, and Scott should have backed himself - he was 5m from the line with a small winger in front of him. Very good awareness from Laidlaw to give it to Hardie.

- 5 tries, no injuries, job done!

Yes there were negative points too - our aerial game is still woeful and we had a few lapses in concentration. Our restarts are still awful (something Scotland have been bad at since I started watching rugby) and will cause us real problems against the top teams.

My player ratings:

Dickinson - 7

Huge defensive shift and part of a solid scrum

Ford - 7

One over throw aside I think he had a strong game and used his physicality well

Nel - 6

Gave away a few penalties but still put in a shift. That was only his 3rd cap so he'll be learning every game.

Gilchrist - 7

Part of the defensive effort and a key man in the lineout. I'd still pick Richie though

Gray - 7

Not his usuall standout self but as always can't fault his work rate

Wilson -6

Worked hard but the weak link in our pack - largely anonymous

Hardie - 9.5

Outstanding. 21 tackles, one missed,  some big, big hits. Prominent in attack and heavily involved  in the lead up to his try. He needed to get some turnovers to get the 10 - I think he'd benefit from speaking to Ross Rennie.

Welcome to the Scotland team Mr Hardie - you are very, very welcome!

Denton - 9

The form of his life with another barnstorming display with ball in hand.

Laidlaw - 8

Yes he's not a fast paced 9 but 20 points and 3 assists - can't complain much about that

Russell - 8

Bad decision to throw the miss pass at the end of the first half, but his attacking play was very good. Very well taken try.

Lamont - 6

One good break and good physicality but he looked slow and lumbering in such a fast paced game. Hardie out sprinted him at one point during a kick chase. I still want him to get 100 caps though!

Scott - 7

Some very good, some bad. He ran some great likes and got us over the gain line but made silly mistakes. Should have backed himself during the build up to our first try. I think we need to persist with him though - IMO we really need his bulk and physicality for the last two games.

Bennett - 8

2 tries very well taken - he's a real game breaker. Being a little harsh but completely honest, he needs to be more prominent over the 80 before he becomes a real top international class player.

Seymour - 6

His interception came just when we needed it, but he looked rusty apart from that. He's the only back 3 player who is any good in the air though.

Hogg - 7

One scintillating break but one very bad mistake. His kicking was excellent though and he will be a lot sharper for the games coming up.

Yes, you feel that Wilson is only keeping the jersey warm for Strauss, who probably quite rightly is being eased into test rugby. I can see him benching again at the weekend with Stroks playing at 6.

Gilchrist, Gray and Gray are all pretty decent second rows and are all putting their hands up. Swinson will play on Sunday with probably Johnny having the rest.
I can see a bit of rotation at the weekend, with all of those playing the full game not starting. For Weir, Stroks, Swinson, Vernon, Bryce and maybe SHC, it may be their only run out baring injuries, but I suppose there may well be some of those as the games go on.

I think VC gas confidence in his squad and won't be afraid to play players, Visser, in particular could still make a run for the starting team if he can really show us what he is capable of. Lamont, for all his virtues, really should not be in the first XV.

I only saw the first half live because I was "in a meeting, boss". We looked ordinary and Japan definitely had more dynamisism about them. Maybe it was a double-edged sword that, unlike us, they weren't ring-rusty (ooer, missus) because they had played but then tired because they had played?
Anyway, I watched the 2nd half on the i-player thingy when I got home and we looked quite good actually. Bennett and Scott look like forming a pretty useful combination. Much as it might pain Jimbopip to admit, Laidlaw did a good job of controlling the game and his service seemed quite good. All in all, it is a job well done as I really was worried about this game 24 hours ago.
I do think we can rest Russell, Gray Jnr and Dickinson against the USandA. But keep Russell near the bench in case Weir is absolutely but predictably honking

Great first 10 - poor middle 40 - great last 30. But Scotland turned the screw when it mattered. A win of that style can't be underestimated. They need a strong performance against USA, hopefully secure another bonus point there and just take it one game at a time with SA and Samoa. There's a real danger of keeping one eye on the future fixtures. We just need a win each time. Nothing flash, get out of this group, then give it hell for leather in the QF.

I'm back to supporting Japan, it would be nice to see them beat Samoa. Although I'm not sure I'd be overly happy about Scotland facing Samoa with their backs against the wall.

Also want to hear what Eddie Jones' reaction is. I'm glad Scotland called his bluff and went for it.

NeilyBroon wrote:Also want to hear what Eddie Jones' reaction is. I'm glad Scotland called his bluff and went for it.

To his credit, he's refused to accept the 4 day turn around as the reason they lost - credits Scotland for taking their chances when Japan didn't.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I think we are all in danger of under-estimating how well Japan played at least up until their number 8 went off. Despite getting beaten, they are still a breath of fresh air e.g. kicking for the corners instead of at goal in the first half

And when I say "we ...all" I mean the Scottish fans.

NeilyBroon wrote:Also want to hear what Eddie Jones' reaction is. I'm glad Scotland called his bluff and went for it.

To his credit he was pretty magnanimous, made no excuses and said Scotland were the better team, did not give us much of a chance against SA though!

Their WC is not done yet though, a win against Samoa, not to be discounted, could still take them through. I suspect they will be well up for that game!

InjuredYetAgain wrote:Now that the dust has settled a bit, I think we are all in danger of under-estimating how well Japan played at least up until their number 8 went off. Despite getting beaten, they are still a breath of fresh air e.g. kicking for the corners instead of at goal in the first half

It's that whole difference between genius and insanity being measured by success etc etc.

Keeping the ball alive against the Boks was one of the gutsyest gambles I have ever seen. They made similar gambles today that didn't pay off. The thrilling end of the match against South Africa is a rarity in rugby. Japan were brave but naive to pass up those points against Scotland.

You are right though Jimbo and all of his pish about Frodo the Glacier needs to be called out as the error that it was.

Do you prefer custard or ice cream with your humble pie Jimbo Storm crow

Well looking at the match stats, to have won by such a margin from being in our half 64% of the match is a pretty impressive, such a feat would be miraculous with our last two squads, so we should count our blessings on that front.

We can't have a 40 minutes like we did in the middle though, we will have an extremely tough time otherwise.

Set piece needs some work, and chase.

I hadn't seen the territory stats but that sort of split shows that we must have a pretty good defensive structure to keep Japan to 10 points. Fitness can't be too much of a concern as it is always more tiring to chase shadows all day

Why do people moan about this 4 day cráp?

Surely the teams who ranked higher should get the better treatment? Whats the point in qualifying automatically based on merit, if your punished for it?

The other alternative is to drop down to a 16 team tournament and teams like Georgia, Namibia, Uruguay and Tonga probably won't be in it at all.

Scotland also have a 4 day turn around against the USA, which basically means they win the game early or might come badly unstuck, there are different kinds of pressures on all the teams in this World Cup. It's do or die for Wales this Saturday. Along with quite a lot of other teams.

Well having seen the game now I must say I was pretty impressed with Scotland. Hardie and Denton were outstanding with the rest of the pack pretty solid. Laidlaw was outstanding and made a complete fool of a number of posters on here. Russell was pretty creative, Scott is looking sharper with each game, Bennett and Hogg were dangerous and the wingers both did what was asked.

I think we could open things up a bit more and be a bit more aggressive in attack, but frankly put we didn't need to today against that Japan team. 5 points n the bag with no injuries. Nice.

As most if not all teams are affected by short turnarounds, I agree that the impact is maybe over-played.
On the other side of the coin, though, it is undeniable that Japan were vulnerable as the game went on as, like most teams, their subs are a notch down from the starting XV and their first choice team must have been feeling the effects of Saturday.
Put it this way, could you play two important games at full tilt within 4 days? Even in what was, relatively speaking, my prime, I couldn't. Getting out of bed on a Sunday was painful enough without having to drag myself round a pitch so soon after it

funnyExiledScot wrote:Well having seen the game now I must say I was pretty impressed with Scotland. Hardie and Denton were outstanding with the rest of the pack pretty solid. Laidlaw was outstanding and made a complete fool of a number of posters on here. Russell was pretty creative, Scott is looking sharper with each game, Bennett and Hogg were dangerous and the wingers both did what was asked.

I think we could open things up a bit more and be a bit more aggressive in attack, but frankly put we didn't need to today against that Japan team. 5 points n the bag with no injuries. Nice.

As always, effortlessly eloquent... If I'm ever in trouble with the law (hailing from Fife it is a distinct possibility at some point) I want you to be my defence councillor...