Japan already looking forward to Rugby World Cup ‘Grand Final’ against Argentina

TOULOUSE – Japan quickly turned their focus to their “Grand Final” Pool D decider against Argentina after beating Samoa 28-22 on Thursday, as they target a second consecutive quarter-final spot at the Rugby World Cup.

The Brave Blossoms were on top of things in Toulouse and prevailed with three tries by Pieter Labuschagne, Michael Leitch, Kazuki Himeno and 13 points from the boot of Rikiya Matsuda.

Samoa had Ben Lam red-carded early in the second half and that helped Japan, even though the Pacific side mounted a late comeback with a penalty and a Christian Leali’ifano converted try.

The result left the Japanese in second place on nine points, three ahead of third-place Samoa. England, on 14 points, have qualified for the last eight as Pool D winners.

Argentina take on Chile on Saturday and a bonus win would put them level with Japan ahead of their clash next week.

“That’s our Grand Final, isn’t it? We have got an opportunity to play a Tier-1 team we have played a few times before. All the guys are going to be really excited for that – it is a big game for us,” said Japan coach Jamie Joseph.

Fullback Lomano Lemeki was also relishing the opportunity to give it his all in the big clash.

“It is knockout footy for us, we have got to try and beat a tough Argentina team next week. We put a lot of emphasis on this game, but it is just a first step. We need to take it on to Argentina next week,” he said.

The Pumas won their last encounter 54-20 in 2016 and their only World Cup meeting, 33-12, back in 1999. However, Japan have since improved while the South Americans have been struggling recently.

Joseph’s men were made to work hard on Thursday by Samoa, whose physical capabilities pushed the Asian side to the limit, so that might be a weakness that the coach would be hoping to find solutions for.

“It was a really tough game and we had to work bloody hard to get the win. Hats off to the Samoan boys – they really took it to us,” he added, praising his team’s defence.

“They are big fellas, aren’t they? They got on top of us at times and we had to really keep at it for the whole game. The commitment was certainly there, but there were one or two things to work on for next week.”

When Japan captain Himeno scored his team’s third try after 49 minutes just after Lam was sent off, the Brave Blossoms seemed in control.

However, two late tries brought Samoa within a score before Japan held on, and that could also be an area in which the Japanese will have to improve.

Samoa, meanwhile, will rue poor discipline for their loss. They conceded 12 penalties and received a yellow card for scrum-half Jonathan Taumateine, besides the red for Lam.

“It is very concerning. We have got to be technically correct (in the tackle) otherwise we will be punished. We have seen that... throughout the competition,” said coach Seilala Mapusua.

Even though his team are eliminated, he said that Samoa want to beat England in their last match to finish third and avoid having to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

“We’ll take the next few days to recover well, we have a few injuries. Then we will worry about England,” he said.

“I am really proud of the boys. It’s tough playing a game against 15 men and to be down a man, with the red card. Unfortunate for Ben, it was just one of those contacts in the game. Japan exploited the advantage and they got the win.”
AFP, REUTERS