Japan relieved to come through physical Rugby World Cup opener against Chile

TOULOUSE – Japan had to withstand a ferocious physical challenge from debutants Chile in their bonus-point 42-12 Rugby World Cup Pool D clash in Toulouse on Sunday, as coach Jamie Joseph said their opponents “tackled like demons” in the searing heat.

Japan scored six tries in what looked a comfortable win on the scoreboard but was anything but that in reality for the 2019 World Cup quarter-finalists against a fired-up, emotional South American side, many of whom were in tears at the anthems.

“Chile came with a really spirited performance, really hearty, tackled like demons, turned our ball over, really put us under pressure. We had to deal with that without losing confidence,” Joseph said.

He expected Chile to fight for everything on their World Cup debut and in front of a fervent crowd, but knowing that and dealing with it are two different things.

“It doesn’t matter how much you say to the players that Chile are going to come to play today,” Joseph said.

“The support for their team was amazing. They cheered for everything, as the Japanese do, so you really feel they had a whole bunch of people behind them.”

Japan next face England in Nice on Sept 17, which Joseph knows will be a step up in quality. The English, finalists in 2019, comfortably beat world No. 6 Argentina 27-10 on Saturday despite playing for much of the match with 14 men.

“We know that it’s a different prospect, but it’s been a difficult couple of weeks for us, so we’ll just enjoy this,” he said.

Japan captain Yutaka Nagare conceded that they struggled with the physicality of Chile at times in the game.

“Every game is not an easy one, so it’s really important that we grabbed the win. Chile fought really hard,” he said. “We struggled a little bit physically but we executed our game plan, which was great for us.”

Chile got off to a stunning start and, thanks to a mix of flair and good fortune, were awarded a try when fly-half Rodrigo Fernandez dotted down after pouncing on a loose ball in the sixth minute.

Japan, however, scored 21 unanswered points to take control of a physical encounter in searing heat and they had too much experience to let it slide, even after No. 8 Alfonso Escobar reduced the arrears with a second try that took Toulouse’s stadium to the boil.

Man of the Match Amato Fakatava scored two tries for Japan, with Jone Naikabula, Michael Leitch, Ryoto Nakamura and Warner Dearns also crossing the line.

“We gave everything and we can be proud of our performance. We gave a good fight, maybe not right to the last minute, but we really enjoyed it, which is a really important part of it as well,” said Chile captain Martin Sigren.

Chile, one of three South American teams in the tournament in France, played boldly throughout despite picking up two yellow cards.

Prop Matias Dittus was sent to the sin bin for a late, low challenge before Sigren later followed suit for making head-to-head contact in a tackle. But there were no regrets on Chile’s side.

“It was tough but it was a great start,” coach Pablo Lemoine said.

“It is difficult to play your first game of a World Cup, especially against Japan. They are a team with a lot of ambition.

“We were OK for 60 minutes but, in the last 20 minutes, we missed some experience to manage the game and Japan were amazing with their efficiency.”

Chile next face Samoa on Saturday and have less than a week to recover.

“It will be a physical battle and we need to let our bodies recover,” said Sigren. “It will be a short week compared to this one but we have to get ready.” REUTERS