Wales look to future after ending 18-game rugby losing run with Japan win
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Wales' Josh Adams tries to catch the ball during the international rugby union Test match between Japan and Wales.
PHOTO: AFP
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KOBE – Interim coach Matt Sherratt said Wales’ 31-22 win over Japan on July 12 “has got to be the start of something” after ending their record 18-game losing streak.
The Welsh survived another dangerous second-half comeback from Eddie Jones’ experienced side in Kobe to pick up their first hard-fought victory since the 2023 Rugby World Cup and finally consign their wretched run to history.
It was the longest losing streak for a tier-one country in the professional era.
Sherratt oversaw four of those disappointing defeats after replacing Warren Gatland on a temporary basis, and he backed whoever gets the permanent job to build constructively on the long-awaited breakthrough win.
“Today is the end of a long season, but for Welsh rugby it’s got to be the start of something,” said Sherratt.
“The next guy coming in, a big motivation for the group was to let whoever that is start on a level playing field without the burden of the 18-in-a-row around his neck.”
Emotional scenes greeted the final whistle under the stadium’s closed roof, after the Welsh nearly blew another strong half-time lead, just like in the crushing 24-19 defeat in the first Test on July 5.
A Josh Adams try and a Kieran Hardy double gave Wales a commanding lead, putting them firmly in control of the contest – until Japan struck just before the half-time whistle and then added two more tries in the second half to mount a strong comeback.
That cut the lead to two points until fly-half Dan Edwards, making his first start for Wales, scored a 75th-minute try to kill off Japan’s comeback.
“Around 65 (minutes), you almost felt the sense that things were going quite similarly to last week,” said Wales captain Dewi Lake.
“So to score that try in the dying moments, it sinks in that you’ve got the job done, you’ve won the game and that ultimately was our goal coming out here.”
In another match, New Zealand hit their stride with a much improved performance to beat France 43-17 in the second Test, running in six tries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had called for better execution after the tight 31-27 win in the first test in Dunedin on July 5, and his players delivered to sew up the series with the July 19 Hamilton clash to spare.
Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor and Tupou Vaa’i all crossed to give the hosts a 29-3 half-time lead before Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane added two more tries after the break.
“We wanted to bring fire in our defence and I thought we did that in most parts of the game,” said captain Savea, whose 29th test five-pointer saw him overtake Richie McCaw as New Zealand’s most prolific try-scoring forward.
“Still, credit to the French, they never give up, they’re always there.
“So I’m proud of our boys for sticking it in and just doing a good job tonight.”
At the Adelaide Oval on July 12, Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe grabbed a hat-trick of tries as the British and Irish Lions crushed the invitational Australia-New Zealand team 48-0 in an eight-try clinic.
The Lions also had tries from Ben White, Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings, Ronan Kelleher and Henry Pollock in their fifth straight win on their Australian tour.
AFP, REUTERS
