Eddie Jones’ bid to create Japan’s best-ever national team gathered steam as the ‘Brave Blossoms’ hammered Sri Lanka 132-10 in Nagoya for their 26th straight bonus-point win in the Asian Five Nations.
Japan have a game in hand on Hong Kong, who later retained their lead in the Top Five with a 39-6 home win over South Korea.
Japan’s win over Sri Lanka at the Mizuho Rugby Ground was their third-highest score and third-biggest winning margin in test match rugby. They blew the visitors aside with 20 tries, 16 of which were converted by Ayumu Goromaru, a new Japan record for the number of extras kicked in an international.
“We aim to be the greatest-ever Japan team so we should be breaking records,” Jones said boldly.
Japan’s rout began with just three minutes on the clock when centre Yasuki Hayashi went over following a huge scrum that had seen the Sri Lankans shunted back at a rate of knots. The Brave Blossoms then averaged a try every four minutes as they crossed 10 times in each half.
Hooker Takeshi Kizu touched down three times in the opening 25 minutes, while captain and flanker Michael Leitch also finished the game with three tries. Akihito Yamada and Hendrik Tui both grabbed first-half braces and Yoshikazu Fujita also touched down as Japan led 68-0 at the break.
Japan were also helped by the Sri Lankans kicking away far too much of the little possession they had. The kicks were often poorly directed, allowing the hosts to counter attack, and their pace and power proved too much.
The second half saw more of the same as Japan used their 10 kilogramme-a-man advantage in the forwards to full effect. No. 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani added a pair of tries inside 10 minutes, while lock Hitoshi Ono celebrated becoming Japan’s second-most capped player by crossing for a five-pointer in the 44th minute.
Leitch completed his hat-trick and hooker Yusuke Yuhara came off the bench and scored as Japan brought up a century of points in just the 59th minute. To their credit Sri Lanka never gave up and a huge roar erupted around the ground when Rizah Mubarak banged over a penalty from 41 metres out.
Kotaro Matsushima stretched Japan’s lead with his third try in his second test, before the Sri Lankan fans in the crowd reached fever pitch when Fazil Marijah made the most of a rare Japan defensive lapse to go over. Mubarak added the extras, but that was as good as it got for the visitors as Kyosuke Horie, Goromaru (who finished with 37 points) and Daishi Murata all scored tries.
“I am obviously pleased with the result as we have played two games and have maximum points,” Jones said. “We are exactly where we want to be and all our thoughts now are on beating Korea next week.”
For Sri Lanka, the game was a good learning curve and captain Namal Rajapaksa said he was proud of the effort his side had put in. “Anyone would be disappointed with the scoreboard,” he said. “But we didn’t give up and we scored a try that showed we didn’t give up. It was a good experience for our youngsters.”
Hong Kong lead the Top Five table with 18 points after their third straight bonus-point win. Japan are second on 12 points after two games, while South Korea are third with six points, also after two games. Sri Lanka are fourth followed by the Philippines in fifth.
Source: ARFU
