Key events
20th min: Time for a drinks break. It’s cooking in Toulouse.
20th min: Cornelsen takes the ball from the line-out and his mates form a maul. it’s disjointed and splintered and breaks apart. They redirect and start rumbling on but Chile defend it well. In fact, they manage to hold the maul up and get the scrum feed. Excellent maul defence but that was poorly managed by Japan.
19th min: Sakate misses his jumper and the ball goes straight over the top. But Cornelsen gathers and bursts towards the line. Japan recycle and Garafulic is off-side. Japan have the advantage but there’s a knock-on at the ruck. Another penalty and once again Matsuda turns down an easy three and nudges to the corner.
18th min: Japan loose the ball after some scruffy play but get lucky as one of their own is tackled off the ball. It’s a penalty call and they go to the corner.
16th min: The line-out maul is set but Japan go down the blindside. They kick forward and Ayarza can’t control a bouncing ball. He knocks on and now Japan have a scrum inside Chile’s 22. End to end stuff this.
15th min: An important steal from Shimokawa. Japan needed that. They clear and have the line-out over half way.
14th min: Fantastic from Chile. Torrealba snipes around the back of the scrum and feeds Domingo Saavedra on a galloping run against the grain. He offloads in the tackle and Chile swarm forward. They’re in the 22 and are now rumbling forward with the heavies.
12th min: Inagaki goes too early in the scrum and Japan loose the feed. Chile decide they’ll take a scrum after the free kick goes their way. They fancy themselves with ball in hand.
11th min: Chile are probing around the fringe but Japan’s defence is solid. The ball then goes wide and Chile manage to create space in the tram. A brilliant cover tackle from Leitch on Domingo Saavedra saved the day and knocked the ball loose.
TRY! Japan 7-7 Chile (Fakatava, 8)
That is how you respond. Japan right back in it. Chile made a dog’s breakfast of the restart. The lifted man was nowhere the ball and the fella behind him knocked on. Japan pounced on the ball, sent it right and the big lock, Fakatava was too strong for the inept tacklers as he cruised through a gap made by Nagare’s swift pass. Matsuda’s extras tie the game.
TRY! Japan 0-7 Chile (Fernandez, 6)
Sensational! Chile have their first ever points in the World Cup. It started with a scything run from Ayarza who burst through a gap. He had options and fed Fernandez inside him. Then, with three Chileans tearing down on the line they couldn’t make it stick. A Japanese player fell on the loose ball but knocked it backwards. Fernandez stole in, nudged it ahead, gathered on the bounce and scored. He then got up and tapped over the conversion.
6th min: Oh no! Chile cough up a three on one and should have scored a try. Hang on. They’re checking this. Will be sensational. Nic Berry’s on field decision is a try.
5th min: Japan steal the line-out and launch an attack. Riley makes some ground out wide but Fakatava knocks on before taking contact. Chile will have the feed. Japan showed promise there with ball in hand.
4th min: Hooker Diego Escobar charges through the guts of Japan after the line-out. Torrealba chips over the top but it’s easily fielded by Naikabula who marks. A little impatient from Chile there. They were making good ground. A lively start from the newbies.
2nd min: Chile with the early ball. They’re crashing it up with their forwards before scrum-half Torrealba hoists it high. Japan secure the ball despite an aggressive chase and we’ll have a line-out for Chile around the 22m line.
Away we go! Chile in red kick off to the red and white hoops of Japan.
Japan’s Keita Inagaki leads out both teams as he makes his 50th appearance for his country. He was one of the key figures in the famous Miracle of Brighton victory.
A big blow for Japan
They’ve lost their skipper. It’s bad news for the Brave Blossoms and worse news for me. I had Himeno in my fantasy team. And after Tom Curry’s red card cost me nine points, I’m in serious trouble.
Chile are the lowest ranked side in the competition. Naturally, they’ll start as underdogs today. But they’ve been upsetting the odds for some time now. They qualified for the World Cup by beating Canada and the USA along the way.
That second triumph came with a late penalty and turned around a huge deficit to claim a dramatic 31-29.
Four years ago Japan were the darlings of the rugby world. Not only did the country host a brilliant World Cup but the team exceeded expectations, running Scotland and Ireland ragged.
But they’ve played only 19 times since then. A real shame. Let’s hope that lack of action hasn’t left them too far behind the rest of the world.
Oh, go on then. Let’s quickly relive England’s hard fought win over Argentina. Yes Argentina delivered absolute dross, and yes the game wasn’t exactly a thrill a minute, but Steve Borthwick has arguably the biggest win of his career so far.
Here’s how Andy Bull saw it:
Chile team news
The only debutants take centre stage. I can’t claim to know too much about the World Cup newbies but I cannot wait to see them in action. Here’s how they’ll stack up:
Chile: Ayarza; Videla, D Saavedra, Garafulic, Velarde; Fernandez, Torrealba; Carrasco, D Escobar, Dittus, C Saavedra, Eissmann, Sigren, Martinez, A Escobar.
Replacements: Bohme, Lues, Gurruchaga, Guete, Pedrero, Silva, Carvallo, Ignacio Larenas.
Japan team news
That is some back row. Kazuki Himeno and Michael Leitch are the standout names, but keep and eye on Kanji Shimokawa. It’s true for most rugby matches, but the breakdown will be a key battle ground and the Japanese have a trio that cause real mayhem.
Japan: Masirewa; MAtsushima, Riley, Nakamura, Naikabula; Matsuda, Nagare; Inagaki, Sakate, Gu, Cornelsen, Fakatava, Leitch, Shimokawa, Himeno (c)
Replacements: Horie, Millar, Valu, Dearns, Fukui, Saito, Osada, Lemeki.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
After last night’s disastrous performance from Argentina, some of the lower ranked sides in Pool D will fancy their chances of progressing the next round. Japan will certainly be eyeing a return to the quarterfinals but this is not quite the same side that stole our hearts and blew our minds four years ago.
Last month they were trounced 42-21 by Italy, were soundly beaten 35-12 by Fiji and were edged 24-22 by Samoa who they’ll meet again in three weeks’ time.
A statement is needed but Chile won’t lie down. Their rise has been one of the most uplifting stories in rugby over the past four years and they’ll look to match Japan’s enterprising and entertaining style of play with some dash and daring of their own. An upset is of course unlikely, but don’t be too surprised if the South Americans land a few blows before this one’s out.
My name is Dan. I’m making my World Cup MBM debut today so please do drop a line or send a tweet. I’d love to hear from you.
