[RWC2019][Pool A] Round 1 - Japan vs. Russia (20/09/2019)

[Ferrari333SP]

 

[big ginger 8]

Was a pretty handy player in school for Blackrock if I remember correctly, if he'd stayed in Ireland was probably in line for an academy spot at Leinster.

Back three of himself, Fitzgerald and Leicester legend Niall Morris I believe.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Back three of himself, Fitzgerald and Leicester legend Niall Morris I believe.

That's a pretty great back three at schools level (especially when you take into account that Fitzgerald despite his racism was a genuine prodigy at that level).

 

[User1245]

I know bugger all about the Japanese team but surely they weren't at their best. They look way better against the Boks. Some bizarre decision making from professional players?

Hats off to the Russians. They were already gassed 10-15 minutes into the game but managed to be competitive right to the end. I liked the look of their 7 and 11. Both starting props were brutes too. Too say their 9's kicking game was amateurish would be an understatement but he probably is an amateur I guess! Feels weird that this is still the case for a lot of the teams...

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Kind of expected Japan to underperform here with all that pressure. Had predicted it to be close to a draw at half time and Japan to win by 30. not too far off.
Defintely I think they can get better, but I'm not seeing signs of them challenging Scotland yet. I think they have improvement in them though, for sure.Their big game will be Samoa because, again, they will be expected to win but, in reality, the teams are reasonably evenly matched. (Ted said this on the coverage too)
I will be interested to see how their reserve prop (the big dude with the blonde hair) performs against better oppostition because he looked like a good bench player.
Yamanaka looked good off the bench too.
Leitch, Matsushima, and Lafaele played well, though none of them were errorless.

Wondering if the error rate in total is a symptom of the weather, in terms of slippery ball and players gettign really tired toward the end.

Still, entertaining enough for a first hitout.

Japan 15 is having a nightmare. So many dropped balls

it really looked like a lights in the eyes issue every time. i hope there aren't anymore night games there.

Not even dropping, just plain missing completely.

see above. missing completely is a really big sign they simply didn't see it

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I know bugger all about the Japanese team but surely they weren't at their best. They look way better against the Boks. Some bizarre decision making from professional players?

Played way better against England in November as well

I really do wonder whether being the favourites affected them - against tier 1 sides they're expected to lose so can play with freedom. Today they were expected to rack up a massive score in the opening game of a home world cup

 

[User1245]

it really looked like a lights in the eyes issue every time. i hope there aren't anymore night games there.

see above. missing completely is a really big sign they simply didn't see it

Agreed Leitch missed a kick restart because it seemed like he was blinded by the lights. Not good.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Aye, deffo looked like they couldn't see the ball.

I expect Japan to play much better in the following games.

 

[Ferrari333SP]