It is one of the All Blacks' most sadistic traits: they make you feel like you’re genuinely in the game, until you look at the scoreboard, sapped of energy and hope, and wonder how you shipped those 40-plus points.
That was the first half in a nutshell on Saturday as the Brave Blossoms battled the perennial powerhouse from New Zealand.
When Wellington-born Warner Dearns galloped over the line for Japan’s (subsequently disallowed) third try, which would have put the Brave Blossoms 17-14 ahead with a kickable conversion to go, there was a growing sense of maybe, just maybe. Twenty minutes later, when the half-time whistle blew, New Zealand was 43-12 to the good, and for Japan, it had become a case of damage limitation.
The new goals would then be to try to keep New Zealand under 60, score a few tries to close the gap and give the near-65,000 fans in Yokohama’s Nissan Stadium something to smile about on the train home.
With all that in mind, the final score, 64-19, is not as bad as it looks. It certainly isn’t time to start baying for Eddie Jones’s blood, nor penning the obituaries. At least Jones and his coaching staff can identify where things unraveled. For all their pace and energy and ingenuity and physicality in attack, the Brave Blossoms were as leaky as a busted faucet on defense during the second quarter, a 20-minute period in which New Zealand scored five unanswered tries.
Holes were regularly appearing in the central channels and New Zealand seemed to be playing on a pitch that was 10 yards wider on each side, running in tries from the first phase without having to do anything too creative. You could see the fitness levels of the Japanese players depleting in real time, like a gang of deflating balloons.
Jones admitted as much after the match.
“After that disallowed try, you could visibly see our energy drop,” he said. “We’re only in the infancy of where we want to be at the moment, but yeah, it’s disappointing.” There was an air of experimentation about the game. It is the Jones way to trial new players, a strategy that ultimately failed in his tenure with the Wallabies, and he struck a balance of youth and experience Saturday afternoon, throwing familiar ingredients — Kazuki Himeno, Harumichi Tatekawa, Atsushi Sakate — into the pot with a couple of dashes of Unknown Chemical X.
With possession, it was a potent concoction.
Dynamic 20-year-old fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki was plucked out of training at Waseda University last week and gave a good account of himself against one of the most devastating teams in world rugby. Shinobu Fujiwara is another example of Japan’s ability to produce quality scrum halves; he looked a handful for the All Black’s fringe defense when the ball was recycled quickly. And Dearns, with his basketball-like frame and shotgun acceleration, is a serious athlete and fast becoming a tone-setter for the national team.
It ought to be remembered that this was a new look New Zealand side, too.
Most of the All Blacks key starters were rested for England in Twickenham this week, while Patrick Tuipulotu was a first-time captain and Peter Lakai and Ruben Love came off the bench to make their debuts. It’s a tale as old as time, though; the New Zealand system churning out players fully equipped for test rugby in the first couple years of their careers.
Just look at Wallace Sititi and Cam Roigard, with only a dozen caps between them but looking completely at home in the black jersey, as though playing tag rugby in the park with their mates. That aspect only magnifies the gap between Japan and New Zealand.
Which leads to a larger question: Where does Japan sit in the international rugby landscape? For all the talk of the Brave Blossoms being a potential banana skin for the world’s top sides, there’s little to back that up anymore. The Golden Era of 2019 is now well in the rearview mirror, two World Cup cycles ago, and though Jones will have been buoyed by a silver medal in the Pacific Nations Cup — a humbling loss to Fiji in the final notwithstanding — it’s been a while since Japan really looked like it could trouble a Tier 1 nation. In fact, it was the previous time the Brave Blossoms played the All Blacks — a tight 38-31 loss in Yokohama two years ago.
Jones will be given time to tinker with the team, and, ignoring the Australia debacle, his credentials suggest he’ll figure out a formula to put the Brave Blossoms in good shape for the next World Cup, which takes place Down Under in 2027. Japan’s proposed inclusion in the inaugural World Rugby Nations Championship in 2026 will provide further opportunities to test new combinations against the world’s best sides.
But the resounding loss on Saturday does put into perspective the state of the domestic game, centered on a league that simply doesn’t compare to the other major club competitions on either side of the equator. The Japan Rugby League One has no problem attracting some of the world’s best talent — Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk, Pablo Matera, Beauden Barret, Aaron Smith, Sam Kane, and Marika Koroibete are just a sampling of the league’s star-studded rosters.
But few would be under any illusion that it’s the quality of the rugby — rather than the pay packages —that’s causing the influx. Never mind that most big-name imports are in the final stages of their careers, or in some cases, are effectively taking a sabbatical until the next World Cup comes into view.
The influx of foreign talent in the domestic league may also be harming the development of homegrown talent. Even Jones pointed out earlier in the year that only 53% of the playing time in the league was going to Japanese players.
Things don’t get any easier for the Brave Blossoms with games against France and England away in November. If anything, similar defeats to Saturday’s in Yokohama would emphasize the need for the Japan Rugby Football Union to do some soul searching.
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