Kotaro Matsushima shines as the hat-trick hero in the Rugby World Cup opener.
In what was the first game for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, hosts Japan coasted to a slightly unconvincing but comfortable 30-10 win over Russia.
Being on home turf in front of a roaring crowd, Japan were the obvious favourites to clinch the game but they got off to a slow start and never seemed to get out of second gear.
Well, not until Kotaro Matsushima stepped up.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Russia opened the scoring after just 4 mins following a horrendous error by Japanese full back William Tupou as he attempted to get a routine up from teammate Vasily Artemyev, the ball bounced kindly for Kirill Golosnitskiy who took full advantage to score what will probably be one of the easiest tries in the entire tournament. Yury Kushnarev added two more from the conversion.
At 11 mins in, Timothy Lafaele executed a gem of an offload to the waiting William Topou who teed up Kotaro Matsushima who scored the first of his three tries of the night. The following conversion was missed.
With the score teetering at 5-7 to Russia, the underdogs looked fairly solid, putting in some strong tackles to deny the hosts any room to operate. Given how they were going, there appeared an inkling of hope that they could steal the game from Japan.
Despite their earlier try, Japan were struggling to get into the game; they seemed lethargic under the prevailing humid conditions which they should’ve been accustomed to. They frequently employed flick passes which led to mistakes and had poor kicking when in possession.
Solid scrum ✅
Insane workrate ✅
Good lineout ✅Irishman Mark McDermott and forwards coach for Russia can be proud of his side's performance tonight.#RWC2019 #JPNvRUS pic.twitter.com/Qypa91aNNN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 20, 2019
At 34 mins, Japan celebrated a try by Kotaro Matsushima to take the score to 10-7 only for the decision to be reversed as the slow motion replay revealed that Matsushima had lost control of the ball before it hit the ground across the goal line. Referee Nigel Owens deemed the try illegal after consultation, the decision was greeted by a howl of hostile cheers from the crowd.
Japan kept at that Russian defence though and their perseverance was rewarded as their second attempt proved to be a charm with Matsushima finishing off a series of slick phases to score his second try of the night. Yu Tamura scored the subsequent conversion to take the score to 12-7 as the game approached halftime.
Any of your mates have this chap for their Fantasy team?
Don't worry, they'll tell you if they do.#RWC2019 #JPNvRUS pic.twitter.com/lR50JsTCrU
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 20, 2019
At this point, Japan began to grow into the game, shrugging off the frailties that plagued them in the first 30 mins and began to put Russia on the back foot. They exhibited great attacking shape, swiftling playing passes between themselves and targeting the right side where they could utilise the blistering pace of Matsushima. Half time arrived with the clang of a gong as Japan (expectedly) headed for the break with a narrow lead.
Timothy Lafaele proved to be the main man in possession, he set the outrageous try for his team and finished the half as the leading metre maker with 53m and had the joint highest number of carries with 8.
At 43 mins, Japan were awarded a penalty as Russian centre Dimitry Gerasimov laid over the ball which slowed up recycling. Unfortunately for the hosts, the chance sailed over the posts as Yu Tamura rued the chance to make it 15-7.
Japan would redeem themselves two minutes later as Flanker Pieter Labuschagne ripped the ball out of the grasp of Andrey Ostrikov, punishing the Russians for their lackadaisical defending as Labuschagne stormed from 50m out to score a try for the hosts to make it 20-7 with over half the game run through.
Despite their bright start, Russia began to fade from the game as their fitness levels waned.
59 mins in and Russia were awarded a penalty as Japan were adjudged to be offside as they smothered Vasily Artemyev who claimed the high ball. Yury Kushnarev promptly stepped up to convert the chance to take their total to 10-20 as the game headed into the final 20 mins. At 64 mins, Japan took the final penalty of game from which Yu Tamura drilled the ball through the middle to restore the 13 point lead for Japan.
At 69 mins, a marathon passage of play saw Kotaro Matsushima emerge as the hat trick hero. Vasily Artemyev chopped a poor kick infield with acres of space for Japan to exploit, they promptly responded with Matsushima easing past a Russian flanker to earn his treble for the night. Rikiya Katsura put the final flourishes on the scoreline by earning Japan’s final points of the night to finish up at 30-10.
3 – Kotaro Matsushima is the first player to score a hat-trick for Japan in a @rugbyworldcup match; overall he now has 4 RWC tries for Japan, the joint most for the nation (also Eiji Kutsuki). Blossoming. #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/MyBHGIlrdx
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) September 20, 2019
Russia were worn and were probably eager for the final gong to bail them from their now certain loss. And in the end, the game finished 30-10 to the hosts.
Japan might rue their missed chances as they would feel they could have scored more, they certainly weren’t at their best but they got the job done nevertheless. For Russia, they will feel like they worked hard but the the quality of their opponents shone through in the end and they can have no complaints about the result. Lyn Jones will aim to pick his team up for the showdown against Samoa.
And so the 2019 Rugby World Cup is underway! Here’s to the next two great months to look forward to.
https://twitter.com/_TheRugbyClub/status/1175028591215697922
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