Japan maintained their perfect start to the Asia Rugby Championship yesterday with a hard-fought 38-3 win over a resilient Hong Kong.
The 2019 World Cup hosts ran in six tries, with flyhalf Ryohei Yamanaka adding four conversions in humid conditions at the Hong Kong Football Club.
The match was a stark contrast to their storming 12-try, 85-0 win over South Korea in last week’s tournament opener in Yokohama, Japan.
Benjamin Rimene posted Hong Kong’s only score with a first-half penalty, ahead of Leigh Jones’ side’s trip to Incheon next week to face South Korea as the three-team, round-robin tournament continues.
Japan established a 12-0 lead following tries from flanker Shokei Kin and scrumhalf Keisuke Uchida, although a penalty from Rimene reduced the deficit.
However, a try from winger Kentaro Kodama soon extended the advantage for the 10-time defending Asian champions to 19-3 at halftime.
Hong Kong enjoyed significant time in their opponent’s territory at the end of the first half, albeit without reward, and fought to stay in the contest after the break.
Japan finally broke the home side’s resistance with a try in the corner from center Ryota Nakamura just under 15 minutes into the second half.
Replacement Hiroki Yamamoto added a pair of tries the final 20 minutes as Ryuji Nakatake’s Japan sealed the victory.
“There was big differences between the [South] Korea game and today’s game, especially Hong Kong’s pressure in the breakdown,” Nakatake said.
“We had a lot of mistakes and penalties, which at the moment is one of our weaknesses,” he said.
“It is a step forward from last week as there were some good links between the forwards and the backs, so I think the quality is getting better,” he said.
However, “today Hong Kong’s pressure at the breakdown and good chasing after the kick was the reason it was a close game,” Nakatake added.
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