Japan vs. New Zealand: Score, Recap and Analysis from Tokyo

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 2, 2013

commentComment        

Against the pitch-wide quality and oppression of the reigning world champions, there was only so much courage could accomplish as the Brave Blossoms were handed a 54-6 defeat against New Zealand on Saturday.

Japan may have come into this fixture with the hopes of staging 2013's biggest upset but were swiftly shown to be miles off the pace, for the large part struggling to get out of their own half.



Steve Hansen's side continued their unbeaten year with an eight-try routing of the Asian minnows, Charles Piutau being the only player managing to cross over the whitewash on two occasions.

Aside from the Blues-based winger, Richie McCaw, Sam Cane, Jeremy Thrush, Beauden Barrett, Ben Smith and Frank Halai also managed to grab a try each.

 

Wasted Opportunities

By all means, the result speaks well of the All Blacks' strength in attack, but even the infallible New Zealand were shown to be victims of profligacy at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium.

In two previous World Cup meetings, New Zealand held an aggregate scoreline of 228-24 against the Cherry Blossoms, such was the gap between the two teams.



One might say this weekend's outcome shows growth on Japan's part, but it was also due to the raft of inexperienced New Zealanders that the visitors sometimes struggled to get into their usually synchronised stride.

Piutau in particular may have grabbed a hat-trick were it not for avoidable mistakes in the opponents' 22'.

 

Set-Piece Pickup

One area where Japan showed that they were indeed more capable of competing on the All Blacks' level was at the scrum and lineout.



Despite boasting a significantly heavier pack, the All Blacks were sometimes made to look ordinary at the scrum and the hosts indicated that, with some practice, this could be an area in which they go on to thrive...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!