Japan 19 – 64 New Zealand: 10-try All Blacks kick start Autumn tour ahead of England Test

Today at 05:55 AM

The All Blacks kicked off their Northern Hemisphere tour with a 10-try romp in Yokohama against Eddie Jones' spirited Japan team, whose tenacious defence at times caused New Zealand problems. Japan took advantage of a sloppy start by the All Blacks to score two early tries before the visitors pulled away.

England head coach Steve Borthwick will have noted the All Blacks continued habit of going off the boil in the second half this season.

With one eye on the England-New Zealand showdown at Twickenham this Saturday, All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson rested first-choice players like Ardie Savea, Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan and captain Scott Barrett against Japan, giving fringe players the chance to stake a claim.

Scrum-half Cam Roigard and hooker Asafo Aumua played themselves into contention despite contributing to a shaky start by the All Blacks against Japan.

The visitors struggled early on with Aumua producing a crooked throw for the opening line-out and Roigard later putting his first kick out on the full.

Japan capitalised by grabbing the opening try after a no-look pass from scrum-half Shinobu Fujiwara put away Fiji-born winger Jone Naikabula, who was hauled down just before the line, but his momentum carried him over.

The All Blacks responded with two quick tries inside three minutes as Mark Tele'a, then stand-in captain Patrick Tuipulotu rampaged down the left flank, fending off defenders on their way over the line. Japan stayed in the hunt with a well-worked try.

The home pack attacked from a close-range line-out, loose forward Faulua Makisi darted through a gaping hole in the All Blacks defence to grab their second try after 18 minutes to make it 14-12.

Japan were denied a freak breakaway try when their New Zealand-born lock Warner Dearns got his boot to a loose ball and charged clear of the defence to touch down, but the referee spotted a knock-on in a huge tackle by Makisi on All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie in the build up.

The flood gates opened soon after as New Zealand poleaxed Japan by running in the next six tries, which came thick and fast in a devastating 22-minute spell around half-time.

Winger Sevu Reece exchanged passes with centre Billy Proctor, who crashed over, then former All Blacks captain Sam Cane, who steps down from international rugby after this tour, took a final pass from Tele'a to score out wide. The All Blacks were busting out of tackles and creating overlaps at will.

Blindside flanker Samipeni Finau was the next to profit when he stepped inside two tackles to cross the try-line. A barnstorming run saw Aumua fend off four would-be tacklers before his jumbo front-row colleague Pasilio Tosi crashed over for a try which made it 34-12 after 34 minutes. There was no let-up for Japan.

Loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams also got on the scoresheet when he touched down as the All Blacks pack mauled their way over the line just before the half-time whistle to make it 43-12 at the break. There was only a brief respite for the Japanese.

Aumua punched another hole in the defence before slipping a pass to Roigard who held off two tacklers to cross for New Zealand's eighth try. The All Blacks have developed the habit of dropping the tempo in the second half under Robertson this season. The trend continued in Yokohama as 34 minutes passed before the All Blacks scored again.

Japan seized the chance to regroup. Only back-to-back last-ditch tackles by McKenzie kept out the Brave Blossoms, who eventually pulled back a try when replacement prop Opeti Helu sprinted through a posse of All Blacks defenders to cross under the posts to make it 50-19 with ten minutes left

The scoreline blew out in the dying stages as replacement full-back Ruben Love capped an All Blacks debut to remember by grabbing two converted tries in three minutes off the bench, just before the final whistle, as the Japan defence wilted.

Japan: 19

TRIES: 3 (Naikabula 5′, Makisi 18′, Helu 69′)

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Tatekawa 6′, Osada 70′)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

15. Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14. Jone Naikabula, 13. Dylan Riley, 12. Nicholas McCurran, 11. Malo Tuitama, 10. Harumichi Tatekawa (capt), 9. Shinobu Fujiwara, 8. Faulua Makisi, 7. Kazuki Himeno, 6. Amato Fakatava, 5. Warner Dearns, 4. Sanaila Waqa, 3. Shuhei Takeuchi, 2. Atsushi Sakate, 1. Takato Okabe

Replacements: 16. Mamoru Harada, 17. Takayoshi Mohara, 18. Opeti Helu, 19. Epineri Uluiviti, 20. Kanji Shimokawa, 21. Taiki Koyama, 22. Tomoki Osada, 23. Takuro Matsunaga

New Zealand: 64

TRIES: 10 (Tele'a 12′, Tuipulotu 15′, Proctor 22′, Cane 24′, Finau 31′, Tosi 34′, Williams 40′, Roigard 44′, Love 78′, 80+1′)

CONVERSIONS: 7 (McKenzie 13′, 16′, 35′, 40+1′, 45′, 79′, 80+2′)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

15. Stephen Perofeta, 14. Sevu Reece, 13. Billy Proctor, 12. Anton Lienert-Brown, 11. Mark Tele’a, 10. Damian McKenzie, 9. Cam Roigard, 8. Wallace Sititi, 7. Sam Cane, 6. Samipeni Finau, 5. Patrick Tuipulotu (capt), 4. Sam Darry, 3. Pasilio Tosi, 2. Asafo Aumua, 1. Tamaiti Williams

Replacements: 16. George Bell, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Josh Lord, 20. Peter Lakai, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. David Havili, 23. Ruben Love

Robertson rues All Blacks bad habits as Six Nations heavyweights loom

Scott Robertson will have plenty to mull as the All Blacks prepare to face England, Ireland, France then Italy in quick succession. An experimental Japan team caused New Zealand problems, but the All Blacks didn't help their own cause with a scrappy, error-strewn second-half display with the match already won.

Roigard, Aumua and Proctor strengthened their claims for selection against England, but the All Blacks need to ditch their habit of allowing the tempo to drop in the second half if New Zealand are to win at Twickenham.

A shock home to Argentina and back-to-back away defeats to South Africa this season means Robertson is coming under increasing criticism from the New Zealand media, but the All Blacks boss drew on the positives from the win over Japan.

 “It was a convincing win off some great defensive sets. Great class touches and skills. We scored a few tries at the end there,” he told Sky.

However the All Blacks head coach acknowledged his team's mistakes, especially after Japan's pack challenged the visiting pack at the scrums and lineouts.

“We gave the ball back too easily at times," said Robertson. "We weren’t urgent enough, they got a couple of early set-piece tries.” 

After his disastrous stint coaching Australia at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where the Wallabies crashed out of the pool stages following defeat to Fiji and Wales, Eddie Jones is priming Japan for the 2027 World Cup in his native Australia. He admitted his side lost heart after an impressive start, having matched the All Blacks in the opening quarter, once the Warren Dearns try was ruled out for a knock-on.

“When we got that disallowed try, you could visibly see our energy drop, our attention to detail dropped. Then the game was lost," he said. 

“We showed plenty of spirit and character in the second half and played some good rugby. We are only at the infancy of where we want to be at the moment, but it’s disappointing.”

Jones will have to get his team up to speed quickly as Japan face Six Nations giants France and England, as well as Uruguay, on tour next month.

 “We have the ability to move the ball quickly. We have to add a few things to it, but we will as we go on," he added. "By the next World Cup, we’ll be pretty good.”

The post Japan 19 – 64 New Zealand: 10-try All Blacks kick start Autumn tour ahead of England Test appeared first on Ruck.