Japan 24 – 19 Wales: Brave Blossoms bounce back to extend Welsh misery

Simon Thomas

Those Welsh fans who set their alarm clocks for silly o’clock this morning must be seriously questioning their decision right now.

With a 6am kick-off UK time, it takes real dedication to rise so early in the day, especially when your team has lost 17 Tests in a row.

Yet it seemed as though that loyal support was finally going to be rewarded as Wales led 19-7 with 20 minutes to go.

After 637 days without a win, it appeared as though the barren run was about to come to an end at last.

But it wasn’t to be as they wilted in the searing heat and humidity of Kitakyushu where the temperature soared above 30 degrees.

It’s a result which will see them drop down to 14th in the world rankings – a record low.

When you consider they were No 1 just six years ago, it really is a dramatic decline.

This latest defeat – number 18 – has to be seen as one of the very worst amid the lengthy losing streak.

When they last toured Japan in 2013, they were without no fewer than 15 star players who were away with the British & Irish Lions in Australia.

Malaise

This time around, they were denied the services of just two men through Lions duty Down Under – in itself a damning indictment of the malaise within Welsh rugby.

It did however mean they were able to field close to a full strength side for this first Test against the Brave Blossoms.

Moreover, this was no vintage Japanese side they were up against.

It was a pretty pale shadow of the teams that beat South Africa, Ireland and Scotland at the World Cups of 2015 and 2019.

They went into today’s game down in 13th spot in the rankings, a place below Wales.

That’s a legacy of them having conceded an average of 40 points per match since the last World Cup, with last year’s home defeat to Georgia, along with conceding 42 points to Italy in their own back yard, providing an indication of their standing.

Yet this was to be a deserved victory for Eddie Jones’ team and one which clearly meant so much to 36-year-old skipper Michael Leitch and his troops given their reaction on their final whistle.

Japanese flair

They were the ones who looked to play, the ones wanting to keep ball in hand and demonstrate that traditional Japanese flair. They were more connected in attack and much clearer in what they were trying to do as they attempted to run into space – and ultimately they got their reward.

That had seemed pretty unlikely when they trailed by 12 points at the break with Wales having built a solid lead through tries from Ben Thomas, Tom Rogers and a penalty try.

But the game was to turn on its head in the second half, with the visitors failing to score another point and conceding two tries to maintain that all too familiar losing habit.

So just where did it all go wrong?

Well, it was a combination of factors.

Firstly, they were unable to capitalise on early pressure at the start of the second half.

Camped in the opposition 22, they had the opportunity to put the game to bed, but they failed to take it and went on to pay the price.

The other key issues amid their collapse were the set-piece and indiscipline.

To put it bluntly, their scrum was poor and their lineout was even worse. They were penalised a number of times at the former and were just unable to secure their own ball consistently at the latter, wasting a series of good attacking positions in the process.

You can see just how pivotal the platform problems were to the defeat by looking at the tries which brought Japan victory.

The score from replacement wing Ichigo Nakakusu on the hour can be traced back to Wales losing the jump at the front of a lineout in opposition territory.

That loss was then compounded by a ruck offence which enabled Japan to kick deep into the 22 and from there they showed good patience as they built a phased attack which culminated in Nakakusu breaking the tackle of Rogers to jubilantly touch down.

It was sweet redemption for the sub who had conceded the first half penalty try by slapping the ball into touch as Josh Adams was about to pounce – an indiscretion which also saw him yellow carded.

As for the deciding score from another replacement – Halatao Vailea – on 70 minutes, that too stemmed from Welsh woes at the set-piece.

Their creaking scrum gave away the penalty which again allowed Japan to kick into the corner and then it was their lineout defence which let them down as Vailea broke away from a moving maul to breach the whitewash.

Wales still had their chances to rescue the situation in the closing stages, but again this just emphasized their deficiencies.

Twice in quick succession, they failed to nail attacking lineouts as they were beaten in the air and that was pretty much that.

As the closing minutes ticked by, you could just sense the deflation in their ranks as they tried in vain to chase the game.

They would have had that sinking feeling of “Here we go again” and so it proved.

Overall, they can have few complaints as it was a pretty colourless display from the men all in red.

Aside from the well-taken try by wing Rogers when they had a man advantage, there were precious few times when they moved the ball down the line.

They opted instead to adopt a kicking strategy and when they did run with the ball they tended to do so into contact rather than into space.

It was not easy-on-the-eye rugby.

In Blair Murray, they have one of the most exciting runners in the business, yet the Scarlets full-back was a spectator for much of the time, criminally under-used. That was made all the more frustrating by the side-stepping ground he made the one time he did get the ball in broken play.

It was to be the rarest of sights.

Line breaks

The fact Wales only made three line breaks in the entire game – compared to seven by their hosts – shows how seldom the backs were employed to any real attacking purpose.

It also indicates just how short they are of gain-line breaking forward carriers.

If the attack was lacking, there were also concerns in defence, with 19 tackles being missed in all.

Their physicality, accuracy and direction disappeared as the second half wore on and they were unable to problem solve on the hoof.

Fitness and an ability to deal with the conditions also became an increasing issue. As they drooped, so the Japanese – accustomed to the heat – found an added spring in their step.

So, those are the numerous negatives, what about the positives?

Well, in the first half, the strategy largely worked. The kicking game drew errors from the hosts and saw possession reclaimed, while the breakdown was proving a profitable area as they earned a series of turnovers.

All in all, Matt Sherratt’s men looked pretty comfortable.

There were also individual plusess, most notably the ageless brilliance of Taulupe Faletau.

He set the tone by breaking away from a lineout and sucking in two defenders before delivering the perfectly timed scoring pass to centre Ben Thomas after just four minutes.

After that, the class continued to ooze out of him. It was his timely pick-up off a fracturing scrum that set things in motion for Rogers’ try on 21 minutes, while he was to finish as the game’s top carrier with 14 even though he was on the field for less than an hour.

His contribution was perhaps best summed up by his four involvements in the space of eight phases of attacking early in the second half.

The man is just a machine and he will be sorely missed when he does finally hang up his boots.

Skipper Dewi Lake was second for Welsh carries with 10 and led the way at the breakdown, winning a brace of jackal penalties, while Alex Mann topped the tackle count with 17 on his return to the Test arena and James Ratti put in a big shift having been called into action inside 30 seconds after an injury to the unfortunate Ben Carter.

But as the game moved on, the positives steadily diminished for Wales and, by the end, they looked a poor side.

So, where now? Well the immediate answer is Kobe where they will have another chance to end the losing run in next Saturday’s rematch.

To do that, they must put a lot right and they haven’t got much time to do so.

Just how many people will get up in the early hours to see if they can manage it remains to be seen.