Japan may not be setting this World Cup alight in the manner they did as hosts four years ago but they remain in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals nonetheless after taking advantage of Ben Lam’s red card and eventually seeing off a defiant Samoa side.
They did their former assistant coach Steve Borthwick a favour in the process – England are now confirmed as the pool winners – and after tries from Michael Leitch, Pieter Labuschange and Kazuki Himeno moved Japan up into second spot, they face what is increasingly looking like a shootout for a spot in the last eight with Argentina next week.
Samoa may lament how Ben Lam’s yellow card for a dreadful tackle on Labuschagne was upgraded to red while the Japan hooker Shota Horie returned to the field after his high hit on Duncan Paia’aua but that is the lottery that competing teams must contend with at this tournament.
“We’ve worked hard and we’ve spoken about our discipline,” said the Samoa coach, Seilala Mapusua. “With the game as it is now, you’re working with millimetres in terms of getting it right and wrong. Japan can really punish you if you’re not at your full complement.”
To Samoa’s credit they battled manfully and ensured a nervous finish for Japan but the addition of a few former All Blacks has ultimately not had the desired effect and it was the Saracens’ second-row Theo McFarland who proved the pick of their players. That said, as much as England can now look forward to a quarter-final in Marseille, they must negotiate a fired-up Samoa side with little to lose first of all.
The last meeting between the two sides, in July, ended in a 24-22 win for Samoa and though Japan’s talisman Leitch was sent off that day it was evidence that while the 2019 World Cup hosts have plateaued in the subsequent four years, the Pacific Islanders are upwardly mobile.
Samoa’s task was all the more difficult, however, given they had lost to Argentina so it was little surprise they began with a greater sense of urgency. Steven Luatua is not a bad replacement but their cause was not helped with the captain, Chris Vui, dropping out of the side at late notice either. They enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges but they were dealt a considerable blow when the blindside flanker, Taleni Junior Agaese Seu, was forced off through injury after just five minutes.
Pitching this contest as Japan’s diminutive runners against Samoa’s hard hitters is playing to stereotypes somewhat, given how both sides have looked to develop the supposedly weaker sides of their game. That said, Japan’s opening try, from a scrum in an ideal attacking position, was certainly a joy to watch – Labuschagne reaching out to dot down a well-worked move after 13 minutes.
Samoa came again, however. Firstly, McFarland and Luatua combined well for a premeditated lineout move but the ball went to ground as it went out to the backs, while Lam would surely have been over on the left had he held on to Jonathan Taumateine’s lovely reverse pass. If he was blinded by the scrum-half’s bleach-blond mullet, he was not the only one.
With Japan unable to clear their lines, D’Angelo Leuila got Samoa up and running with a penalty much closer in but Rikiya Matsuda responded in kind with the referee, Jaco Peyper, growing increasingly intolerant with the Pacific Islanders’ approach to the breakdown. Indeed, they went from unable to slow Japan’s ball legally to unable to do so at all and another free-flowing move saw Leitch – hovering out wide as he so often does – splash over on the left. Taumateine was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the buildup for good measure.
Horie’s dangerous tackle restored numerical parity, however, and Samoa got the try they so badly needed before the break with Christian Leali’ifano kicking to the corner and the hooker Seilala Lam credited with the try from the back of the driving maul.
After the break both Taumateine and Horie – to some surprise – came back on to the field but just as the Japan hooker was returning, Ben Lam was sent to the sin-bin after a high tackle on Labuschange.
When Himeno, the Japan No 8, went over from the driven lineout, the writing was on the wall for Samoa and just a few minutes later Peyper confirmed that Ben Lam would not be returning.
Matsuda missed the conversion but added another penalty to stretch Japan’s lead.
Paia’aua finished off a second try for Samoa – just desserts for their endeavours on the night – and Leali’ifano’s late score set up a grandstand final two minutes but they could not find the fourth try to complete a dramatic comeback.
In hindsight, Matsuda might have kicked his last penalty to the corner to aid their quarter-final cause but the coach, Jamie Joseph, had no complaints. “We’ve got some very experienced rugby players and we back their decisions,” he said.
