Wales were always the better side in the Millennium Stadium encounter and eventually broke the resolve of the brave Blossoms with running rugby from each and every man of Gareth Jenkins’s squad. Shane Williams scored his 33rd and 34th international try on his 50th Wales appearance to surpass Ieaun Evans’s in the all-time try scoring list, but it was the Japan who set first half pulses racing by scoring one of the best team tries of the Rugby World Cup at the Millennium Stadium.
Gareth Jenkins opted to freshen up his team with 10 changes from the side which lost 32-20 to Australia in Cardiff on Saturday. With Gareth Thomas and Sonny Parker ruled out through injury, James Hook returned at inside centre for his first game since the opener against Canada while Mike Phillips displaced Dwayne Peel at scrum-half. There was also a complete change in the front row with Duncan Jones, Thomas and Horsman fighting for spots in the group decider against Fiji next Saturday in Nantes.
After poor starts in the matches against Canada and Australia, the Wales Coach would have hoped for a quick start but it was quite the opposite as Shane Williams lost the ball in contact twice within the opening minutes. The second time allowed Japan to open the scoring through a penalty by Shotaro Onishi after Williams’s team mates found themselves in an offside position they could do nothing about.Â
Wales fought back immediately with a constant period of pressure but were unable to find the final pass. In the 10th minute, a good piece of fortune came the Dragons’ way when Jamie Robinson’s misdirected kick was charged down and Stephen Jones pounced on the ball. He supplied Scarlets team-mate Dafydd James who held his line to find Alun Wyn Jones unmarked out wide to score.
However, the minnows of Pool B hit back by scoring one of the tries of the tournament. With Wales only offering two men to the breakdown, Japan grabbed the loose ball and superb handling through five set of hands was finished expertly by wing Kosuke Endo who fended off the challenge of Williams to put the Cherry Blossoms into the lead. A Stephen Jones penalty edged Wales back in front before Hook provided a moment of class to score his first Rugby World Cup try of his career.
Receiving a pass on the left touchline, the golden boy of Welsh rugby threw a dummy on Yuta Imamura and accelerated away to hand the Three Feathers a 17-8 lead thanks to Jones’s conversion. Wales continued the pressure and were rewarded with a third try just after the half hour. Thomas Rhys Thomas powered through the Japanese tacklers on a perfect angle after taking an Alix Popham pass close-in.
Although Onishi reduced the deficit with a penalty, Wales gained the bonus point with comfortable ease on the stroke of the interval with their best move of the half. Martyn Williams’s long pass created space for outside centre Robinson to feed full-back Kevin Morgan who stepped inside his marker to round off a pleasing half.
Wales set out to make a clear statement of intent in the second period and it only took 90 seconds to extend their advantage. Growing in confidence and with a point to prove, Mike Phillips’s bursting run ended with a deserved score to the left of the posts. Phillips supported his score moments later by collecting his own clever chip and then throwing a long pass out to Williams to celebrate his personal milestone. Dafydd James made it seven with a try from Jones offload.
Japan refused to throw in the towel and replied through Hirotoki Onozawa after the wing intercepted Popham’s pass to score a breakaway try under the posts. Both sides made several changes before the hour mark and two of Wales’s combined instantly for their eighth try. No.8 Michael Owen displayed his dribbling skills before finding replacement scrum-half Gareth Cooper who scrambled over in the left corner.
Not content with eight, Martyn Williams made it double figures with an easy brace of touchdowns before the dancing feet of Shane Williams had the final word as the Ospreys wing sealed the victory as Wales waved goodbye to home ties in the Rugby World Cup.
