Tonga beats Japan 31-18 at World Cup

oh well, back to the drawing board

Tough luck to the Blossoms - gutted for them - they lived up to their nickname though and performed bravely against those monster Tongans. Japanese lad Michael Leitch was MOTM and apparently had a storming game (sadly I had to work and was only able to watch last 10 mins). That 3rd place in the pool JK was aiming for is gone now. The Blossoms will go out in the last game vs the Canucks, nothing to lose, and play running rugby - throwing the ball around to entertain the crowds that have taken them to heart. If nothing else, the Brave Blossoms should be remembered as "The Entertainers" of this tournament!

Large flames appeared behind the stadium’s terraces about 25 minutes into the second half. But the stadium announcer said there was no need for concern and the blaze seemed to subside before the final whistle.

Nothing to see here folks - just a fire in the grandstand. Carry on!

Very dissapointed with this result, and what a disgraceful performance from the referee, he made some serious bad calls and was just another english whistle blower who had no idea about the rules of the game, in fact im sure it was the first game he has ever been to.

Disgusted with this absolute rubbish.

Well, tough luck, but clearly they can't blame it solely on the second-string players (as many did for the game against the All Blacks), and Japan's gotta go back to the drawing board and rethink things. Start with 'The Brave Blossoms' and work on changes from there.

Better luck next time, and best of luck to the teams still in it.

The Tonga team are monsters and Soane is a bad mofo. Hope they take it all. Green hair, Poly tattoos, and the Sipi Tau rock the world !!!

That photo above is gonna go viral. Two cops huge grins, standing watching the game, oblivious to the fire raging behind them!!

The ref really ruined the match, way too quick to make decisions, and at the same time he missed so many. Tonga played well, but some typical high tackles. They deserved the win I thought. Japan just didn't bring their recent game with them, such a shame, was really hoping this would be their chance to shine. I thought Kirwin summed it up well after the game, Japan dropped too many balls, rushed a little too much, and weren't strong enough defending the Tongan rhinos charging over the breakdown.

Not too disappointed to see Japan lose, as I think Tonga deserved 1 win at this WC, and they were the better team. Tough for the Japanese players though.

Will Japan and its media please remember the humbling performance of the "Brave Blossoms" when it starts all the hype about the team as it prepares to qualify for the next tournament? One win in 23 matches and a losing streak of 17 games should be mentioned in every article. Not simply the score when they beat some minnow like HK. A little perspective would be great -- for a change.

Well put, HFN. Another Q: Is John Kirwin`s job safe?

probably not after he put out the 2nd stringers for NZ & now this

If Japan wants to be with the "Big Boys" Japan needs to put in much more. And even then, the Japanese team will struggle. Japanese are physically smaller compared to the others. This is a tough game.But good on them for trying

I think Kirwan is pretty safe - but I agree that, since the awesome performance v France, the Blossoms have probably underachieved. I reckon they should get some of their promising kids into the leagues where Rugby is played at the highest level - Europe, Aussie, and NZ. Get them playing club and (if they pass muster) provincial rugby. The Japanese League does have the mega-bucks, sure - but it just doesn't have the level required of top rugby. Look at soccer, for example: the reason the Blue Samurai are now ranked No.15 in the world is because so many of them are now playing in Europe where even a training game is the equivalent of a J-League match!

I just hope, now that the pressure is off, the Blossoms go out and try and compete with the Canucks (who have a real chance of that 3rd place). Throw the ball around with gay abandon, don't bother taking penalties - just have fun and see what happens!

Agree with you BurakuminDes. Its a long way to the top if you want to rock & roll. There was a time when the world didn't think Japan and Korea ( and Africa ) could ever compete at the top level in Soccer.

I know of atleast one player from the japanese team who has played in NZ but i cant remember which team he was with though.

They are trying to step up and so is every other rugby playing nation so it's not an easy task to just step up and take on the big boys. Meanwhile every one else is trying to do the same thing.

It takes a few generations to move up the rankings. NZ rugby is so ingrained in the culture that when i went to school it was almost compulsory to play at school boy level, if it wasnt for a couple of university teams and a few company teams rugby would be non existant in this country.

I am a member of the JRFU (Japan Rugby Football Union) so I always want to see the Japan team do well , i hope they can salvage something out of the canadian game for the sake of rugby in Japan.

I wish Japan every success with rugby cause I love the sport and would like it to expand at a world class level at all corners of the globe,but they seem to be making no headway.16 years ago flogged and less than a week has passed since the AB'S put 80+on those representing them in less than an hour. Truth is they were never going to beat Tonga tonight if Tonga learnt anything from the self-implosion of their last outing...and Canada seem to be playing at a level superior to them too...That leaves Japan at the bottom of the pool,nothings changed in 16 years despite top level coaching Kirwin and Eddie Jones and influxes of European and Sthn. hemisphere stars like Gregan and George Smith . 2 decades later and as good as going backwards means a total and absolute cleanout required.

Burakumin, you looked at the last 10 minutes and you can say ..."the Brave Blossoms should be remembered as "The Entertainers" of this tournament!"

what ?

The Word cup havent yet entered in the 3 weeks (still in pool time) but you already decided that this team is "the enter...."

what ?

Have you looked at some other teams ? More than 10 minutes ?

Georgia (almost beats Scotland) Romania also was a hard team to beat for the same Scotland, Ireland beating the big Australia (!)...Wales bitten for 1 point only by the mighty SA (South Africa)...have you ?

Japan have been trashed (yes trashed, 47/21) by a second french team (yes i know that there is no second neither first team in a world cup competition -but burakumin dont know that- ) and got another trash against NZ...they now have been beaten by Tonga (last time they met, Japan won but everybody knows (except burakumin) that Tonga on that day wasnt with their best players.

Japan team is a low-par level, even with 3 NZ players. Nothing to say more !

Pacific - sorry, I did not realise you aren't an english native speaker. Thought you were! Your english is good anyway ;-) I apologise.

Sure - Japan are ranked currently number 13 - - but that is fairly decent for a nation that has rugby as a very minor sport. It's a bit harsh to just call them "sub-par", surely? Nations like your and mine (Aussie) with pretty established rugby traditions should be encouraging them, I reckon. You have one of the best leagues in the world - with the top salaries too! Don't you think it would be a good idea for Japanese players to gain some top rugby experience by playing in your leagues, for example? Surely it would be for the good of the game overall in the world? It can't be good to just have France, South Africa, NZ, Aussie and England always in the World Cup finals.

I dont think i have to lick every sports team of Japan because i live in Japan !

Agree with you 100 percent. I don't like jumping on the Japan sports bandwagon just for the sake of it. But I find myself cheering hard for the Brave Blossoms a lot more than, say, the national soccer team here. They're battlers that lose most of the time, but go down putting on a good show!

Winning this game was the minimum for the JRFU's expectations with Kirwan. He will be out of the job, and given the last two performances of Japan, probably have trouble getting coaching work in a tier 1 nation afterwards.

Yes, the reffing was substandard, but so were the Japanese team. I guess that while Japan may complain about some of the mysterious calls, they did benefit with a try from an incorrect call, so c'est la vie - neither team profited, just made the spectacle even more cringeworthy to watch seeing the ref mess up also.

Anyway, Japan was let down, once again, by the lack of basic skills shown by its representative players. Too many easy passes dropped cold under no pressure, too many inaccurate throws and meaningless kicks. Defense was good, and some players kept up their end, but the level of basic unforced errors that plague the team are a disgrace to Japan, and the 120,000 players in Japan from professional teams to high school players, most of whom it seems who can pass and catch a ball better than many of the guys wearing the national jersey. In 1987 when JK played for NZ, players would actually do push ups on the field if they dropped a ball or missed a tackle.

Japan had the skills and firepower to beat Tonga, as they have done repeatedly in recent years, but they lacked the concentration and beginner level ball skills to do it. Tonga had the concentration, and the drive to play for 80 minutes and hold Japan out. Good on them.

Japan needs to get rid of university rugby, and start developing uptake systems to find talent from high school age, and to get them into competitive club rugby as early as possible, and to select representative members from the very highly skilled, very large rugby playing population in Japan. Too many Keio and Waseda old boys who get a blazer and treat their post university rugby like it is retirement.

If Japan plays like that, Canada will beat them in the final pool match. JK needs to set minimum standards and try to show us what he has been doing with the team for the last few years.

Peace

Hikozaemon

Peace

LOL

I think Kirwin's job is safe, but I don't think he will stay. I have hear him comment recently, but in an interview I read last year in a Japanese rugby mag, he said that his intention all along had been to work up until after the 2011 world cup. Sure they haven't achieved their goal of 2 wins at the WC, but Kirwin is god at the moment in Japan rugby circles, just ask anyone about him. He has taken them from rank 17-18ish, up to rank 12-13ish, won the Pacific Nations Cup, and look at all the New Zealand players who have been signed up for Top League teams next year. Muliaina, Brad Thorn etc, Kirwin's connections were behind a lot of the recent sign ups, it all started with the Classic All Blacks matches which was Kirwin's doing. He is worth way more than this recent fail. Kirwin is a driven man though, I wouldn't be surprised if he hangs around till the 2019 cup.

BurakuminDes, Now that the pressure is off? The pressure is still there, if they don't Canada then they really will have failed.

For those of you that are rugby players and/or have played significant amounts of rugby in Japan you will know that Japan faces 2 large problems with their rugby. First is the structure of their competitions and season. Too many of the best players are kept away from top level rugby as the company/University/Public Club competitions are all separate (yes I know there is a play-off between them but that is utterly irrelevant). Japan now have meaningful tests (although could be playing and touring even more for experience) but there is too much of the NH sickness of 'Friendly Tests'. In the SH there are NO friendly tests - they are 'Tests' end of story.

The biggest problem imo (based off 10 years of playing Japan) is the referees whilst technically they are fairly proficient - the refs have have little 'feel' for the art of rucking. Now, I am a kiwi and understanding of the ruck is the absolute cornerstone of NZ's 110 year dominance of the sport of rugby. My old grandmother can talk about ruc ks and makes more sense than most reports I read from the UK ( I am seriously not kidding).

Japan have some wonderful players in both the forwards and the backs (incl the foreign players) but too often the players seem loathe to attack the ruck right up to the boundaries of the Laws. This is a result of over-zealous ref'ing there by the domestic referees.

I will be off to Canada v. Japan next week and I fear for Japan in that game Canada are very strong i the tackle and the ruck.

We cannot point the finger at JK - The JRFU must step up and look to bring some top refs from NZ and SA to make a difference in Japan.

Most of the criticism I read here seems sourced from disappointment Des not hatred or bashing..any one who thinks this has been a successful campaign really isnt helping the future of the game here 1 iota.The last thing,the very LAST thing a coach worries about in preparing a team is how entertaining they are .Hikozaemon is right in his assessment the players STILL dont have basic skills their defense is timid at best.I'd like to see them earn that name 'Brave' by putting in and working their butts off defensively for the full 80 minutes ...then they'll have a chance of bringing to an end their 17 consecutive world cup game losses.

Brave John Kirwan. He led the Blossom Boys on a Vision Quest to magical Waipoua Forest. He was their guide. It was imperative that the young warriors visit the sacred Tane Mahuta tree. (It means "Lord of the Forest" in Maori.). Lo, though the boys bathed in and imbibed of the sacred tree's power-giving mana, in the end the Tongan haka (which is not yet as over-used and impotent as the All Blacks' one) proved too powerful, and the Blossom lads did suffer defeat.

I think JK's job 'should be' safe. What he has done up till now has been nothing short of outstanding in getting the players to believe in themselves. When the players take the field and start dropping the ball and making stupid mistakes too many people blame the coach. JK has tried to change the face of rugby in this country and he has suggested time and time again that the competition needs to be restructured to make it more competitive instead of the one sided thrashings that usually take place over here. He has also suggested that players should filter out into the real world and play in overseas competitions to gain valuable experience week in and week out. People forget that JK is just one person below a heap of old geezers in the japanese rugby world who make the decisions and don't want to take too drastic of a measure to change the face of rugby in this country. They are happy plodding along flogging the other asian minnows by cricket scores time and time again. Give JK sole decision making in rugby for this country and see the improvements he will make within the next four years........but that wont happen. So is JK's job safe? It should be but sadly the old geezers will need a scape goat.

Winning this game was the minimum for the JRFU's expectations with Kirwan. He will be out of the job, and given the last two performances of Japan, probably have trouble getting coaching work in a tier 1 nation afterwards.

I doubt it. However, I think Kirwin has other aspirations.

Japan's loss here was for two easily identifiable reasons. The first is inability to cope with the breakdown where the Tongans were able to turnover time and again. You could say that may be Kirwin's fault. The second was too many handling errors. You can't afford that many errors when you are struggling in the first place.

Forget history. When Japan had ball in hand they looked good. Even their forwards looked good on occasions (they scored a penalty from the scrum). But they couldn't capitalize because they made too many mistakes.

look at all the New Zealand players who have been signed up for Top League teams next year. Muliaina, Brad Thorn

@ Lunchbox - Brad Thorn is playing in Japan next year? Awesome! Look forward to that - I've been watching the bloke play since he started out playing rugby league in Brisbane in the early 90s! Champion player...and will be 37 next year!

BurakuminDes, Now that the pressure is off? The pressure is still there, if they don't Canada then they really will have failed.

Well, the pressure is off in terms of grabbing the 3rd place they were aiming at. But yeah there will still be massive incentive to break their winless drought of 23 world cup games. And I fear it may extend - I watched the Canucks beat Tonga and they have some real classy halves...

as for JK's job. He has had a good go with Japan and some new ideas are probably welcome. I don't think he should lose his job for the loss to Tonga... but probably it is time for a new perspective. JK has been great for Japan and good on him. The issues with Japanese rugby are systemic - for a start Japan should look to more games at the international level as bare minimum quick fix.

Japan is trying to get a team included in the super 15 competition and once this happens then things will change dramatically in a faster time period, word is they could have a team included in the next 2 or 3 years with luck.

Argentina joins the tri nations next year and i think will have a super 15 team in 2013, it gotta be good for any nation to have a team in the highest level of competition in the world.

I also hear that Ma'a Nonu , Rodney Saiolo, Gerry Collins, Brad Thorne coming up here to play in the top league after the world cup too , among some other big names.

Élissalde could have taken them as far.The Kiwi is over-rated.

I knew those big Samoans, oops! Tongans, were going to whip our Japanese amigos asses! Pacific Islanders are big, big people, do not want to get in their way, IMHO.

RossBarstardJapan - you talk absolute shit - non stop.

there is no plan (at least by SANZAR) for a Japanese nor an Argentinian Super Rugby to join in the near future.

nec123a

there is no plan (at least by SANZAR) for a Japanese nor an Argentinian Super Rugby to join in the near future.

In correct check your info.

Kirwan is responsible. He is responsible for making sure he picks a team of guys that can catch a ball and make a tackle, and to train and build them up so that they can play to a gameplan that suits the team.

If Japan had any thing close to an acceptable error rate, and had lost to Tonga based on Tonga having a superior game plan, then I would accept, it is the players being outplayed.

Truth is that the players came out half baked - guys capable of playing much better seemed to be daydreaming at times. The team lacked sharpness and concentration, as well as basic skills. That comes down to preparation, which is the responsibility of the coach.

I love JK as a player, and he is a good guy. But he was hired solely for the purpose of making sure Japan could beat Tonga and Canada at the world cup. He has already failed in that mission, and you already have other world class test coaches in Japan with stronger credentials than JK has, starting with Eddie Jones at Suntory.

JK failed to bring a fully baked Japan team, that has so far failed to play to its potential, except for some bright moments in the France game. Canada are in rampant form right now - if JK wants to find any kind of decent coaching work after this RWC, he's going to have to make sure his team has its heads pulled in tomorrow.