Work done in Japan. But that’s all.
The Wallabies faced the Brave Blossoms in terrible conditions at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, crossing the line and ending their losing streak at three.
The hosts once again threatened a historic upset under Eddie Jones, but Australia did enough to deny their former manager’s words with a 19-15 victory.
It was always going to be a Test with little to gain for the Wallabies, apart from valuable time for many of the team in extra time, but with far more to lose, Australia came dangerously close to doing so as Japan played all their rugby within the final quarter and got even more emboldened with every touch of the ball.
Japan were disappointed in their response in the first half – the test was played in persistent rain – when suddenly the backline roared like a bullet train tearing through the Land of the Rising Sun.
But in the end their brave comeback fell short by four points and Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies and the rest of Australian rugby breathed a huge sigh of relief as a result.
“I don’t think we needed to be that nervous. I think we probably scored a few goals but we didn’t get the reward… I talked to Carlo (Tizzano) after the game and he said we lost a few goals,” Schmidt said. stun sports See some moments from the first half.
“But that’s how it is. You just have to work your way and try again. And they kept working their way. It was raining tonight, very difficult conditions. The ball was just slippery and the error rate for both teams would have been very high.”
“And losing both locks in the first 20 minutes made it difficult as well. I thought Jeremy Williams did a really good job of putting the lineout together and even putting a bit of pressure on them.”
However, this victory will not be glossed over and attention will soon turn to next week’s clash with England at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. Apart from Tizano, few of the Fringe Wallabies made a name for themselves in Tokyo, but 23 regular members Jake Gordon, Jeremy Williams and Angus Bell were Australia’s best three.
Tyne Edmed has his good points and bad points, but he is aiming to be the Wallabies’ number 10 for the time being, and the playmaker is primarily in control of the game, but he has lost his form by losing high balls defensively.
One can only imagine how Jones must have felt as full-time approached and Japan could pull off another stunning victory, and how much he would have loved such an outcome after an acrimonious second stint as Wallabies coach.
But that wasn’t to be the case as Australia ate up the remaining 90 seconds on a one-out carry, ensuring their ruck work was not only timely but also stand-up.
With the Rugby Championship suspended, Australia and Japan are likely to face each other more next year, with the possibility of them being in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
But in a test where the goal was to get more playing time for the expansion team, the team, which made 13 changes and had locks Lukan Salakaia-Lotto and Josh Canham substituted with injuries, did enough to pick up four points.
Unsurprisingly, so many front-line stars were either rested due to commitments with European clubs or did not participate in the early stages of the tour.
The Wallabies led 14-3 at half-time and a further try to Tizzano was disallowed, although the flanker had appeared to score from a rolling maul moments earlier, but there was not enough evidence for the TMO to overturn referee Ben O’Keeffe’s on-field no-try ruling. But to the naked eye, it looked like Tizzano at least tipped the ball onto the turf.
The Western Force flanker then duly scrubbed another rolling maul five-pointer out of interference and would have given the Brave Blossoms hope of a second-half comeback, but their best attacking effort in the first 40 just before the siren was still not enough to threaten the Australian line.
Earlier, Wallabies stand-in skipper Nick Champion de Crespigny marked his shock call-up with a try from close range after 13 minutes. Nice touches from Edmed and full-back Andrew Kellaway led to Josh Flook scoring a superb try in the first phase, increasing Australia’s advantage to 14-3 by the half-hour mark after Japan’s penalty had taken them ahead.
After failing to score throughout the first half, the hosts finally broke through Australia’s 22 points after the break and a try from prop Shuhei Takeuchi cut the gap to six points in the 52nd minute, just moments later when Tizzano finally put his name on the scoresheet with a rolling maul.
But Australian-born Ben Gunter’s try just after the hour mark set the tone for a nervy final quarter for the Wallabies, who almost had a chance in attack. Clever play from Gordon, whose box-kick sending off was exemplary throughout, and a crucial late turnover from substitute Hamish Stewart meant Australia were able to inch back into Japan’s territory and make any late chances the hosts had for a scrambled victory just that little bit tougher.
“We had chances, but we didn’t go into the game well enough. In Test match rugby, I think if you score the first try you win 70 per cent of the time, but we were just slow coming out of the blocks,” Jones said. Stan sports.
“It was one of those games where you have a young team playing against a big team. They looked a little bit at them. We were beaten around the breakdown and the lineout didn’t work well. But they showed enough character and it was a difficult game in difficult conditions.”
The last time Australia made so many changes was against Italy in 2022, when they famously lost the Test in Florence when Ben Donaldson pushed his game-winning conversion wide.
This was one of the final nail in the coffin for Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach, but after his sacking of the Australian international by England he was ironically replaced by Jones.
Saturday night’s game in Tokyo looked like another infamous Wallabies result was imminent, but Australia were able to hold on until the final siren thanks to the calm responses of Gordon, Rob Valetini and regular skipper Harry Wilson, who was forced to play far more than originally planned due to injuries to Sarakaia Lotto and Canham.
“It was a risk, but it was calculated based on the quality of the young players who are willing to put their hands up and join the squad for the big games ahead,” Schmidt added.
“So it was great to be able to get those changes out there and give some guys a little bit of game time and build a little bit of confidence at the same time. And I was really impressed with the grit. We really had to roll up our sleeves and keep fighting for that game. That’s what we were able to do in those circumstances.”
Jones, who infamously said there would be “no rigor” in Australian rugby during the 2023 World Cup, said he was pleased to see the Wallabies progressing under Schmidt.
“I think it’s really good that Australia is emerging to be a world power again. I was talking to Joe Schmidt there and he’s done a good job there,” Jones added.
“The big thing that they really developed there was the young players, their ability to not get discouraged in the game and stay in the game and keep fighting. And as a result, they went into every game and had a chance to win and yeah, it was a good progression.”