Hosts Japan Avoid Russian Banana Skin

Japan 30 - 10 Russia 

So we're underway! Japan managed to navigate their way past a tricky opponent in Russia in a 30-10 victory. The Russians on paper looked barely up to it, but on the day produced a performance they and the millions watching could be proud of. Going into this match, most people - including myself - expected this to be an entirely one sided affair. Japan had been going well, with only the blip against South Africa letting them down. It was expected that they would dispatch Russia with ease, so much so in fact that I had Japan to win by at least 30 points. The Russians had different ideas though, as they produced an incredibly spirited performance. It was their work at disrupting the breakdown that caught my eye, they came through with real force and numbers, disrupting Japan's quick ball which they thrive on. 

Japan on the other hand looked nervous at the start and understandably so. This is the first World Cup ever held in Asia and with a stadium packed full of fervent Japanese fans, the pressure seemed to seep into the minds of their players. From the first kick-off, the catch was missed By Michael Leitch and this set the tone. Minutes later, Russia put a ball high in the air for the Brave Blossons full-back to gather and it worked, as he got nowhere near it. Will Tupou was left grasping thin air as the ball went loose and Russia went through to score the games opener. It took a good 10 minutes for Japan to wake up and realise they were in a real test match; they finally did when hat-trick hero Kotaro Matsushima went over in the corner for his first try after an insane offload out the back of the hand by Tim Lafaele. Luckily for me I had Matsushima in my fantasy team this morning, needless to say he returned a very juicy points tally.

Japan didn't go ahead in the game until 38 minutes were on the clock when Matsushima grabbed his second, again sliding down the right corner and running under the posts. From then on Japan looked like the dominant side, such was their fierce running and dominant carrying. Still, Russia never gave up and to hold the hosts to a 30-10 scoreline is nothing to be ashamed of. I don't expect them to win any of the their pool games, but if they perform with the same passion and desire then they will be more than a handful. Japan though will be happy to get the first one out of the way and relieved to get the 4 try bonus point that they may well rely on to qualify. While it was far from a perfect performance, the win will give Japan confidence heading into the tougher match ups in the pool. If they can start catching high balls and stop trying to force play at every opportunity, then I still believe they can make it out of the group.

Roll on tomorrow where we see Australia tackle Fiji, France meet Argentina and the game of the pool stages, New Zealand vs South Africa, what a morning of rugby to get stuck into, I cannot wait.