Japan underlined their credentials as potential Pacific Nations Cup champions with a dominant XX-XX win over the USA in Sacramento on Saturday night. The result confirmed the Eagles will play against Samoa in the 5th-place playoff next week with the winner earning a place at Rugby World Cup 2027. It also secures Canada’s place in Australia and the PNC Semi Finals.
A feeling-out period to start the game ended when the long arm of Japan skipper Warner Dearns blocked a clearance attempt from Ruben de Haas. The ball was turned over and flung wide to Ben Gunter, the giant flanker showing his power and pace to score the opening try. A second score came from Amato Fakatava with the No8 getting the credit after his scrum shoved the Eagles back over their goal line.
Another dominant scrum earned a penalty for the Brave Blossoms, and at the ensuing lineout Dearns peeled around the back and bashed through three would-be tacklers to score a third try, with Seung-Sin Lee nailing the conversion. A handling error gave a score back to the Eagles when Kapeli Pifeleti barged his way over at the half-hour mark.
The speed of the Japanese attack was overwhelming at times and Kanji Shimokawa was the benefactor from good work by Sam Greene, Kippei Ishida, and Kenta Fukuda. Just before halftime Pifeleti gave his team some hope, bumping off two defenders to grab a double and leave it a two-score game.
Shuhei Takeuchi sparked the next try for the Brave Blossoms early in the second half with a line break and offload. Lee’s wide miss-out pass found Fakatava in space out wide. For a third time the Eagles faced an unstoppable force in the wide channels when Dearns stretched his legs and rounded the corner for his second score that put the result well beyond doubt.
Christian Poidevin was binned for a high challenge on Faulua Makisi. Japan exploited the resulting overlap with Yuya Hirose executing a two-on-one to free Ishida. Payton Telea-Ilalio would grab a consolation score for the Eagles with two minutes to play, Luke Carty adding the academic extras.
The tournament now moves to Denver next weekend, with all three games on Sunday. Up first will be the USA against Samoa with the winner advancing directly to RWC 2027. The two PNC Semi Final match-ups will be Japan up against Tonga, and Canada opposite Fiji.
USA 21
Tries (3) – K. Pifeleti 2 (30′, 38′), P. Telea-Ilalio (78′)
Cons (3) – C. Hilsenbeck 2/2 (31′, 39′), L. Carty 1/1 (79′)
YC (1) – C. Poidevin (66′)
JAPAN 47
Tries (7) – B. Gunter (12′), A. Fakatava 2 (21′, 46′), W. Dearns 2 (26′, 62′), K. Shimokawa (33′), K. Ishida (70′)
Cons (6) – S. Lee 6/7 (13′, 22′, 27′, 34′, 63′, 71′)
USA
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth (17 Payton Telea-Ilalio 43′), 2 Kapeli Pifeleti (16 Shilo Klein 55′), 3 Kaleb Geiger (18 Pono Davis 43′), 4 Marno Redelinghuys (19 Tevita Naqali 35′-HT, 66′), 5 Jason Damm (capt.), 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Christian Poidevin, 8 Makeen Alikhan (20 Vili Helu 13′), 9 Ruben de Haas (21 Ethan McVeigh 66′), 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck (22 Luke Carty 53′), 11 Toby Fricker, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Rufus McLean (23 Mitch Wilson HT), 15 Erich Storti
JAPAN
1 Kenta Kobayashi (17 Sena Kimura 55′), 2 Hayate Era (16 Kenji Sato 63′), 3 Shuhei Takeuchi (18 Keijiro Tamefusa 55′), 4 Waisake Raratubua, 5 Warner Dearns (capt.), 6 Ben Gunter, 7 Kanji Shimokawa (19 Akito Okui 66′), 8 Amato Fakatava (20 Faulua Makisi 55′), 9 Kenta Fukuda (21 Shinobu Fujiwara HT), 10 Seung-Sin Lee, 11 Tomoki Osada (23 Haruto Kida 66′), 12 Charlie Lawrence (22 Yuya Hirose 55′), 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Kippei Ishida, 15 Sam Greene
Date: Saturday, September 6
Venue: Heart Health Park, Sacramento
Kickoff: 18:00 local
Weather: sunny, 84°F (29°C), wind SW 9-14mph (16-24km/h)
Attendance: 6,079
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistants: Damián Schneider (Argentina) & Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
