The first real test of the year came against the Classic All Blacks, on May 31st, in a game which they could and should have won, but in the end, they went down 15-13 to a side not too different to the one which beat the Tigers a week before.

The first game of the Pacific 6 Nations came a week later, and Japan were beaten 42-21 by Australia A, which was an improvement on last year, but it was evident that a lot of work still needed to be done.  Last weekend, the Brave Blossoms had a convincing 35-13 victory over Tonga, scoring a 4 try bonus in the process.  Although their line out was a mess at times, it was a fine performance overall, and their defence was rock solid.  It will need to be up to scratch this weekend too, as Japan host the always dangerous and unpredictable Fijians.

The Fijians have had a mixed start to their P6N campaign.  After an impressive victory over Samoa, they went down 11-7 to the NZ Maori on a pitch that would have been more suited to water polo than rugby.  An incident after the game saw winger Delasau sent home after being accused of punching a fan.  On top of that, SH and skipper Mosese Rauluni decided to stay in Fiji with his family. 

The weather was pretty bad with rain falling constantly throughout the game.  Fortunately, my friend, Takeo, and I managed to get seats in the covered area which weren’t too far back in the stand.  Only 10,000 or so braved the elements, and most of them were hoping to get a seat with some shelter, so I guess we were lucky.  We didn’t have any umbrellas obstructing our view for most of the game either.

As for the game, well, it was so laden with errors that if I gave a detailed account of it, every other line would have the words “knock on” in it.  Japan fared slightly better in the lineout than last week, and their tackling was solid enough.  But every time they looked like scoring, someone would drop the wet ball.  Perhaps this biggest chance that went begging came when Japanese captain, and my man of the match, Takuro Miuchi made a break after stealing Fijian ball in a ruck.  The big number 8 put a delicate kick behind the Fijian defence, only to see wing, Onozawa knock on with the line at his mercy.  As it was, James Arlidge seemed to have his kicking boots on, and Japan went into the break 9-3 to the good. 

After the break, it took 10 minutes for Fiji to take the lead for the first time, with Sireli Nagalevuki going over in the corner for a converted try, after Shaun Webb had knocked on to give Fiji a scrum inside the Japanese 22.  Arlidge restored the lead for Japan with a penalty within minutes, and hit the bar with a long range effort later in the half.   As was the case in the first half, Japan wasted chance after chance.   

As the game entered the final quarter, Fiji took the lead, after James Arlidge made a hash of a defensive kick.  He sliced it so badly, it hit one of his team mates, and Fiji scored from the resulting scrum, with Taniela Rawaqa going over this time, after a strong break by Nagelevuki.  The conversion made the score 17-12. 

Japan put Fiji under a lot of pressure, but just couldn’t cross the line.  In the last minute, the Japanese spilt the ball for the umpteenth time close to the Fijian line.  From the resulting advantage, the ball was booted up the middle of the field, with Webb and a Fijian chasing.  As Webb dived for the ball, the pursuing Fijian managed to get his toe to the ball, giving Vereniki Goneva a simple touchdown under the posts.  With the conversion, the referee blew the final whistle on an entertaining, but ultimately frustrating afternoon.  Japan could and should have won, but the conditions put paid to them notching up a second consecutive win over higher ranked opposition.  Although they are progressing very nicely under John Kirwan, and enjoying a best ever IRB ranking of 15th, unless they can start to put sides away, like they did with the Tongans last week, they’ll find it difficult to reach their target of 11th by the 2011 RWC.