At a stadium full of recent bad memories, Australia yesterday experienced moments of anxiety before beating Japan 32-23 to start their annual rugby tour to the northern hemisphere.
The Showa Denko Dome, which hosted yesterday’s match, was where the Wallabies lost to England in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup.
Flyhalves Quade Cooper for Australia and Rikaya Matsuda for Japan were influential figures as the teams struggled through an error-ridden match yesterday, deprived of continuity mainly by a high number of breakdown penalties.
Photo: AP
Cooper threw crucial passes in both of Australia’s first-half tries, then kicked a penalty to allow Australia to turn a one-point lead to a four point margin, 17-13, at halftime.
Australia seemed on top when they scored two tries early in the second half, but Japan came back strongly, scoring a try while down to 14 men in the 55th minute to leave the Wallabies with a seven-point margin, which narrowed further with another Japan penalty.
Replacement hooker Connal McInerney carried the ball in a well-executed lineout drive in the 78th minute to score a try on Test debut, which inflated Australia’s winning margin.
TROPHY FOUND
Reuters
The original Women’s World Cup trophy has been found in the attic of a house belonging to an administrator’s parents after going missing for more than 15 years, England’s Rugby Football Union has said.
The trophy had gone missing after England won the title in 1994 and a new trophy was made for subsequent editions.
“It was a very special, treasured trophy and it went out on tour and on road shows after we won the World Cup,” said former England player Gill Burns, who was a part of the 1994 team. “It was in the [World Rugby] museum briefly before it went back out on tour.”
“A few years later we started saying: ‘Does anyone know where the World Cup is?’ And nobody knew where it was,” Burns said. “A few weeks ago, one of the old administrators was cleaning out her parents’ loft and found some old notebooks, posters ... and behind them this box with the treasured World Cup in it.”
Burns said she was “very emotional” after being reunited with the trophy.
“We’re taking it back to Twickenham so it will be stored carefully at the World Rugby Museum and be on display for all to see. It’s a really special thing,” she said.
US-ALL BLACKS
Reuters
The US would be an excellent place to host a Rugby World Cup given growing enthusiasm for the game and the country’s track record for staging mega sporting events, All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of his team’s clash with the Eagles in Washington, which was to be played early this morning Taiwan time, Whitelock said that he has heard “a lot” of talk about the possibility of the 2027 World Cup being held in the US.
“You can tell there is some real momentum going into rugby here. It’s pretty cool to see,” Whitelock said.
The New Zealander has attended professional basketball and hockey games in the United States and said the fan experience is about much more than just the teams competing against each other.
“They can put on a show,” Whitelock said.
“It’s about the before, the halftime, the celebrations, the music. They do it so well,” he said. “So whether it’s here in 2027, or after that, I’m sure they’ll do an awesome job.”
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