Japan will represent Asia at Rugby World Cup 2015, while Hong Kong face the long journey to Uruguay for the first round of the repechage after the Brave Blossoms clinched their seventh straight Asian 5 Nations title with a 49-8 win at Tokyo’s National Stadium on Sunday evening.
“It was a tough old game but we have achieved our first goal of qualifying for the World Cup,” Japan coach Eddie Jones said after the game, the last to be played at the stadium before it is demolished to make way for a new arena that will make its debut at Rugby World Cup 2019.
“Hong Kong competed very hard at the breakdown and it was difficult to get any flow to our game. But what a beautiful ending to one of the most important grounds in Japan,” Jones told the 16,370-strong crowd after the match.
Yoshikazu Fujita grabbed a hat trick of five-pointers, making him the tournament’s top try scorer with seven for the tournament. There were further tries for Harumichi Tatekawa, Shinya Makabe, Justin Ives, Takeshi Kizu and Keisuke Uchida, with Ayumu Goromaru adding three conversions and a penalty goal as Japan’s fitness eventually paid off. Goromaru finished as the overall top points scorer of the Top 5 with 92 points from four matches.
But the hosts were made to work very hard for the win by a Hong Kong side that dominated for a long period in the second half.
“I am very proud of our effort but at the end of the day Japan had too many guns for us,” said Hong Kong captain Nick Hewson.
Japan captain Michael Leitch admitted the pressure of the occasion – a World Cup spot at stake, the A5N title on the line and the last game at the National Stadium – might have been one reason for the errors.
“We will definitely need to step up a level by the time we get to the World Cup,” he said.
Leitch and his teammates made a number of handling errors as the Hong Kong defensive line held firm for long periods. But in the end it was the final 15 minutes of each half that proved crucial.
Japan led just 8-3 with 28 minutes on the clock after Chris McAdam had knocked over a drop goal in response to an early try by Fujita and penalty from Goromaru.
But the Brave Blossoms scored three tries in 10 minutes at the end of the first half and then a further four in the closing 13 minutes of the second stanza to make Tom McQueen’s 60th minute effort for the visitors nothing more than a consolation.
“It was good to finish with a bit of a flourish,” said Jones whose side will compete in Pool B at the World Cup alongside two-time champions South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and the United States. “It was important that we finished that way.”
Jones congratulated Hong Kong on their performance saying, “They fought well and played smart rugby. We weren’t sharp and they defended very well. But today was just about winning and we achieved that by halftime so I am very happy with the players.”
Hong Kong manager Dai Rees admitted that Japan were a class above the other sides in Asia. But he also admitted his side “had made too many mistakes around halftime that allowed Japan to pull away.”
Japan finish atop the Asian 5 Nations table for a seventh time with a perfect record of four wins and four bonus points for a total of 24 points.
Hong Kong finish as runners-up with 18 points and will now route to the first stage of the Rugby World Cup 2015 repechage with a match in Uruguay later this summer.
With losses to both Japan and Hong Kong, South Korea finished third in the 2014 A5N on 12 points – but will stay in Asia’s elite rugby echelon next season when the Top 5 is reduced to a three-team, home and away competition.
Philippines (6 points) and Sri Lanka (1 point) finished in fourth and fifth respectively and will be relegated as the top seeds in Division I alongside Kazakhstan and Singapore.
