Japan scored their first victory on French soil with a 42-12 win against Chile in game six of the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Sunday.
The match started at a frenetic pace, with both teams willing to run the ball from anywhere. Chile's Rodrigo Fernandez was first to score a five-pointer followed by Japan's lock Amato Fakatava three minutes later to level the scores after ten minutes of play.
It took Japan twenty minutes before winger Jone Naikabula scored Japan's second try of the match. Japan was at that stage, slowly taking control of the match, and led 14-07 with ten minutes to play in the first half. Amato Fakatava scored Japan's third try with no time left to play. Japan led 21-07 at the halftime break.
Chile started like a house on fire and scored their second try of the match when Alfonso Escobar dived over to reduce Japan's lead to 21-12. However, Japan struck back from the kickoff when Michael Leitch scored their bonus point try. Japan led 28-12 after fifteen minutes of play in the second half.
Ryoto Nakamura scored Japan's fifth try, cutting through the Chile defence with ease. At this stage Japan was in complete control and with seven minutes to play in the second half they led 35-12.
Warner Dearns bulldozed his way over Chile's tryline to secure a well-deserved 42-12 bonus-point win against Chile.
Scorers:
Japan: Tries: Amato Fakatava (2), Jone Naikabula, Michael Leitch, Ryoto Nakamura, Warner Dearns. Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda (6).
Chili: Tries: Rodrigo Fernandez, Alfonso Escobar. Conversion: Santiago Videla.
Teams:
Japan: 1 Keita Inagaki, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 3 Jiwon Gu, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Amato Fakatava, 6 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 8 Kazuki Himeno (c), 9 Yutaka Nagare, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 11 Jone Naikabula, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 15 Semisi Masirewa. Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Warner Dearns, 20 Shota Fukui, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Tomoki Osada, 23 Lomano Lemeki.
Chile: 1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Matias Dittus, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (c), 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernandez, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Matias Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Santiago Videla, 15 Inaki Ayarza. Replacements: 16 Augusto Bohme, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Inaki Gurruchaga, 19 Pablo Huete, 20 Santiago Pedrero, 21 Ignacio Silva, 22 Lukas Carvallo, 23 José Ignacio Larenas.
