Japan vs England - minute-by-minute

[Puja]

I did promise those who donated to my 40th birthday fundraiser that I would do the NZ games, but here is the Japan one as well. RugbyPass is actually a functional on-demand video app and a delight to use for this - I'm pleasantly surprised!

Initial impressions:
We slipped off too many tackles and made Japan look better than they were.
Our rush defence was significantly less aggressive than it was in the 6N.
Many, many stupid penalties
IFW and Itoje put in a lot of work
Rodd wasn't great.
Slade had a poor game and needs to put in some more passing practice.
Other than that, was just a regulation warm-up, neither good nor bad.

Let's see how many of those hold up.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 1: Japan kick off and CCS has the most inauspicious start with a fumble and scramble to claim the loose ball, instead of taking what should've been a regulation uncontested catch. I suspect he had half an eye on his first big run and was lucky to get away with taking his mind off the basics. We do keep it though and Mitchell kicks away - it's not great, but it does at least take us to 30m out.

Japan form the lineout quickly and take uncontested ball. It's spun into midfield to send a big runner at Smith, but his bodyguards are there in Earl and Underhill who do a solid enough job of bringing him down. Underhill however goes for the ball without releasing and while Smith and Earl are on the wrong side and off his feet, so I'm really not sure what result he was expecting other than the Japan penalty that he got.

Completely avoidable pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1

Minute 2: Lee (10) knocks over a regulation penalty and it's 3-0. Not a great start.

Minute 3: It's a contestable kick-off which Freeman competes hard at and puts enough pressure on to make the ball spill free. Underhill reacts fastest, but he's nailed by a good tackle and the ball pops out. Japan look to swing it wide and attack from deep, but it's poor execution and the ball hits the deck, Slade then knocks on the attempted intercept, and the ref puts everyone out of our misery and comes back for the scrum.

Minute 4: Very long set-up at the scrum and then it's all for naught as it goes down and the ref pings Rodd for hinging. On replay, it's a shocking decision as the Japanese tighthead is far too overextended and Rodd's just letting gravity do its job, but there we go.

Japan tap and go, but England are paying attention and charge up, forcing a kick in open play. It's a pretty good kick, but Freeman makes it back to sweep up. We've no interest in playing yet, and just run a phase to get our chasers to their feet before going for a box-kick.

Minute 5: It's a great box-kick and Freeman is first there, but he can only tap it to a Japanese player. Japan attack and are stopped with good tackles by Underhill, Rodd, and Slade that drive them backwards about 7-8m and forcing them into a kick. However, Lee puts in really good disguised grubber that bounces up perfectly for Naikabula (14) to run onto - our defensive system works in terms of Smith swinging around to cover and be there to make the tackle, but fails in Smith being very passive and getting absolutely bounced. It slows Naikabula enough for Feyi-Waboso and Furbank to finish the job with leg-tackles.

Quick ball for Japan and they use it to run a very sexy set-play with Leitch running at first receiver, looking like he's passing back inside to Dearns (5), only for the ball to go past Dearns to Saito (9) who is running back across to the openside. We do a really good job at adapting to it and our linespeed stays strong and connected, which is hard when there's so many moving parts. Japan run a big man on a hard line and we tackle behind the gainline, but a gorgeous offload gets them through a half-gap and it's good work by Itoje to shut it down. More quick ball though and IFW takes a chance by shooting up for an intercept - it doesn't look like a good call as Saito holds on and then passes behind him, but he's actually delayed the pass to the overlap and given time for Furbank to come up and pressure Dearns, forcing him into a loose pass. That then gives time for Lawrence to make it across and tackle the winger - it looks frantic and scrambly, but it is getting the job done in the face of the infamous Lightning Quick Ball. Lawrence's tackle is iffy and doesn't bring the winger down, but IFW finishes the job and the player with a big, low, hit.

Next phase, we meet Japan on the gainline, but then fail to defend the ruck properly and Japan pick and go through the middle, gaining them another 8m, a solid position in our 22 and instant ruck ball. This time, it's spun wide for the backs, but we're well aligned and strong linespeed and tackline by Underhill and Slade knock Japan backwards 5m.

[Puja]

Minute 6: It's still quick, attacking ball for Japan, but we are advancing now and Lee attempts a short pop-pass that just feeds some poor sod into the maw of Tommy Freeman who levels him with textbook technique. It's nearly good work wasted, as George joins the ruck blatantly from the side and interferes with Japanese ball presentation, in front of the ref, but he doesn't seem bothered by it for some reason and it's play on.

England go up hard, but Rodd doesn't make a dominant tackle and lets the ball carrier get back to the gainline. The quick ball that allows means we're short-handed on the blindside and Lawrence treads water rather than advancing, which gives Japan time to get the ball to the outside. IFW and Furbank try to reinstate the blitz, but the ball gets to the wing where Japan make 15m and come back into the 22 before Smith can bring them down.

Saito then engages in a delightful piece of shithousery. There's a Japanese player charging in at high speed on a hard line, Saito shows it, offers it to him, and then pops behind him to a player running a much worse line at a slower speed - slows the attack, but absolutely suckers Rodd into tackling a man without the ball. That one's not going on the list for Rodd - that was a penalty bought and paid for and he had absolutely no choice but to make that tackle, regardless of if the runner was getting the ball.

Japan play on through two more quick phases and we're struggling to fold around the corner - Underhill has to cut in to cover because the guard defence is missing and it opens up the offload out of the tackle to a player running through his channel. Slade does a phenomenal job of hauling down no 8 Makisi on the burst, and then Smith saves the day - the Japanese 4 Waqa sees that there's only a back against him and just bridges lazily over the tackle, only to be obliterated by Smith's counter-ruck and get driven back into Saito who spills the ball. Luckily for Saito, he'd already banked penalty advantage earlier, so it's back to that.

Minute 7: Japan go for the corner. It's bold - they might be better going for posts and building a score to worry England, but they think they've got England on the ropes.

It's thrown to the back and Japan bring it down and form a decent maul, but Martin and Itoje are utterly horrible bastards and they've got Japan in a pincer - they wheel to move away from one set of octopus arms reaching through and discover that they've just delivered themselves into the grasp of another. Eventually they take it down out of self-defence, but Martin's got far enough through to follow the ball down and it's an England scrum.

Minute 8: Nearly the whole minute is spent failing to scrum, but we do get a resolution just before time. Once again Takeuchi (3) is over-extended, but this time Rodd has learned what the ref likes and just pulls back on engage. Takeuchi stumbles forwards and Rodd retreats under the "early push" and it's the free-est of free-kicks. Good sneakiness.

Minute 9: Slade goes for broke with his kick and doesn't find touch, but I'm not that cross - it's a 70m kick or so, which is fine for a reset. Japan throw it inside and counter-attack - we get the tackle just over the halfway line and Underhill is unlucky not to be given the turnover. Martin then makes a bad missed tackle and Japan get a mini-break to take them over halfway, but they can't get any further through the next three phases, which is why it's so annoying that Earl gives away a needless penalty for having hands on the floor in front of the ball before competing. Obvious pen, right in front of the ref, and gives momentum back to Japan.

Completely pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1, Earl x1

Minute 10: Lee puts in a belter of a kick from halfway down to 5m out. Japan once again take clean ball at the back and once again The Bastardry Bros are messing up the maul. Martin gets right through and nearly onto the ball, so Japan panic and try to roll around the corner, nearly handing it to Cole. They get it back and Saito tries to play it away, but now Itoje and Underhill have swung around onto Japan's side through their binds on Martin and the ball ends up spilling forward.

Mitchell clouts it long and for a second it looks like it might be a glorious 5:22, but the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and it pops straight up in the air and infield and into the hands of Naikabula rushing back. He bounces Mitchell, but the 9 is enough of an impediment to trip him up and Japan get slow ball about 42m from their own line.

[Puja]

Minute 11: Japan take a phase (and sacrifice someone to a CCS tackle) to set up for a box-kick. It's a decent effort, but Smith calls early, leaps high, and takes cleanly, like the full-back that he is.

We reset for a box-kick of our own and it's another great contestable effort from Mitchell - making him spend the RWC doing literally nothing else has really honed the skill for him. Freeman looks to be getting there, but the phalanx of Japanese players block him in a dubiously legal fashion. Lee looks to have a clean run, but Freeman's bowling ball impression on the Japanese wall shoves someone into his leg as he jumps and he loses the ball. A moment of appreciation for our kick-chase strategy - we've got two players in perfect timing there: Freeman to compete and Underhill coming so that he can perfectly melt a catcher if Freeman can't get there. As it is, the ball spills backwards, Lee survives with the same number of ribs that he came into the game with, and the ball bounces nicely for Harada (2) to carry forward and offload out of the tackle.

Comedy moment as the tighthead tries to pass the ball down the line, only to realise that Lawrence is standing in front of his preferred target. He just about stops himself and then throws a ridiculous miss-pass that Lawrence can just follow back to the target. He gets the ball away and unfortunately Slade gets stepped by the neophyte 15, Yazaki, and there's a break instead of tackling a lone back 20m behind his forward pack. IFW does a great job to cover and tackle, but we're lucky to escape as our defence has not numbered up down the blind side. Furbank makes a good decision to step in and Japan spill it forward instead of offloading for a long-range try.

Minute 12: The minute is almost entirely taken up with failing to scrum, but we again get a decision just under the wire - Takeuchi again getting far too long and Bevan Rodd stretching him out and letting gravity do its work. This time he gets the penalty he's owed.

Minute 13: Slade kicks into the 22 and we have our first actual bit of attacking ball. A pedant might say that the lineout isn't very straight, but thankfully the ref's not a pedant and we set a decent maul. Japan's counter-drive is technically very good - great body positions and you can tell they've been drilling it all week in training.

Minute 14: We could probably get somewhere with this maul if we wanted to keep driving, but we decide better to use the ball and send Feyi-Waboso on the crash ball, which he does so much better than you ever expect based on his size. The ball is so quick that it actually bobbles out, but Mitchell is prepared and snatches it up to make a half-break himself. He's buried for the next ruck, but Rodd does a great job of seeing that and picking and going to keep the momentum. George copies him next phase and we're up to 2 metres out.

Mitchell is back to his feet and fires out to Earl on the run - he interests his defender before popping it out to CCS at pace. The three-letter-acronym bursts through Leitch and keeps his legs pumping in contact to get just over the line and dot down one handed.

It looks a very simple try of just overpowering them one-on-one, but it's really good systems - our ruck clearout and ball placement is top drawer and we're making good decisions and executing them well. Can't ask for more.

Minute 15: Marcus Smith knocks over the regulation extras and it's now 3-7 from us having just one bit of possession to work with. Red zone efficiency's not a trait always associated with England teams.

Lee kicks off just within the minute, but I'm afraid you will have to wait till tomorrow to see if we catch it, as I am clocked off for the evening.

[Mr Mwenda]

For those who meant to donate but never did, is it still possible?

[Mush]

Initial impressions:
We slipped off too many tackles and made Japan look better than they were.

Let's see how many of those hold up.

Puja

That was my overriding impression also. However, I did think that there was a plan that sought to ensure that there was always a second England player available to take the tackle - as if it were a new plan that allowed the first tackler to fly out knowing that there was support immediately behind.

I may be totally wrong and it was simply poor execution of one-on-one tackling, or that it was a plan solely for Japan and their high paced, off loading game. Perhaps your M-by-M commentary will clarify.

[Danno]

WOO!

[Puja]

For those who meant to donate but never did, is it still possible?

Gods bless your little cotton socks. I'm still tickled that anyone donated in the first place, so thank you very much. I have resurrected the donation page here: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/95E1JoWdxS

That ego boost'll get you all another 10 minutes at least while I'm supposed to be working!

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 16: Interestingly enough, England have changed their restart taking formation - the ball goes to the same place, but CCS is not underneath it. He is now in centre-field and it's Earl who takes the catch. I don't know if that's problem-solving on the pitch or not - would be quite harsh to offer the shepherd's crook after just one mistake.

It's played inside to Mitchell who kicks away and finds a good touch, but Japan take the quick lineout and kick it back. Smith is there and runs outside the 22 before kicking it back long again. We go back and forth until Furbank finds touch about 35m from the Japanese line.

The lineout is formed quickly and tapped down for Saito to wang into midfield, from where Lee kicks it long.

Minute 17: The kick bisects IFW and Furbank in the backfield and then the bounce of a rugby ball always hates Feyi-Waboso in particular, as it first kicks on to run for an extra 15m from the initial bounce, then kicks up just as he's reaching for it, then the next bounce accelerates it back towards the tryline again and through his legs as he reaches for it. He brings it under control and makes a... lateral??? pass for Furbank to clear away from within the 22.

Another Japanese lineout, another easy ball off the top and Japan run a move to try and get their big man running at Smith - he does a good job and stops him on the gainline giving slow ball

Japan switch direction with the 10 sweeping around - Earl is up hard, but misses the tackle badly, which is not good enough. He does at least get an ankle tap in which changes it from a clean break to a half-break and offload, but it's undone all of Smith's good work. Japan go once more through a pick and go, then swing it wide, but our blitz is in position and the pressure forces a loose pass from Japan that the winger Nezuka has to sweep up under pressure from Furbank.

Minute 18: Feyi-Waboso is an absolute machine. Nezuka gets the offload away to the 12 Osada and our boy Manny not only makes a decent tackle, but keeps his feet to compete. Then, when two Japanese forwards attempt to drive him off, he resists and then counter-drives them backwards. It's a shame that England are so slow to react here - they're in their patterns of "only one defensive player in the ruck" and spreading to defend and, in fairness, who normally bets on a winger driving two forwards off a ruck! Still, George breaks protocol to join in and it turns into a proper scrap for the ball which is ended when Rodd puts a hand in to scoop it back in the face of a Japanese counter-counter-drive. Wasted opportunity through poor discipline.

Completely pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1, Earl x1, Rodd x 1

Japan tap and go through Yazaki, but his plan appears to be 1) Tap, 2) Work out plan, 3) Profit? and he dithers over passing before running straight for not many metres.

Next phase and England look distinctly offside in defence as the scrum-half dummies bringing it out, but the ref evens it up by not rewarding Itoje's jackal at the next breakdown. We'll need to make sure we don't get caught by that against NZ though or that'd be another mark on the red penalty counter.

Our defence is much better at the next phase and we have pushed Japan back behind where the tap penalty was taken, so they recycle once more and box-kick for the corner. Smith covers well and kicks long for touch, but it's another quick lineout from Japan and they attempt to spin it across to the far wing, only for Underhill to shoot up and force them back inside.

Minute 19: We stop Japan around the halfway line for two phases, so Saito box-kicks for the corner again - Mitchell is there to cover, but the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and, in the end, he does pretty well to pull his hand back and avoid knocking it on. Once he pulls it in, Furbank is screaming for the ball, so Mitchell passes it flat and Furbank runs at the broken Japanese chase, beating two players and drawing a third before passing to send Mitchell free down the touchline. It looks all ends-up that this should be a try, but unfortunately Earl is far too flat in his support line and, what should be the try-scoring pass for his 50m run-in has to go behind him to stand any chance of not being forwards and he can't gather it on the juggle. Absolutely gorgeous counter-attack from Furbank though and the risk Japan take by going fast-fast-fast - they're knackered too. CCS is down with an injury, so the ref calls a much-needed water break.

We get the scrum completed within the minute and it's not a good look for England - Takeuchi is in a much better stance and just appears to go through Rodd with a focussed push by the Japanese pack. Cole is turned inside out as well and it should be a penalty, but the ref waves Saito to play it away.

Minute 20: Japan attempt to send their big winger through midfield, but he's well-covered and spills the ball in contact. England sweep it up and Furbank kicks long into the space behind, but unfortunately the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and the ball hits the floor and accelerates forward, rolling end over end without deviation or pause to go touch in goal. Right idea, but just unlucky in the execution. Back for the scrum.

[Puja]

Minute 21: The ref, quite rightly, says that it's advantage over from the knock-on, so it's a Japan scrum from where the ball was kicked - some confusion on where that was wastes a chunk of time.

Japan get the ball in and out quickly, which is probably sensible as it looks like Cole is in the process of taking vengeance for being surprised last scrum. Saito dummies to the openside and then passes to Osada (12) sweeping around to the blind, which suckers our defence and leaves us short of numbers. Osada draws and plays a flat pass to Naikabula on the charge, who steps inside and brushes off a poor tackle from Mitchell... that does it, I'm starting a counter for those as well:

Poor missed tackle: Smith x1, Lawrence x1, Martin x1, Slade x1, Earl x1, Mitchell x1

Those are all the ones so far where a player has either been bounced or stepped and it's caused a break. 6 in 21 minutes from 6 different players. I suspect there'll be a bit of a focus on that this week in training - I have some sympathy for Smith and Mitchell getting Naikabulaed as he's a big lad, but the Kiwis have some big players too and they will rinse us if we do it against them.

Thankfully Cunningham-South has the pace and reaction to get to Naikabula before he gets too far and his cover tackle knocks the ball free for an England scrum.

Minute 22: We spend the minute failing to scrum, which is a pleasant change after all of this multi-phase "running with the ball" nonsense that Japan have been making me describe.

Minute 23: We nearly lose a second minute to failing to scrum (which I think would require me to give 40th birthday refunds to people for lack of value for money), but the ball comes to the back at the last throes and Earl breaks from the base. It's a good training ground move - Earl looks like he's arcing infield to target the 10, but he's actually just getting to the edge of the covering back row, stepping in to draw the tackle, before feeding the onrushing Lawrence, who actually *is* targetting the 10. He runs over Lee and Osada and we get the penalty for Osada not rolling away - not fair in the grand scheme of things, but technically correct and well bought by England. Good exit play.

Minute 24: Smith kicks long and the lineout is 5m inside the Japanese half to set up a moment that's been shared a few times in highlights and social media. It's clearly off the training park, but it's so well executed (and once again emphasises that we possibly all need an apology to Wigglesworth).

George puts it arrow-straight over the top of the lineout, to land perfectly into the path of the onrushing Lawrence, who can take it without breaking stride. Lawrence angles inwards - Japan think they've prepared for this, with Naikabula standing in the 10 channel and the back row haring across to cover, but Lawrence first dummies to Underhill, which distracts the forwards even more, and then flips the ball out of the back to Mitchell running around. All of Japan's attention is focussed inwards on the ball being crashed up narrow by either Lawrence or Underhill, so when Mitchell arcs around wide, they panic. To add to this, Earl is coming haring in on a hard line off Mitchell's shoulder and the ball looks destined for his hands. Lee (10) tackles Mitchell, Osada (12) tackles Earl, and not a single player reads the ball out the back, because Smith has changed direction late - he looks like he's following Mitchell in support, but last second he suddenly burns for the space and Japan are utterly screwed.

The try is scored because the 13 Riley, did not step in as Naikabula, Lee, and Osada all did, and left a gap, but, even if he had, Freeman is on Smith's shoulder to go through the gap that would've left and, had everyone stepped in and stayed connected, that would've left a 2-on-0 overlap for Furbank and IFW. They're screwed the second that Osada tackles Earl and frankly, when the move is pulled off this well, I'm not sure what any defence could reasonably have done, apart from be lucky at guessing.

Smith makes the right call by going himself, pumps the ball to Freeman to keep the outside defence from stepping in, and then hits the gas and step to beat the final defender and dive over untouched.



Minute 25: Replays and replays, with Smith potting the simple conversion.

[Mr Mwenda]

For those who meant to donate but never did, is it still possible?

Gods bless your little cotton socks. I'm still tickled that anyone donated in the first place, so thank you very much. I have resurrected the donation page here: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/95E1JoWdxS

That ego boost'll get you all another 10 minutes at least while I'm supposed to be working!

Puja

We'll, it improves my enjoyment of England games do it is worth it. I think you should be offering these to some of the rugby websites. I am surprised none of them have lifted the idea.

[FKAS]

Mr Wigglesworth breaking out a blinding play. Even if the last defender does somehow get to Smith it's a simple offload inside to Earl or Underhill to canter over. I hope we've got a few more nice little moves like that in store for the Kiwis.

[Puja]

Minute 26: Japan kick to the same place and CCS appears to have been permanently moved after his first minute fumble. Itoje is under this one and we form a maul that is very careful not to leave the 22. Mitchell box-kicks and this one is too long, just landing in Yazaki's arms and allowing the counter-attack. However, Yazaki passes inside to Lee, who makes a big sidestep to go inside Lawrence and realises too late that he's stepped right into the tackle of Cunningham-South. It knocks him several metres backwards and relieves him of the ball. It's a phenomenal contact, but I'm kinda glad that we only get one replay from one angle, cause I'm not 100% convinced there's no head contact in there and, if there wasn't, that's more luck that judgement. Lower please, Chandler.

Minute 27: England scrum is solid and Earl breaks blind from the base, with Mitchell, Furbank and Feyi-Waboso sweeping around. It does give us numbers, but Japan do well to take Furbank man and ball and he goes for a grubber kick out of contact, rather than the pass to let IFW have a 1-on-1. Leitch does well to sweep up the loose ball and it's an opportunity missed to my mind.

Japan kick long and Smith gathers with time to think things through.

Minute 28: And a great decision he comes to - he runs to the edge of halfway, holding the ball in two hands and threatening the pass to Freeman on the wing. This draws Naikabula up and, when he comes, Smith puts in a gorgeous kick that requires just one bounce to go into touch for a 50:22. Exquisite play.

We take uncontested middle ball at the lineout and set a maul, only for Mitchell to take it and play away, sending Lawrence on the crash ball. It's quick ruck ball and Mitchell ignores George as the first runner and picks out Freeman behind - the only problem with that being that Freeman is devoid of support and, when he's tackled, Waqa is over the ball. The ball spills loose, but ref gives us some kind of ruck penalty - not sure what, as it looked a fair turnover to me, but hey ho.

And now for one of the weirder bits of the game - Rodd runs over to the penalty mark, clapping his hands and calling for the ball like he wants to go quick, so the player on the floor tosses it to him and he acts like he's going to tap it. In fairness to Rodd, it actually looks like he's changed his mind because Japan are set (and we aren't) and he instead feigns to tap just as a windup - it's hard to tell because of the camera angle, but it doesn't look like he makes a full, legal tap kick. However, his shithousery comes back to bite him, cause it was apparently convincing enough for both the Japanese defence and the referee, as the former comes up and the latter gives the most Gallic of shrugs, so it's play on. Rodd does pretty well to react and drive forward to make a couple of metres, but hopefully he's learned a valuable lesson about trying to be clever.

We go through a couple of pick and drives from CCS and Earl which get us to the edge of the line and Japan concede another penalty for not rolling away, which feels harsh as it's close to being held up over the line. However, it matters not because Mitchell eventually digs the ball out and there's acres of space on the openside. He feeds Smith, who dummies for Slade on the short line to draw in the last defender, then puts a lovely over the top pass to Feyi-Waboso to walk in, untouched.

Minute 29: Replays and replays - IFW will have tougher tries to score than that one.

Minute 30: Smith uses all of his shot-clock, but nails his trickiest conversion so far for 3-21.

[Puja]

Minute 31: Another kickoff straight down Itoje's throat and he doesn't even need to jump. Another maul formed, but this one gets over-excited and exits the 22, so England run another phase to set up for the caterpillar. It doesn't find touch and there is a glitch in the matrix because this is the same as minute 26 - Itoje take, box kick to Yazaki, pass inside to Lee, who steps inside Lawrence only to go into CCS's chann… erm, where's Chandler gone?

For some reason, CCS is a good 7-8m behind the play - I don't know if he's feeling his ankle or he's just run out of puff, but he's ambling on the kick chase and it leaves a whocking great gap for Lee to saunter through, at which point CCS gets stepped because he's on his own away from the defensive line and he's up against a back with momentum. Ordinarily, I wouldn't castigate a missed tackle in that situation, but he's the one that caused it, so he's going on the list.

Poor missed tackle: Smith x1, Lawrence x1, Martin x1, Slade x1, Earl x1, Mitchell x1, Cunningham-South x1

Minute 32: Lawrence does well to come back and make the tackle, but unfortunately, the ref does a very good job in spotting George being deliberately obstructive to the Japanese players trying to enter that ruck and gives the penalty. That's a dull one to give away - even if he gets away with it, there's no real advantage to be gained from doing it, so why bother?

Completely pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1, Earl x1, Rodd x1, George x1

Japan go for the corner this time and kick down to just inside our 22. Martin goes up to compete, but Japan's lineout technique is excellent and they just clear him for clean back ball that they look once again to be throwing into midfield, but Saito actually dummies and throws it on the switch to Osada looping blind. England react well to get lined up, but Osada puts in a Rokocoko-spin on Itoje that beats him all ends up, but also makes Osada fall over, so I'm not sure who the winner is there.

Minute 33: Japan recycle and send their big 8 Makisi on a hard running line. Unfortunately, Rodd takes his legs effectively and Underhill comes in as second man to remove 3-to-7 of his ribs, knocking all the momentum out of the attack. Japan try to reignite it with another forward carry off 9, but that goes into CCS with no greater success. England have pushed Japan to outside the 22, but unfortunately Riley runs over MSmith, who does just enough to cling onto a leg and bring him down, but gets dragged over the gainline. Japan then pick and go through our disorganised defence and further quick ball draws a mistake - Slade steps in on a player who was never his man to tackle and the ball goes behind for Osada to make a break through his channel.

Thankfully, Tommy Freeman is there to save the day - he manages to cover two players by stepping in on Osada and then pivoting smoothly to nail the player he passes to, knocking the ball loose and saving a near-certain try.

Minute 34: Takeuchi is overextended again and Rodd lowers him onto his face for the easy penalty, which Smith kicks to near halfway. We throw the lineout short to CCS and form a solid, if unspectacular maul.

Minute 35: We drive for a couple of metres and Mitchell puts up the high ball, which is once again exquisite, both in placement and chase(ment) - Freeman gets underneath it and slaps back to George following up. Quick ball carried hard by first Underhill, then Lawrence. We test the wide channels, but Furbank steps inside, and then another hard runner in Martin - we're making the gainline and it's quick, accurate attack each time, but we're not exactly going anywhere right now.

As I write that, we then go backwards as Smith takes his eye off the ball and has a juggle which then forces him to have a sideways jaunt to try and find some forwards movement. He does well enough that his support can get around behind him and we go again, resetting with a drive from Rodd and then going wide to Slade who wants to feed Underhill on the wing. Unfortunately, Lawrence is running a short line off him and Slade either doesn't see him or thinks he can make the pass around him, but ends up just blasting a wide pass into the shoulder of a player close enough to violate social distancing. Knock on and Japanese scrum.

[Puja]

Minute 36: This whole scrum is a mess - Rodd lets go his grip on the Japanese shirt, Underhill comes up (on the other side) like he's expecting a reset, Mitchell is doing his best flappy-arms seagull impression about something, but I can't see what the issue was. Whatever it was, we lose cohesion and do well not to give away a penalty as we're driven backwards. Japan get the ball out quickly anyway and go wide immediately - England are up quickly and should catch them behind the gainline, but Slade gets stepped far too easily and it requires Lawrence to come in to cover for him.

Slade then doubles up on the error by getting himself too tight to the ruck and leaving a gap between himself and his outside men - he's got defenders folding around and he needs to press outwards, but he's too slow and gets rounded by Osada.

Poor missed tackle: Smith x1, Lawrence x1, Martin x1, Slade x2, Earl x1, Mitchell x1, Cunningham-South x1

We bring Japan down on the other half of halfway and slow the ball enough that our defensive line is in place. The next two phases see us blitzing up and knocking Japan back 8m, so the third phase sees Lee drop deep and put up a high ball.

Minute 37: It's not a great kick - Freeman catches without needing to jump and then pinballs off three tacklers, buying enough time for his team to get around behind him. A moment to note Jamie George who is once again the first player back in support to secure the ball - I haven't mentioned his name much, but he has been consistently in support and the first man reading the play and reacting to the play. He's not fashionable on here, but he's having a belting game at the nuts and bolts so far.

Martin carries into Dearns and gets very little change, so we run a phase back to the blindside and set up a caterpillar and box. It is, once again, exquisite - the Japanese player catches this one, but sets one foot on the floor in time to be levelled by Freeman driving into his ribs.

Freeman then goes to drive over and, who is first player there to support? Jamie George. Underhill joins in and the three of them make enough of a mess that the referee calls sealing off for once and it's an England penalty.

Minute 38: Smith puts it... well, not into the corner, but corner-adjacent at 12m out. He gets a second chance though as Japan look to stop the drive early and go right through underneath our jumper.

Minute 39: Smith kicks again and it's on the 5m line this time. George hits double-top at a lifting pod backing over the 15m line and England look like this is an easy drive, but Japan do an incredible job to perform an immediate sack as soon as Martin hits the floor. Great job in defence.

Earl scrambles away with the ball, but we're a mess because the failed maul is in the way and no-one was expecting this, so Japan counterdrive back over and nab the ball. Something to be worked on in training - everyone was so focussed on doing their roles correctly that they forgot to adapt if it all went tits-up (aside from Itoje, who is the only one that reacted). That's the kind of ring-rustiness this game is ideal to clear out though.

Japan kick to touch about 20m out and we get to try again.

Minute 40: Japan offer us free, uncontested ball at the front, so we accept and tap down to Mitchell, trusting his service to cover the distance. It's a good trust - he finds Smith's hands so he can run onto it and Lawrence is once again sent into a brick wall and told to smash. We've not got our support lines right though and Japan are there to jackal before Freeman or Underhill get in to seal it off. Penalty Japan and it looks like the chance of a score before halftime is gone.

Japan kick to touch just inside their half.

[Puja]

Minute 41: Another great lineout drill from Japan sees them get solid back ball that they attempt to drive. It doesn't go far and ends up with slow ball, but they try and play wide from it anyway. The idea is that they can outflank the very narrow blitz defence, but it's a plan that seems fine in theory until the blitz is in your face. Feyi-Waboso nips in and picks off the pass - the juggle required slows him down, but he regathers and then gains another 7 metres through contact with sheer leg drive. Mitchell is absent from the base of the ruck though, so it's slow ball until George steps up to play 9.

We go one forward phase left and then Mitchell switches play back to the right. Earl runs at and fixes two defenders, dummies to Lawrence and then pulls the needle ball wide to Slade running behind. Sod playing him at 12, he could be 10 if he does that.

Slade gets a run ball in hand for the first time and rounds the first defender before getting dragged down and presenting the ball. CCS then puts in a forceful carry that takes us over the gainline again and ties in defenders, but it is slower ball, so we have to take another phase through Maro (who has been carrying effectively in the little moments), before we try going out to the backs again.

Minute 42: The ball goes left to Smith, but he sees the space right and changes direction to put in an inch-perfect cross-field kick. The poor Japanese player on the wing never stood a chance and Slade is in the better position to jump across him, claim the ball, and saunter over the line.

Minute 43: Smith misses his first conversion from the touchline and will probably be a bit miffed that Slade didn't score that closer to the posts, but it is still 3-26 to the good guys at half-time, which will do.

Let's see whether we solve our many and varied problems in the second half, another night.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Thank you for doing these; always enhances the game for me.

[Puja]

Minute 41: England kick off long and it's a regulation catch and a regulation tackle for a ruck just outside the 22. Japan play one phase infield, probing for options, but Underhill smashes someone, so they reset, pass it deep and kick long.

Furbank is looking for the quick lineout, but in the end the ball doesn't even make touch so he hops infield and passes for Feyi-Waboso to have a counter. It looks initially as if IFW has made a mistake as he steps back into a Japanese forward's tackle, but he drops his shoulder and drives up and into the contact and then pumps his legs. The Japanese player wrestles him halfway to ground, but his legs are still going and he ends up towing this front row forward a full 8 metres past the initial point of contact. He is a freak.

That momentum means England send up CCS on the next phase - Japan's blindside blitzes up to tackle him, but is bounced and dragged back over the gainline and it takes another tackler before he's actually stopped. Both tacklers are then trapped on the wrong side and make little effort to move, so a bit of arm-flapping from Mitchell gets us penalty advantage.

The ball is played out to Itoje who takes it to the line before pulling back for Smith, who takes it to the line before feeding Furbank - it's Wiggy's favourite shape run over and over, but it's very effective and sees Furbank able to give IFW the ball with a 2-on-2. Our boy Manny holds the ball in two hands and offers it to Earl outside to keep the wide player off him and then burns the inside man for pace to make a clean break. Mitchell and Earl are in support, but Japan have done extremely well to get players in all of his passing lanes and he's left with very few options. He tries to thread the needle to find Mitchell for the walk-in, but Saito gets a hand in to slap it back. It looks for a moment like the slap back might be as good as a grubber, as Mitchell is going to be first to it with the line at his mercy, but the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you, and it takes a right-angle bounce that lets Makisi dive on it first. Makisi is under all sorts of pressure as he gets back to his feet and tries to keep the ball from Underhill, Earl, and IFW, but he's saved by the ref coming back for the penalty. Seems a generous advantage - the pen is back on the 10m line and Makisi is currently being outnumbered by England players close to his line, so I'd've said advantage over, but we'll take it.

Minute 42: Smith kicks for touch and, once again, there have been more ambitious kicks. This one is about 15m out, which is too far to realistically drive. England take front ball and form a maul to try and gainsay me, but it's not going anywhere much.

Minute 43: I'm wondering if England are sandbagging a bit in these mauls, with one eye on NZ's opposition research, cause we don't appear to be busting a gut. It looks a bit like getting a good setup, having a brief squeeze, and then getting the ball out, almost like training. I could be imagining things though. Or maybe it's a remnant of my bitterness on putting money on George to score a try, thinking it would be a sure-fire thing, and then us not driving a single maul till long after he'd gone off.

Either way, George breaks from the back and sets up clean ruck ball. Mitchell sends Lawrence into midfield traffic once more. Itoje is somewhat lucky to get away with flopping of the top of the ruck, but the ref waves it on.

Mitchell picks and goes back the other way and there is a massive overlap this way. Japan have over-folded and Mitchell can pick how he wants the try to be scored. He pumps the ball to Earl's hard line and two Japanese defenders bite in, giving him the room to accelerate through the hole they leave to go under the posts himself.

Minute 44: Smith knocks over the simple conversion and the score is now the very pleasing 3-33 (or the traditional England Test position when Root comes to the crease). Marler and Dan enter the fray, but Cole is left to keep plugging away - tbh, Rodd and George have put in a hell of a shift in the loose, so it's understandable that they're tiring earlier.

Minute 45: Japan kick off to the edge of the 22 again and, once again, Itoje is under it and we form a very cautious maul that stays in the 22 for Mitchell to box-kick away. It's a very different kick this time though - instead of going long for territory, it's a competitive length and has gone infield to the 15m line - and it's really hard to tell if it's intended or a horrible slice. It works out well though - Yazaki has to come running in from deep as he was expecting the other one and, while he does get a ridiculous Air Jordan leap in (carries him about 6ft vertically and probably 10ft horizontally!) to get to the ball first, his flight path ends up with him sailing into CCS and he spills the ball. Good refereeing there - there would be some who would instinctively penalise CCS rather than look at Yazaki 100% being responsible for that and there being no foul play.

Lawrence is on the loose ball and pops up to Dan, who fizzes a wide pass to Furbank. Japan are numbered up, but Furbank keeps them guessing with ball in both hands and some nice footwork in space, and he makes it past the first tackler and drives through the next to get over halfway. He pops off the ground to Mitchell and we've got such a good attacking opportunity, but unfortunately CCS's got half his mind on his carry and spills a simple pass to end the move.

[Puja]

Minute 46: Something is not going well in that England scrum. Japan get the shove on and Cole is absolutely folded, which is just bizarre to be happening against this level of opposition. Japanese penalty and completely deserved.

Saito taps and goes from the back, but doesn't appear to have much of a plan, running diagonally for a bit and throwing dummies before eventually just accepting being tackled by Mitchell. Japan attempt to increase the tempo with a quick pick and go and then a nice forward offload in midfield, but the next phase sees England's defence set and the blitz catches the carrier 7-8m behind the gainline. Japan try it again from that inauspicious position, only to be tackled behind the gainline again and Underhill to lock in over the ball for an easy decision for the referee. Possibly safe to say that tap wasn't the best option from Saito.

Minute 47: England kick for touch and I wish I could see who kicked that because it's excellent, getting us from a pen inside our own half to 8m out from the try-line. RugbyPass does not give me nice things however, so we'll just say that was Dan Cole's elegant right boot.

Japan offer us front ball again and once again we take it with a regulation take from CCS. this time we do roll the maul a little - we get some movement and for a minute Dan dreams of riding it to the line, but Costley has swung around to the wrong side and we decide better to get it out than risk losing it.

Minute 48: The ball goes out to Slade, who is playing 10, and he takes it to the line before feeding Lawrence on his shoulder. Lawrence aims for a gap and makes ground, but is very well tackled in the end, and we're lucky to keep the ball as Slade does an execrable job of rucking, flopping off his feet and pawing gently at the jackaller's calves. It's just about enough to put him off and Mitchell gets the ball out with a wide pass to Smith. Smith continues the motion with a flat miss-pass to Furbank and we've got a potential 1-on-1 for Feyi-Waboso looming. Sadly Furbank tries to round his defender to make it a 2-on-1 - it's a reasonable thing to try and he very nearly makes it, but it's great defence from the Japanese player to just cling onto him.

IFW does get the pass, but the cover is now across, so he steps back inside to beat one defender and then accelerates into two tacklers and drives them both backwards 5m over their line. Japan are only saved by one of the tacklers sliding down his legs and pinning his ankles together to bring him down just before he reaches the line - he is a freak and too good to have ever been Welsh.

The ball is on the edge of the line and just about comes back to Mitchell. We go for one-out forward runs through Itoje and Earl that are well stopped by Japanese double-tackles, then a series of three pick and drives which go nowhere and slow everything down. Cole is next to try his luck and he does get through the initial contact and, with a latch from Underhill, goes over the line, but Leitch has got his body under it, so we're going back for a penalty advantage from a high tackle as they tried to stop IFW earlier.

Minute 49: In fact, it's a choice of penalties - high tackle by the touchline or offside in defence by the posts. Itoje appears to have won the Ippy-Dippy between the 17 vice-captains as to who will be in charge and opts for the one by the touchline which Furbank taps out for a 5m lineout.

England throw to the back and it's a carbon copy of the first half - we look like there's a big charge for the line lined up, but Japan make an immediate sack, so our support end up driving over nothing. We do better this time in not losing the ball and Dan goes for a snipe on his own.

Japan cheat thoroughly at the ruck to slow it down, so Mitchell goes for a snipe to the blindside. He dummies to Itoje and the Japanese outside defender buys it hook, line, sinker, rod, and copy of Angling Times, absolutely levelling Itoje off the ball. Mitchell carries on his sideways run and gets scragged by the two inside defenders, but that means that Earl's arcing run around from the openside is now utterly unopposed and Mitchell has merely to offload out the tackle to put him into the corner.

Mitchell has had a *really* good game. Continually making the right decisions from the base.

Minute 50: Replay replay replay. I'd be interested to know if the shot-clock has actually sped up time spent on conversions - it feels like sides know they're allowed a certain amount of time, they're willing to use every second of it, rather than the old, old method of steadily testing the ref's patience until he got annoyed with you.

[Puja]

Thank you for doing these; always enhances the game for me.

Thank you. I always appreciate these comments, every time.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 51: Oooft. Smith makes a duff contact with that one and it's not even flirting with the posts. Where's Farrell in the crowd when you need him for a reaction shot?

Curry is on for Underhill and Randall for Mitchell.

Japan's kick-off is deeper, clearing Itoje this time, but Earl is there to take it. I'm fascinated by why CCS was there from the first kick-off but none of the subsequent ones - surely it can't just have been a shepherd's crook from him fumbling the opening one?

Earl beats one defender and stays on his feet long enough to get his support in around him and we set a caterpillar for Randall to play away from.

Minute 52: It's a decent box-kick (which definitely *NOT* the memory I have of Randall's kicking in this game), making a very solid touch and still getting us up to 38m out from our line.

Japan get decent, uncontested, middle ball and Saito peels away from the maul almost instantly. He plays it wide and the blitz defence is up quickly, forcing a knock-on in the second phase, but it was apparently a little too quickly from the lineout, according to the touch judge, so Japan get the ball back. Saito taps and feeds Leitch on the burst, but Leitch gets sent back where he came from by a combo of TCurry and Dan.

Minute 53: Japan keep going with runners off 10, but they're being sent back and TCurry is wildly unlucky to be penalised for a jackal where the ref said he didn't release.

Japan tap and go and it's spectacularly unsuccessful again - England are not in the least bit taken by surprise and Japan are smashed on the gainline. They go through five phases of one-out runners off 9, without showing any kind of sign of stressing the England defence.

Minute 54: Further Japan attacks, some of which make a little ground through contact, but it's then lost against the blitz defence. Finally England make a mistake - Dan is slow picking himself off the floor after a tackle and then gets up to try and occupy the guard space that Randall is already standing in, rather than the first pillar space that the rest of his team appear to be expecting. He not only fails to be in the right position, but blocks Randall from making the tackle and Naikabula has a massive hold to run through. Furbank gets across to cut him down, but Naikabula has both hands free to make an easy offload and MSmith takes the sensible decision to commit a blatant professional foul and tackle Yazaki without the ball.

The ref then nearly gets tackled by CCS by having poor positioning and I think lost several years off his life with the fear that engendered. Japan go around the corner a few times, but we repel them, so they decide to have one big fling wide while they've got the chance.

Minute 55: The miss-pass is loopy and high in the face of the blitz and Furbank tries to take it with a full-on superman dive, but can't quite make it. It does disrupt things enough for Freeman to come across and make a big tackle to knock the ball loose, and we are now coming back for the TMO check.

England escape the penalty try on the basis that Dan Cole could get there to make a tackle (and in fairness, he did, although that was helped by Smith having hauled Yazaki back first), Smith gets his marching orders and Japan go for the lineout.

Japan go for a trick play with 9 players in the lineout - entertainingly enough England only have 8 (and no scrum-half), which I'm assuming they got away with on the basis that's too high for the ref to reasonably be expected to count. Whatever the trick was cannot be seen, as England take a page from Japan's book with Itoje abandoning his lift of CCS in favour of sacking the Japan jumper as soon as he hit the floor. It works as well as when Japan tried it on us the first time - they're so focussed on where they're going for their training ground play that everything goes to hell when there's a problem and the ball is knocked on. This is why backs shouldn't be allowed in lineouts - they're just not clever enough to know what they're doing.

[Puja]

Minute 56: Cole does a very good job on Japan at this scrum - suckering the loosehead into going early and pulling back to throw him off balance, then driving back to put him on his knees, then allowing him to come forwards again so that he looks like he's driven through the mark. You can pick any one of three offences there and England get the penalty, which Slade bangs upfield for a lineout just inside our half.

Minute 57: That was Cole's last involvement as Stuart comes on. I believe that this is also the moment at which Cunningham-South leaves us - Underhill returns from his blood injury and we are finally left with the glory that is Cunderhearl in the back row.

England throw to the front again and set up a maul that rumbles for 3-4 metres before giving it out for Randall to box-kick. It's a great position, but Randall slices the kick - lots of up, only about 7m forwards and the referee should really be giving the penalty against us for the forwards not retreating, but there we are.

Feyi-Waboso rescues the situation, taking the ball under huge pressure with a flying leap, then bouncing off the floor to make a half-break. It's only 5m or so, but it puts England right on the front foot and sends Japan retreating. Next phase is Wiggy's favourite shape - Curry to the line with support on both shoulders and a pull-back to Furbank as ersatz 10 - but it works and a wide pass sees us with a 3-on-2. Lawrence doesn't carry the ball quite long enough - he releases the pass to Slade too early and allows his defender to drift off - and Freeman gets too flat on the wing, meaning the pass to him has to be behind to avoid being forwards. Those little inaccuracies are the difference between a try and no-try from that situation, but it's still good enough that Freeman is only tackled 15m out and it requires three Japanese defenders to drag him down. Lawrence and Slade drive over and it's lightning quick ball for Randall. He keeps the momentum going with a fast pass for Martin to carry hard into midfield.

Minute 58: Quick ball again and Randall jacks back to the blindside - Lawrence does better with drawing and picking his pass to allow Freeman to run at Naikabula and bounce him backwards. Unfortunately next phase is Martin being sent on a run without any support - he desperately needs someone running on his shoulder to tip that onto, but instead the defence can focus on him and they knock him backwards.

We go for one-out forward runners for the next few phases and don't go too far until we put a bit of guile on it, with both Underhill and TCurry running hard lines off the same ball and Randall picking out which of them to go with. TCurry wrestles his way through several tacklers to bring us up to 7m out. The next phase, Stuart takes the ball with a run up and at as high speed as his frame will allow, and Randall picks him out well - Stuart drives through the tackle to get 3m out and presents the ball beautifully. The next phase is Martin again - he's not coming on at speed and, while his strength lets him get away with it, he'd be more effective if he were running like Stuart just was. Admittedly Stuart is fresh on the pitch, but it's been an issue for Martin all game and looks like a work-on to me.

He does do enough to make the gainline and disarrange the Japanese defence some more however, and quick ball yet again leaves Japan panicking. Underhill, Curry, Itoje and Earl are all racing around to get onto the next pass going the same way and Japan flood left to cover them - unfortunately Randall spots the gap that's left on the other side of the ruck and he snipes and dives over from short range.

Minute 59: Lots of replays. That was really good play from England - great ball presentation every phase, quality rucking, and great service from Randall.

From the initial Freeman break, there were nine rucks. Eight of them were under 3 seconds before Randall played away, and seven of them he passed the ball from the base so it was in the hands of a runner within 3 seconds, rather than any slowing from pick-up-and-snipe. The only ruck just over 3s and where he ran was where Japan tried anticipating him to scrag him and he spotted it coming and left the ball for a second so they had to go back onside. And, of course the other ruck where he didn't pass from the base was the last one!

Really good scrum-half play, really good quick phase play from the team as a whole. This is why I want Randall to stay in the 21 shirt - we can fix his box-kicking (especially since he's capable but just got the yips), but we can't teach Spencer to do that.

Minute 60: Slade takes his full time over the simple conversion and knocks it over. 3-45, which looks like the score when you think Root's just started to rescue things after coming in at 3-33, only for him to get out to a good ball and leave you vainly hoping this is going to be a good Bairstow day. I'm confident about the Ashes, how bout you!

Japan go for a contestible short kick-off, but screw it up to only go 5m and concede the scrum on halfway. Roebuck is off the bench for IFW (who has been immense) and he celebrates by putting in the unnecessary tackle, just in case.

[loudnconfident]

Hi
Excellent and enjoyable as always. Many thx!
" I'm confident about the Ashes, how bout you!"

Me? Ashes are miles away. Fingers crossed for the WC T20 semis tomorrow!

[Puja]

Minute 61: Scrum to England and we waste a bunch of time because the ref says "Use it" and England try to drive instead and so we reset after it collapses. It's possibly sensible play from England - it's another minute off the sin-bin clock.

Minute 62: Now we get a penalty as Stuart drives through his oppositions and makes a mess of the Japanese scrum. Earl taps and goes, which feels a mistake, but he does make decent ground himself and presents quick ball which we use to send Itoje running on a nice break. We've made about 25m and got quick ball again, but unfortunately two bad choices in a row kill it: Randall goes same way, but Japan have folded well and Lawrence/Freeman are facing a 2-on-4 underlap on the narrow side. Then, instead of just making ground and recycling the ball, Lawrence tries a 1-in-20 shot of a grubber through for Freeman. This isn't even the bounce of a rugby ball hating you; that's just a long shot that doesn't come off. However, how good is it that it's minute 62 and we've had our first (and I believe only) KADAB of the match. Let's take a moment to appreciate the good times.

Japan gather the ball and then recycle to set up a base for a clearance.

Minute 63: The ball is passed back to the 10 and Matsuda clears away for an England lineout about 33m out. England run a little move to get uncontested middle ball and obviate Japan's tactic of an immediate sack by having Martin immediately transfer the ball as he hits the deck. The pod goes down at the front, but the rest of the maul makes sure to stay on their feet and roll around for a nice breakaway that earns about 10m. Randall spins it into midfield for Furbank and Earl is running the 12 line outside him - I don't think the switch is official yet, but that's the kind of position that Lawrence has been running all game.

Minute 64: Japan make a bit of a mess of our ruck as our cleaners aren't there quickly enough and the ball spills loose. Randall flips it up to Stuart on the burst, but the support is a second or two too late for him as well and this time Japan lock in over the ball and win the turnover. We then compound the issue by Stuart refusing to relinquish the ball on the floor and conceding 10 metres.

Completely pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1, Earl x1, Rodd x1, George x1, Stuart x1

The original penalty was just something that happens with a good jackal sometimes, but giving away 10 is inexcusable. First time I've had to use either counter in the second half - not sure if that's us being more sensible after a half-time talking-to, or if it's Japan starting to wilt and not be able to put us under as much pressure. Six of one, perhaps.

Japan tap and go, and get good ground from their carry (unsurprising, given we just had to retreat 20m before coming forwards). They go wide and Slade shoots up to try and take a player as he receives the long pass, however, he gets his angles all wrong and is easily rounded to allow a Japanese break.

Poor missed tackle: Smith x1, Lawrence x1, Martin x1, Slade x3, Earl x1, Mitchell x1, Cunningham-South x1

Japan have a 4-on-1 overlap, but Roebuck is smartly up from backfield to make it 4-on-2. He then adapts well when Japan throw it over the top and is across to make the tackle - Nezuka hurls it back inside to avoid being taken into touch and Earl is there to take a diving interception and recover the ball for us. We reset with a single phase and go for a caterpillar and box.

Minute 65: Second kick in a row where Randall slices and this one is even worse as it almost goes backwards. The ref has to give the penalty for England being in the 10 this time.

Japan tap and go, but it's not really getting them far and, after two phases and the blitz defence charging up on the outside, Osada kicks over the top. We haven't got anyone sweeping for some reason and Freeman has to chase a rolling ball backwards, falling on it 4m from his own line and bouncing up to face four Japanese chasers. He does exceptionally well in driving forward to buy time, and then getting his knees to the ground to force a release. England are back and pile in over the top to secure the ball. We run a single phase to reset and Randall box-kicks away - this one ostentatiously given more forward impetus to get us up to just outside the 22.

[Puja]

Minute 66: More reinforcements - the sin-bin is up, so FSmith comes on in place of MSmith's return and Freeman is rewarded for his excellent play by being replaced by Ewels. I didn't actually realise that Earl had been moved to the centre when watching this live; I had assumed that one of the back row had gone off, so I'm interested to see if he was any good there in this review. I'm assuming Slade's going onto the wing? Not the fastest option, but who else would it be?

Japan throw to the middle and Itoje does enough competition to knock the ball free. It bounces well for Saito though and Japan can play away. The number 20, Yamamoto, comes around to attack the back of the lineout and makes Dan look like all the pricks of the day with some fancy footwork that literally leaves him on his knees. FSmith steps in to help, but Yamamoto drops his shoulder and just drives through to have a clear run into the 22. Earl manages to haul him down just before he gets to the tryline, but it's instant ball for Japan and our defence is in utter disarray - Dearns (5) draws the last defender and throws a wide pass to Nezuka who manages to get in at the corner ahead of FSmith's despairing dive.

Poor missed tackle: MSmith x1, Lawrence x1, Martin x1, Slade x3, Earl x1, Mitchell x1, Cunningham-South x1, Dan x1, FSmith x1

Minute 67: Replays. A try caused from basic skill errors from two players who can do better. Very disappointing. Matsuda adds the extras and it's 10-45.

Minute 68: Furbank is still in charge of the kick-offs despite FSmith being on the pitch now. It's a decent one - just clears the lifting pod and Nezuka does well to field it unexpectedly.

Japan recycle and look to play within their 22, but the pull-back ball from the man running at the line goes nowhere near finding the player out the ball and instead finds grass - Matsuda gets a lucky bounce to recover it but then gets Danned behind his forward pack as soon as he catches it, so he might consider that unlucky instead. TCurry is first man in and really should win the turnover, but he loses his balance and puts his hands on the floor before latching on and the ref does well to spot and give Japan the penalty. We'll call that rustiness, as I know he's better than that.

Completely pointless penalty concession: Underhill x1, Earl x1, Rodd x1, George x1, Stuart x1, TCurry x1

Minute 69: Japan go off the top from the lineout again and this time Dan manages to tackle Yamamoto, although not before he gets the pass away. Underhill puts in a crunching hit on the poor recipient though and Japan are knocked backwards.

The next few phases are the blitz defence in action - TCurry, Ewels, even Harry Randall, flying up an meeting Japanese runners with technically excellent tackles. Unfortunately, the player Randall ends up monstering chucks a wild offload out the back and Itoje makes his first mistake of the day. Dearns is reaching behind him to get fingertips onto a flying ball - he is definitely going to lose it backwards from this position. Itoje can either level him while he's distracted - satisfying, but unlikely to be especially productive - or he can charge up to be first to the loose ball, maybe put a fly-hack through for Roebuck to chase.

Unfortunately, that decision means that, when Dearns somehow arrests the ball's momentum with the fingertips of one outstretched arm and flicks it back into his grasp, Itoje is already sold chasing the loose ball that never was and, worse, Martin and Roebuck are already following him up. That gives Dearns a free-run through our defensive line and a 4-on-1 against Furbank, which he executes competently enough to put Yamasawa under the posts.

Nothing much to be done with that one - I called it a mistake by Itoje, but he's made the right decision 99 times out of 100 and he's just been made to look a prat by a ridiculous combination of skill and dumb luck. You just can't legislate for that.

Minute 70: Matsuda doesn't take too much time with the conversion and we get a kick-off at the end of the minute. This one is shorter and we put Japan under pressure to nearly get the ball back, but TCurry just can't gather it in and it's Japanese possession.