A dark, damp evening in Brent is a far cry from the sun and sea of Brighton. And, hell, there weren't many echoes of rugby's greatest disappointment – quite possibly the sport's – apart from the team names and the inimitable guy sitting in the Japanese coaching box, Eddie Jones. South Africa were 43-point favorites in 2015 and just 37 this time around, but the reality of lopsided rugby was all too compelling.
Instead, Wembley echoed, the lower tier about two-thirds full. South Africa, which has nine players playing rugby in Japan, wanted to organize this qualifying tour to gather their teams from around the world ahead of the big match against France next Saturday. As an exercise it worked well enough, with the Springboks completely dominating from start to finish, scoring nine tries in the process.
“What's interesting,” Jones said, “is that in the 10 years since that game, South Africa has won two World Cups. That result has refocused South African rugby on its DNA. Japan, however, hasn't really developed its system to meet the demands of international rugby. That's a real challenge for us. Japan has quality players. We just need to find a way to speed them up.”
Today, South Africa are undeniably the best team in the world, and Japan are a little behind where they were 10 years ago. At one end of the spectrum, Michael Leitch, the 2015 talisman, is still in the back row at 37 years old. The Japan full-back brought on amateur student Yoshitaka Yazaki, who showed he was indeed smart when he attempted Japan's solo try, about 10 minutes after the break, with a penalty kick during a rare phase of Japanese pressure. Unfortunately, at that time they were losing with a score of 33-0.
But that was where the romance in the London suburbs ended. South Africa opened the game with a set lineout and scored their first try three minutes later, which was finished by their captain and back row talisman Siya Kolisi. Then a new South African rugby star took the stage.
Let's not resort to hyperbole for now. Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been mentioned in the same breath as Dan Carter a few times, but we'll focus here on the fact that he is actually very good. He set a Test match scoring record this year with 37 against formidable opponents Argentina, so he will likely always feel comfortable against Japan.
He did just that. He scored two tries that were both individualistic and brilliant, not unlike You Know Who, who was the same age, 23, when he showed his age against the Lions in 2005. It certainly didn't compare to that masterclass, but having converted Kolisi's try, he followed up with a try of his own to score South Africa's second 10 minutes later, before showing off his running skills for another five minutes after that.
Running around the arc, he entered Dylan Riley and beat the long-lever, picking up Jack Cornelsen to run imperiously towards the posts. Okay, it was a friendly match against a tough opponent, but he's going to be here for a while. It's not like they didn't already have Handre Pollard sitting in the stands for this one. The Springboks' depth is the envy of the world.
The new term these days is the “hybrid player,” and both coaches are exactly the type to promote its use. Japan had Tiennan Costley on the bench, a back row forward who covered the flank and actually stepped into that position. But South Africa boasts a Kwagga Smith prototype.
Quick Guide
Match details
Show
South Africa Flasks; Hooker (Reinach 71), Kriel, De Allende, Arendse; Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Libbock 54), Reinach (J Williams 54); Nche (Steenekamp 19), Marks (Groblear 45), Porten (Lau 45), Snyman, De Jager (Nortje 69), Kolisi (captain Esterhuizen 45), Mostert, Wiese (Smith 45)
Tries Kolisi, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, penalty, Lauw, Arendse 2, Esterhuizen, Kriel Cons Mngomezulu 3, Libbock 4
Japan Yazaki; Isis, Riley, Lawrence (Costley, 54), Siege; Lee (Green, 69), Fujiwara (Fukuda, 66); Kobayashi (Iwaihara, 65), Sato (Hirao, 66), Takeuchi (Tamefusa, 65), Cornelsen, Dirns (captain). Gunther, Shimokawa (Paul, 62), Leitch (Makishi, 48)
Yellow cards Takeuchi 36, Gunter 46
Try Yazaki Con Lee
Referee Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TO 23 243
Now they've added Andre Esterhuizen, until recently Queens' favorite giant at center, to their arsenal. He started to play in the back row – which seems quite natural – and thought he had one try from a lineout that was crossed out before going around the perimeter for another try.
This was the seventh highest result in South African history. Either side of that, Kurt-Lee Arendse, one of those who knows how many electric runners the Springboks have at their disposal, scored twice. He picked up the call as Yazaki pitched and rolled home before Cheslin Kolbe's (there's another) break put him in second place.
Both sides enjoyed a lap around the famous pitch, but the match itself will not go on in the same way as its more famous version 10 years ago.
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Graham and Van der Merwe lead the fun in Scotland
Darcy Graham and Doohan van der Merwe continued their rise to the top of Scotland's scoring charts with a 13-try win over the USA at Murrayfield.
Van der Merwe marked his 50th cap with a brace to take his international tally to 34, but fellow Edinburgh striker Graham equaled him to become Scotland's all-time top goalscorer with a hat-trick in a record 85-0 rout.
Dylan Richardson opened the scoring when he pushed the ball home from close range, and two minutes later 21-year-old debutant back-rower Liam McConnell made a brilliant run and made a basketball pass to set up Edinburgh team-mate Van der Merwe.
The Scots had a third try in the 10th minute when Adam Hastings made a fine pass to Graham and 10 minutes later Jamie Dobie got his name on the scoresheet. Van der Merwe's second goal came when he dribbled past two defenders to score on the left flank, with Dobie scoring his second after some fine work from Stafford McDowell.
Graham got his second goal when he finished brilliantly down the right wing to complete his hat-trick four minutes after play restarted. Rowe came into play in the 57th minute after being played in by Dobie and Scotland scored four tries in the final 10 minutes, with Stafford McDowell, George Horne, Dobie and Ollie Smith taking advantage of American fatigue to get over the barrier.
Gregor Townsend, Scotland head coach, said: “Obviously we had more ball than we would normally get against a top 10 team. I thought the effort was outstanding. Of course there will be another opponent next week, one of the best teams in the world, but what we have worked on in training we have implemented on the pitch, so it is a good start to the campaign.”
“Everyone knows about the promotion next week. We obviously know that New Zealand is going to test us in different ways that the US hasn't been able to do.” PA Media
