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International Men's Rugby
2025
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JPN vs ITA
International Men's Rugby
Sapporo Dome, Sapporo
Japan
vs
Italy
14
FT
42
Action
Lineups
All
Facts Only
All
Full-Time: 14 - 42
It's yet another disappointing result for Eddie Jones's side as they've come through their summer internationals without a single win as the first team of Japan. Their only win comes in the non-test match clash as Japan XV against the Maori All Blacks two weeks ago. Italy, on the other hand, can be proud of their showing in the past couple of weeks. They coughed up their lead against Samoa to ultimately lose that match in Apia two weeks ago, but put in a good performance against Tonga last weekend and take a huge win over Japan here in Sapporo to end their season on a high. They will be back in action in November against Argentina, Georgia, and New Zealand. Japan head to the Pacific Nations Cup next month, kicking off the action against Canada.
Japan had a couple of excellent breaks as well, but they simply weren't able to finish the movement and actually put points on the board. Some loose passing that resulted in knocks, some brutal tackles that forced the ball loose, and a couple of huge moments from the Italian defence to get over breakdowns and force turnovers or penalties prevented the home side from really being able to build momentum and pressure at times.
Italy were very dangerous in broken play, with Ange Capuozzo in particular making trouble for the Japanese defence with his weaving runs. But he certainly wasn't the one only cutting up Japan's line and getting the visitors onto the front foot and into the right areas of the pitch. The Brave Blossoms were left scrambling on defence a couple of times, and Italy took advantage of that to get themselves to the line with some quick offloads, recycling, and passing to keep the ball alive.
The biggest issue for Japan was their set pieces. They were going backwards in the scrums, and conceded numerous penalties as Italy got the shove on them in the pack, and their lineouts were just a mess. They threw so many of their lineouts straight over the top and into Italian hands, conceded a free kick for a dummy throw, and had a couple of their on-target lineouts picked off as well. There were a couple of great mauls off the lineouts at one point right in the left corner with Italy conceding penalties and ultimately a yellow card trying to defend them, but even still Japan couldn't convert into points as they coughed the ball up trying to get to the line.
But that second Brave Blossom's try was all she wrote for the home side, with Italy managing another two tries and a penalty after that to take the game well out of reach of their hosts, despite two more cards. Japan had a couple of great opportunities in the second half, but they just couldn't keep it tidy enough to convert those into points on the board.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring, surging to a 17-point lead within 15 minutes to put huge scoreboard pressure on Japan. They managed to score another shortly after their first yellow card leaving them with 24 points on the board before Japan were able to break the doughnut with the clock in the red at halftime. The home side added another shortly after the break, and it looked for a while like they had completely shifted the momentum of the match as they threw everything and the kitchen sink at Italy's defence.
It's a huge win for Italy in Sapporo! Five tries for the visitors was the difference here, with the Azzurri really making use of their opportunities in ways that Japan really struggled to do for the most part. Italy's biggest issue was their discipline, with three yellow cards in the match, the first in the first half and the second and third after the break.
80+2'
No extras from out on the left touchline.
80+2'
L. Marin
Missed Conversion