Scotland Xv Defeat Japan Select In Tour Warm-Up
Scotland 24 – 5 Japan As the team from the land of the rising sun took to the pitch, the setting sun over Murrayfield broke through the cloud to bathe the east stand crowd of over 8000 in its evening rays. The enthusiatic support cheered on a Scottish side comprising Scotland and Scotland A players, in this warm-up to their upcoming respective outings in Argentina and Romania. A win for the home side – though not the tally some may have predicted – signalled job done for head coach, Andy Robinson.Said Robinson: We’ve trained hard for the last three days and this was a very good exercise, exactly what we needed. We haven’t been together for a while, mistakes happen and we need to correct them for Argentina. I was disappointed with the contact area – that’s a lesson for us – and we made three or four sloppy offloads. However some of our lines, the way the first try was scored – the simplicity of it – I was pleased with.We can look at any performance and see how we can improve it, however. Scotland 24 – 5 JapanAs the team from the land of the rising sun took to the pitch, the setting sun over Murrayfield broke through the cloud to bathe the east stand crowd of over 8000 in its evening rays. The enthusiatic support cheered on a Scottish side comprising Scotland and Scotland A players, in this warm-up to their upcoming respective outings in Argentina and Romania. A win for the home side – though not the tally some may have predicted – signalled job done for head coach, Andy Robinson.Said Robinson: We’ve trained hard for the last three days and this was a very good exercise, exactly what we needed. We haven’t been together for a while, mistakes happen and we need to correct them for Argentina. I was disappointed with the contact area – that’s a lesson for us – and we made three or four sloppy offloads. However some of our lines, the way the first try was scored – the simplicity of it – I was pleased with.We can look at any performance and see how we can improve it, however. After a cautious start from both sides, it was Alex Grove who put the first points on the board on the five minute mark, after clean hands through the backs sent him sprinting down the left wing and over the whitewash; Phil Godman successfully converted to put the home side ahead, 7-0.Missed opportunities from the visitors followed, creating a pattern for the remainder of the first-half.A penalty for Scotland early in the second-half heralded Scotland’s second try as John Barclay shrugged off two tackles to cross the line. Godman’s conversion then increased Scotland’s lead to 14-0. Barclay’s second came after 52 minutes, the result of some powerful pick and go action from the Scotland forwards to make the score. Godman missed the conversion to put Scotland 19-0 to the good. Scotland’s fourth try came courtesy of Simon Danielli who found ample space after good hands passed the ball through the line, allowing the Ulster winger to cross the whitewash after 73 minutes. Jim Thompson, on for Godman, missed the conversion, 24-0.Patient driving from the Japanese forwards was eventually rewarded with flanker Youngdae Kim putt Japan on the scoreboard for the first time, just short of the final whistle, with an uncoverted try, making the final score Scotland 24-5 Japan.Scotland centre, Max Evans, said: All in all it was a good game to get the cobwebs out with there being a bit of a break since the end of the season.It’s been a successful game to have, going into a tough two-game tour of Argentina.The Scotland squad set off on Friday (4 June) in advance of their games in Tucuman on Saturday 12 June and Mar del Plata on Saturday 19 June. Both these games will be shown live on BBC 2 Scotland (kick-off 7.45pm BST on both occasions), while there will also be live commentary on BBC Radio Scotland.Murray Man of the Match: John BarclayAttendance: 8186Referee: James Jones (WRU)Scotland XV15. Hugo Southwell14. Sean Lamont13. Nick de Luca12. Alex Grove11. Simon Danielli10. Phil Godman9. Mike Blair1. Allan Jacobsen2. Ross Ford3. Moray Low4. Scott MacLeod5. Jim Hamilton6. Kelly Brown7. John Barclay8. Johnnie BeattieSubstitutes16. Fergus Thomson (62 mins, for Ford)17. Geoff Cross (50 mins, for Low)18. Al Kellock (50 mins, for Hamilton)19. Graeme Morrison (68 mins, for Lamont)20. Mark McMillan (63 mins, for Blair)21. Max Evans (50 mins, for De Luca)22. Jim Thompson (53 mins, for Godman)Japan Select15. Ayumu Goromaru14. Yuta Imamura13. Takayuki Yamauchi12. Aisea Mattaali Havea11. Paea Mifiposeti10. Masakazu Irie (captain)9. Shuhei Oshima1. Hiroshige Teduka2. Hirotaka Hirahara3. Yusuke Nagae4. Timothy Oliver Bond5. Tomoaki Taniguchi6. Koji Shinozuka7. Youngdae Kim8. Iongi SioeriSubstitutes(all used) 16. Tomohiro Senba 17. Takahiro Doi 18. Eiri Nakata19. Hidetoshi Mine 20. Nathan Anderson 21. Kenji Syomen22. Tomoki Kitagawa