Scotland battle to WXV2 win over Japan

WXV2

Japan (5) 13

Tries: Saito, Nagata Pen: Otsuka

Scotland (12) 19

Tries: McGhie, Stewart, Lloyd Cons: Nelson, Smith

Scotland’s hopes of retaining their WXV2 title were boosted by a hard-fought win over Japan in Cape Town.

First-half tries from Francesca McGhie and Alex Stewart put the Scots in control, but Seina Saito’s score kept Japan in touch at the break.

Ayasa Otsuka’s penalty then brought Japan to within four points, but Rhona Lloyd strolled over in the corner for what proved to be the game’s decisive try.

Iroha Nagata scored at the back of a rolling maul as Japan applied late pressure, but Scotland held on for a fourth successive win in all competitions.

Bryan Easson’s side won last year’s competition with wins over hosts South Africa, the United States and Japan.

They take on Australia in their final game of the tournament on 12 October.

Easson could not have wished for a better start to the game, having made six changes to the side that beat Italy last week.

McGhie burst through a hole in the Japanese midfield, before skipping past full-back Sora Nishimura and cruising to the line.

Japan were not fazed by the early concession though, and only an excellent covering tackle from Lloyd denied them a try of their own.

However, they got on the scoreboard not long after, following a Lloyd mistake.

Instead of allowing the ball to bounce into touch, Scotland’s winger batted it back into play in her own 22, straight into opposition hands and it was Saito who ultimately dotted down.

A tight, physical contest ensued, but with the first half drawing to a close, hooker Lana Skeldon opened Japan up with a clever delayed pass.

Meryl Smith released McGhie down the left wing, and she had Stewart in support who crossed for her first international try.

Japan continued to put Scotland under pressure in the second half, and moved to within four points thanks to Otsuka’s boot.

Lloyd held her width well and had a straightforward finish in the corner after more slick hands, and although Nagata gave Japan hope late on, Scotland held firm for another win.

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm: “That could have gone either way. Japan were outstanding.

“The physicality they brought was unbelievable, but testament to my team for sticking in and getting the job done. I’m super proud of the girls for sticking at it.

“We’re going to have to recover a lot after that. We’ve got a lot of fix-ups, that wasn’t good enough. Hopefully we come out next week and put in a performance to be proud of.”

Scotland head coach Bryan Easson: “Disappointing. A good win, but not the standards we set ourselves.

“We can perform better than that, but all credit to the girls – they stuck in and we’re alive for next week.

“We’ve got a brilliant group of players so we can look at the way Australia play. We’ll review today and then build up for next week.”

Japan: Nishimura, Matsuda, Furuta, Hirotsu, Imakugi, Otsuka, Tsukui; Kato, Kuge, Kitano, Sato, Yoshimura, Kawamura, Nagata, Saito.

Replacements: Taniguchi, Mine, Nagata, Korai, Nduka, Abe, Yamamoto, Kobayashi.

Scotland: Rollie, Lloyd, Smith, Thomson, McGhie, Nelson, Mattinson; Bartlett, Skeldon, Belisle, McMillan, Bonar, Malcolm, Stewart, Konkel.

Replacements: Martin, Young, Cockburn, Donaldson, Gallagher, Brebner-Holden, Orr, Scott.