Japan beat Canada 55-28 in Pacific Nations Cup

Canada 28-55 Japan, Vancouver

Japan came up with a eight try performance as they thrashed Canada 55-28 in the Pacific Nations Cup opener in Vancouver.

The Brave Blossoms under Eddie Jones raced to a 31-0 lead by the first half hour which set up the game for them despite a comeback from Canada.

Malo Tuitama started the proceedings for Japan in the 4th minute as he broke through the Canadian line to touchdown. Seungsin Lee kicked the conversion to make it 0-7.

They doubled their tally by the 7th minute as Warner Dearns scored the first of his two tries and shortly Kanji Shimokawa followed the suit after a line break from Yoshitaka Yazaki and Lee kicked a conversion and a penalty goal to make it 0-24.

Dylan Riley was the fourth try scorer for the visitors as he crossed over with a simple run in and once again Lee was spot on with the conversion to extend the lead to 0-38.

Canada got their first points on the board just before the break as Jason Higgins pounced on a loose ball for Andrew Coe to score reducing the deficit to 31 points.

The start of the second half saw Lee and Lucas Rumball trade tries before Talon McMullin went past Japan defence collecting an offload from Andrew Quattrin to dot down making it 21-45.

With 12 minutes left in the game, Jone Naikabula sprinted 60m to touchdown before the closing stage of the game saw Osoda and McMullin trade tries as Japan completed a 27 point victory.

“They were so efficient, the speed of ball," said Canada's head coach Kingsley Jones. "It was like a whirlwind, like a wave coming over the players.”

The Canadians rallied but couldn't climb out of the hole, and ultimately settled for a 55-28 loss.

“I spoke at halftime to the team and I said ‘Do we want to wait until next week to put things right or do we want to start now? Can we win the second half?' That was the challenge," Jones said.

"And we won the second half. Japan may have taken their foot off the gas a little bit, but I’m really proud of the players, the way they stuck at it.”

Team line up:

Canada (1-15): Calixto Martinez, Andrew Quattrin, Conor Young, Izzak Kelly, Kaden Duguid, Mason Flesch, Ethan Fryer, Lucas Rumball (capt.), Jason Higgins, Peter Nelson, Nic Benn, Talon McMullin, Ben LeSage, Andrew Coe, Cooper Coats.

Reserves: Dewald Kotze, Djustice Sears-Duru, Cole Keith, James Stockwood, Matthew Oworu, Brock Gallagher, Mark Balaski, Takoda McMullin.

Japan (1-15): Shogo Miura, Atsushi Sakate (game capt.), Keijiro Tamefusa, Sanaila Waqa, Warner Dearns, Tiennan Costley, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi, Shinobu Fujiwara, Seungsin Lee, Malo Tuitama, Nicholas McCurran, Dylan Riley, Jone Naikabula, Yoshitaka Yazaki

Reserves: Mamoru Harada, Takayoshi Mohara, Shuhei Takeuchi, Eishin Kuwano, Isaiah Collins-Mapusua, Taiki Koyama, Harumichi Tatekawa (team capt.), Tomoki Osada