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Eddie Jones finds his star playmaker in 23-year-old sensation

Seungsin Lee of Japan. Photo by Toru Hanai - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images

On September 15th at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Japan’s national team defeated Samoa 49-27 in the Pacific Nations Cup semi-finals, securing a spot in the final against Fiji.

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Japan is ranked 14th in the world, while Samoa is ranked 13th. Although a close match was anticipated, Japan emerged victorious with a comfortable win.

The 22-point margin is the largest in 19 encounters between the two teams. This game highlighted head coach Jones’ successful player selections.

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Two days prior to the match, the biggest surprise during the lineup announcement was moving Seungsin Lee, who had consistently been used at fly-half, to fullback, while 34-year-old captain Harumichi Tatekawa was named the starting fly-half.

Tatekawa’s last start for Japan was against Georgia on June 23, 2018, and it had been nine years since he played fly-half for Japan, last doing so in the second match of the 2015 World Cup against Scotland.

Although Lee briefly played fullback after Takuya Yamasawa was substituted in the second half of the previous week’s match against the USA, this was his first time starting at fullback in a Test match.

“When Tatekawa joined the team, there were some challenges, but he prepared well for this game. Lee has also played fullback well for Kobe and has a good sense of decision-making,” said Jones.

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Lee plays for Kobelco Kobe Steelers, where Bryn Gatland is the team’s consistent starting fly-half. Lee typically pairs with New Zealand international Ngani Laumape at the mid-field and only started at fullback in the last three games of the Japan League One season. Jones clearly evaluated those performances.

Attack

94
Passes
210
75
Ball Carries
139
182m
Post Contact Metres
308m
8
Line Breaks
9

The kickoff was under strong winds of 8 meters per second, with Japan playing against the wind in the first half. Samoa committed several penalties right from the kickoff, giving Japan a series of lineout opportunities near the goal line.

In the 6th minute, after the third lineout, Tatekawa connected with wing Malo Tuitama, who passed to fullback Lee. Lee’s kick pass found centre Dylan Riley, who scored a try in the right-center. Lee added the conversion to make it 7-0.

“We knew from yesterday that the wind would be strong, so we reviewed our strategy for playing with and against the wind,” said Lee. “When playing against the wind, we tried to shift the ball around while using uncontested kicks and attacking kicks.”

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It had been analyzed that when Samoa’s defence rushed up, it would leave space behind. The 34-year-old fly-half played safely, avoiding risky decisions and continuing to move the ball down the line. Tatekawa is known for his timing and precise passing, allowing the backline to catch the ball at full speed and maintain the pace of the game.

Jones’ concept of super-fast rugby played out as intended. In the 10th minute, Japan was awarded a penalty try after Elisapeta Alofipo deliberately interfered with Japan’s attack.

Although Samoa scored a try in the 13th minute, Japan responded quickly in the 16th minute when Lee’s kick-pass found wing Tomoki Osada for another try, extending the lead to 21-7 and quelling Samoa’s momentum.

Japan’s super-fast rugby, which had often slowed after the first 20 minutes, was still running smoothly in the 39th minute, right before halftime. After an attack initiated by Dylan Riley, Tatekawa passed the ball to Lee, who scored a try, making it 28-13 at halftime.

In the second half, with the wind in their favour, Japan comfortably added more tries, with the final score ending at 49-27. Their set pieces were stable, making it a match with plenty to gain for Japan.

Lee maintained a high standard throughout the 80 minutes. While he sometimes made riskier decisions when playing as a fly-half, he never put the team in danger as fullback.

After Tatekawa was substituted in the 22nd minute of the second half, Lee moved to fly-half and continued to control the game calmly. Additionally, he succeeded in all six of his conversion attempts, significantly contributing to Japan’s record margin of victory.

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“There’s a lot to learn from Haru-san (Tatekawa). He communicates clearly about what to focus on next, both in huddles and during play. It’s about how quickly we can share the decisions. That’s something I need to improve on,” Lee reflected after the game, having watched Tatekawa’s play from the backfield.

Lee was named Player of the Match, and head coach Jones lightheartedly commented: “I’m worried that with his love for beer, he’s rewarded with 100 bottles.”

Jones has made his intentions clear for some time. “At the time of last year’s World Cup, Rikiya Matsuda was the only player capable of playing at fly-half. By 2027, I want to have three options, and those will be Lee and Tatekawa.”

Lee is stepping up to meet that goal, but Tatekawa is already 34 years old. When asked during the team announcement whether he intended to use Tatekawa at fly-half in the 2027 World Cup, Jones firmly responded: “Right now, I’m only thinking about the Samoa match.”

At the post-match press conference, Jones praised Tatekawa, saying, “I have 100% trust in him. We’ve been working together since 2015. He’s a humble and sincere player.”

Indeed, Jones has valued Tatekawa since he became head coach of Japan in 2012, initially calling him into the squad and continuing to support him throughout his career.

In this series, Tatekawa was named captain, filling in for the resting Michael Leitch. Jones and Tatekawa share a bond akin to Japan’s expression “Aun no kokyu” (perfect synchronization).

Their strong mentor-student relationship will likely see Jones passing Tatekawa’s skills and experience on to the 23-year-old Lee, building a new connection. Interestingly, Tatekawa was almost the same age as Lee when he first met Jones.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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