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True but cruel

not for a moment did this Scotland team show sign of being disturbed by ­occupying the unusual position of being the favourites in a sporting contest.

10 thoughts on “True but cruel”

  1. Fixture list is a bit odd, no? Japan play their opening game against South Africa and kill themselves to get the win. A few days later, probably exhausted, they come up against Scotland who are fresh and playing their first match. Who the hell came up with this?

  2. Good contest for the first half.

    Then the Jockanese used their advantage of having four working limbs and won at a canter.

    Wonder how they’ll fare against an opposition not in the terminal stages of exhaustion?

  3. Technically, it could be argued that Scotland were the underdogs as they were ranked lower than Japan at the time of the match due the ranking points Japan picked up vs SA.

  4. Tim Newman – “Who the hell came up with this?”

    Scotland, coached by a Kiwi, sadly won against the Japanese, coached by an Australian.

    All we need to do now is have the Scots copy the Japanese selection system so that the Scottish Fijians, coached by a Kiwi, can play the Japanese Fijians, coached by an Aussie.

  5. Watching the SA v Japan game, I was thinking it was nice that Japanese rugby had improved enough that almost all of the team were Japanese. I didn’t notice that many Fijian names in the team selection (one or two Aussies/NZ, including the winning try scorer, granted)

  6. To be fair to Michael Leitch, the Japanese captain, he moved with his parents to Japan from Fiji when he was 15 and allegedly speaks Japanese better than English. It would be a bit harsh to call him an import.

  7. So Much For Subtlety

    Tim Newman – “To be fair to Michael Leitch, the Japanese captain, he moved with his parents to Japan from Fiji when he was 15 and allegedly speaks Japanese better than English. It would be a bit harsh to call him an import.”

    He is 26. So a more accurate way of putting it would be that he has lived less than half his life in Japan. Becoming a citizen in 2013.

    What about Justin Ives? Hendrik Tui? Ryu Koliniasi Holani? Amanaki Lelei Mafi? Male Sa’u? Craig Wing? Karne L. Hesketh?

    All credit to the Japanese. I always want them to win. I like them as a team. They have bulked up. They are clearly training much harder. And anyone who takes to the field against South Africa – or even Scotland – is braver than me.

    But a third of their team looks a little bit non-Japanese.

  8. Glasshouses and stones spring to mind, the major nations aren’t above taking foreign born players if it suits them. And then there are the players that play for one Home nation as a junior and a different one at full international.

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