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John Kirwan shows his delight to Shotaro Onishi who slotted the match-levelling conversion

Kirwan relieved to escape with draw

25 September 2007, 8:25 pm

By PA Sport

Japan coach John Kirwan admitted his side "got out of jail" after snatching a controversial injury-time draw in the World Cup clash with Canada.

Kirwan's men scored a try well past the 80-minute mark after referee Jonathan Kaplan refused to halt the game with Canada leading 12-5 despite the ball going out of play for a lineout.

The 12-12 draw gave Japan the advantage in the battle to avoid the Pool B wooden spoon having played all their matches and with bottom-placed Canada facing Australia in their final game.

``It was like getting out of jail,'' Kirwan said after watching Koji Taira's dramatic late score and Shotaro Onishi's nerveless conversion.

``I thought we were pretty average but you can't question our courage and commitment. We showed a lot of courage.''

Kirwan's assistant Christopher Gibbes added: ``It was a see-saw battle, an emotional roller-coaster. We have been saying we had to play 80 minutes and this time the gut stood out.''

Canada coach Ric Suggitt had no complaints about the outcome, saying: ``We have been saying all week that they come on strong at the end of the game and that's what happened tonight. They deserved what they got.''

Captain and scrum-half Morgan Williams, whose clever crossfield kick set up what he thought was the winning try by Dth van der Merwe, said: ``They came at us pretty hard and our kicking wasn't the best. We should have won the game and not let this happen.

``I think we are pretty dejected right now. But a tie is a lot better than a loss and we have to pick up the pieces for Australia.''

Suggitt added: ``We will have to do something remarkable on Saturday for us not to finish last in our pool.''

The result helped Japan avoid their 14th successive defeat in World Cups, and denied Canada the chance to maintain their record of posting a win in every tournament for which they have qualified.

Japan started with great intensity and went ahead through Kosuke Endo's superb individual try.

After Japan stole the ball at the lineout, the wing steamrollered his way through the first line of defence before shrugging off another attempted tackle and touching down. Onishi missed the conversion.

Canada piled on the pressure and seven minutes into the second half their forward power finally told as Pat Riordan returned from 10 minutes in the sin-bin to eventually finish off after a succession of rolling mauls.

James Pritchard failed with the conversion to keep the scores level.

Williams then tapped and kicked a penalty crossfield to Van der Merwe for the easiest of touchdowns. This time, Pritchard made no mistake with the conversion.

As Canada did in the first half, Japan poured forward late on but they appeared to have failed to get the try they needed when the ball went for a lineout in stoppage time.

But Kaplan played on and Japan poured forward again, Taira eventually touching down in the corner.

Onishi kicked the conversion from out wide to spark jubilant celebrations among the Japanese players and dejection among their opponents.

Canada prop Jon Thiel said: ``It feels like a loss right now. It is tough to take. Maybe it will be different tomorrow.''

Looking ahead to Australia, he added: ``A lot of people have decided what the outcome will be and fair enough.

``We have to pick ourselves up and play hard and show them we are not going to lie down.''

Japan celebrate their last gasp try in Bordeaux

Photo copyright: © Getty Images

Japan snatch dramatic draw with Canada

Japan scored a controversial injury-time try to snatch a draw in their battle with Canada to avoid Pool B's wooden spoon at the Rugby World Cup.

Canada coach Ric Suggitt has rung the changes to his line-up for the clash at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux.

The side includes three new starters and four new name son the bench - with the three new started making up a new-look back row.

Colin Yukes and Aaron Carpenter are elevated from the reserve bench and Adam Kleeberger getting his first ever World Cup start.

“Aaron Carpenter has come on as an impact substitute in recent games, going back to the New Zealand game, and has played well every time,” says Canada Coach Ric Suggitt. “He’s a very physical runner with the ball in hand and the last time we played Japan, he played extremely well.

“Colin Yukes has a very high work rate and cleans out rucks and mauls well and Adam Kleeberger gives us the speed we want at #7. He’s very good at the tackle situation and good with the ball on the ground.”

Canada retains the same tight five that started against Fiji in Cardiff last Sunday.

“We have a big tight-five and nice balance with a quick and speedy back row,” says Suggitt.

Two of Canada’s front row reach milestones with their inclusion in the side for Tuesday. Hooker Pat Riordan will win his 20th cap while tight-head prop Jon Thiel will earn his 40th cap. Loose-head prop Rod Snow will win his 61st cap further increasing his hold as Canada’s most-capped-prop’ record as he plays Japan for a record seventh time in his illustrious career.

In the second row Mike Burak will win his 22nd cap while Mike James continues to increase his hold as Canada’s most-capped-lock’ as he wins his 56th cap on Tuesday.

Canada’s back line remains the same as the one that played against Fiji in last week’s game.

Morgan Williams captains the side for the 15th time in his third time facing Japan in his 54th test.

The reserve bench sees Mike and Dan Pletch cover the hooker and loose-head spots, while Regina’s Scott Franklin comes onto the bench for the first time in a Rugby World Cup to cover the tight-head spot.

Newly-arrived Josh Jackson come onto the bench for his second RWC having played in the 2003 tournament in Australia, with Mike Webb getting his first shot at a Rugby World Cup appearance as back row cover.

“Scott Franklin has trained well all week and deserves another shot. He’s been sitting in the shadows these past few weeks,” says Suggitt. “He has found he has had to work very hard to get this opportunity. We have always said that if things go well for him he will have a bright future in the game.

“We’re very fortunate that Josh has been able to make himself available after Jamie Cudmore’s unfortunate injury. Josh is a very good line-out jumper, and good on kick-off receiver and we’re glad to have him with us. Mike Webb is the consummate toiler and he has a high work rate.

“If any of our back-row tires, we know that we can put Webbie in and up the tempo again. Justin Mensah-Coker is coming back from a slight strain and if anything happens to any of our back three then ‘Monzie” will add genuine speed and size.

“Because of our Verusco Game Analysis system, we know a great deal about Japan and we have played them more than any of the rest of the opponents we face at this World Cup,” continues Suggitt. “We know that they are very organized and will play from the opening whistle to the final whistle, which is something we haven’t managed to do. I know, however, that our team has a lot of pride and will be up for it on Tuesday night.”

"The players have a lot of pride and they know that in the record books Canada has come away with at least one victory from every World Cup," said coach Ric Suggitt.

"So they're well aware of that but we don't want to put any external pressure on them and say you have to win the game because we don't want to be the only team that goes away 0-4.

"We realise that they're very quick and play with a lot of tempo in the game so we've got some fresh legs in the back row.

"I'm putting (Aaron) Carpenter in there and (Adam) Kleeberger and (Colin) Yukes so hopefully we'll be able to take away a bit of their strengths by having some guys that can get around the field as frequently as they do."

Japan come into the clash with a mounting injury crisis that has seen flanker Yasunori Watanabe ruled out.

However, centre and kicker Shotaro Onishi has recovered from a rib injury and takes his place in the line-up, provided he passes a late fitness test on Monday, while full-back Go Aruba has also been restored to the starting line-up.

Watanabe's bicep injury follows the losses of captain Takamichi Sasaki after the Australia game, scrum-half Yuki Yatomi after the Fiji game and fly-half Eiji Ando and winger Daisuke Ohata after a warm-up match against Portugal.

Japan's coach John Kirwan was delighted to have Onishi back.

"He's an important part of the team, he's playing well and he's also our goal kicker," he said.

"Fortunately, the injury after 24 hours wasn't as bad as we first anticipated so we just decided to give him as long as we could to recover and he's feeling pretty confident."

"Injuries are part of the game; we're up to our eighth now and that's just something you've got to get used to and adapt to. There will be no excuses coming from this camp."

Despite Japan holding a 9-8 advantage in head to heads between the two countries, Kirwan rates Canada as the favourites in this one.

"They're definitely the favourites, they're a good side, quarter-finalists in 1991, I played against them actually," he said.

"They've got a proud history, they're big guys and know how to play rugby. We're definitely the underdogs and that's fine, we're happy with that title."

Canada: Mike Pyke, Dth van der Merwe, Craig Culpan, Davie Spicer, James Pritchard, Ryan Smith, Morgan Williams (c), Aaron Carpenter, Adam Kleeberger, Colin Yukes, Mike James, Mike Burak, Jon Thiel, Pat Riordan, Rod Snow.

Replacements: Mike Pletch, Dan Pletch, Scott Franklin, Josh Jackson, Mike Webb, Ed Fairhurst, Justin Mensah-Coker

Japan: Go Aruga, Kosuke Endo, Yuta Imamura, Shotaro Onishi, Christian Loamanu, Bryce Robins, Tomoki Yoshida, Takuro Miuchi (c), Philip O'Reilly, Hare Makiri, Luke Thompson, Hitoshi Ono, Tomokazu Soma, Yuji Matsubara, Tatsukichi Nishiura.

Replacements: Taku Inokuchi, Ryo Yamamura, Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei, Hajime Kiso, Chulwon Kim, Koji Taira, Hirotoki Onozawa.