Japan off to Losing Start in Olympic Men’s Rugby Sevens; Team Defeated in First Two Matches by New Zealand, Ireland

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:08 JST, July 25, 2024

PARIS — Japan has lost its first two men’s rugby sevens games at the Paris Olympics, falling to New Zealand and Ireland.

The men’s rugby sevens tournament began on Wednesday, before the opening ceremony on Friday. Japan lost 12-40 to New Zealand, the silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, in its opening match of the Pool A at the Stade de France.

The match was played in seven-minute halves. Japan’s first try came just over two minutes into the first half, when Shotaro Tsuoka picked up a grubber kick by Josua Kerevi behind the opponent’s defense line.

The score was tied 7-7 at one point, but New Zealand pulled away, taking advantage of its players’ individual skills and greater size. The first half ended with Japan down 7-26.

New Zealand scored two more tries in the second half. Taiga Ishida scored a try in the closing minutes, but Japan ultimately lost the match.

“We had a good tempo in attack, using the kicks [that we have been working on], but we pulled back in defense and were unable to play risk-taking rugby, leading to this result,” said Captain Kippei Ishida, who also played at the Tokyo Games. “We need to put more pressure on our opponents and defend as a team.”

Player Taiga Ishida said, “I’m excited to have played in front of such a great audience. Two of our tactics using kicks were successful, because we’d built up a lot of experience.”

Defeated by Ireland

In its second match, Japan lost 5-40 to Ireland.

Japan’s opponent scored first, as happened in the first match of the tournament. Japan ultimately scored only one try, by Shotaro Tsuoka at 6:22 in the second half from a fine passing move.

Japan has one game remaining in the pool stage, a match against South Africa at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday.