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Your support makes all the difference.Wales Select XV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Japan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
THE JAPANESE continued to build up a head of steam for Saturday's international with Wales at Cardiff Arms Park and ensured that they will return home with at least a 50-50 record after this, their third victory, at Pontypridd.
But the difference between the pick of the players from the Heineken League Third and Fourth Division clubs and the cream that they will be facing at the weekend will be enormous.
Hard as they tried, the Select side could not match the speed of the tourists and, quite understandably, lacked the cohesion of what was largely Japan's second-string side.
Not that the home team were daunted and it took them just 30 seconds to take the lead when Malcolm Dacey, the Bonymaen outside- half who played against Japan for Wales in 1983, dropped a goal.
However, the Japanese pack then took control and Yoji Nagatomo set up a series of attacks, resulting in two first-half tries. A 14-3 lead at the interval put the tourists on the way to their biggest success so far.
Tasuku Fujihara was the first to cross midway through the half and centre Mitsuo Fujikake followed nine minutes before half-time. Nagatomo converted both scores, putting behind him his display on Saturday when he missed seven kicks in the victory over West Wales.
The tourists pressed home their advantage early in the second half when Eiji Kutsuki paved the way for the full-back, Tutomu Matsuda, to cross. Nagatomo converted and he also improved a fourth try from the prop Masahito Nakamura.
The Select side managed a score between those two tries when the lock Pat Nolan capitalised at the line-out, but Japan responded with a try from Ian Williams.
Wales Select XV: Try: P Nolan; Conversions M Tatchell; Drop M Dacey.
Japan: Tries: Fujihara, Fujikake, Matsuda, Nakamura, Williams; Conversions Nagatomo 4; Penalties Nagatomo 2.
WALES SELECT XV: R Boobyer (Tondu); D Howells (Bonymaen), M Tatchell (Tondu), T Manseitava (Pyle), R Rees (Tumble); M Dacey (Bonymaen), R Lewis (Blackwood); M King (Kidwelly), J Pugh (Builth Wells, capt), P Clapham (Kenfig Hill), P Nolan (Bonymaen), A Myers (Bonymaen), N Edwards (Abercynon), D Edwards (Kenfig Hill). Replacements: C West (Pontypool Utd) for D Edwards, 40; P Owen (Kensighill) for Clapham, 58; M Clement (Bonymaen) for Lewis, 73.
JAPAN: T Matsuda; I Williams, M Fujikake, E Kutsuki (capt), T Fujihara; T Maeda, Y Nagatomo; K Kimura, E Hirotsu, M Nakamura, Y Sakuraba, H Kaneshiro, H Ouchi, S Ono, B Ferguson.
Referee: S Lander (RFU).
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