{"id":70953,"date":"2026-08-08T13:51:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/70953\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:51:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:51:06","slug":"wallabies-35-32-japan-five-takeaways-as-les-kiss-charges-grind-out-a-win-despite-thugs-brain-fade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/70953\/","title":{"rendered":"Wallabies 35-32 Japan: Five takeaways as Les Kiss’ charges ‘grind out a win’ despite thug’s ‘brain-fade’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the Wallabies\u2019 35-32 victory over Japan<\/a> in Osaka, here are our five takeaways from the first of two Tests between these two proud nations.<\/p>\n

Top line<\/p>\n

The Les Kiss era got off to a winning start as the Wallabies<\/a> ground out a three-point win over Eddie Jones\u2019 Japan<\/a> in the first of two Tests<\/a> between the two countries. Australia can thank the kicking accuracy of scrum-half Ryan Lonergan, who nailed four conversions \u2013 Ben Donaldson adding another.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies scored five tries through Harry Potter and Tom Wright in the first half, which came in response to rising star Japanese number 10 Ryunosuke Ito scoring a stunning try in the 11th minute of the match.<\/p>\n

Australia were dealt a hammer blow shortly before half-time as Miles Amatosero was sent to the sin bin for a nasty shoulder-to-head contact with opposing lock Warner Dearns. His sanction was upgraded to a 20-minute red card and Japan capitalised with the final points of the first half as Lua Makisi crashed over for a five-pointer and Takuro Matsunaga added the extras as the spoils were shared at 14-all at half-time.<\/p>\n

Max Jorgensen drew first blood early in the second half for the visitors but Kazuma Ueda was quick to respond and the back-and-forth continued when Fraser McReight crossed for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n

Matsunaga nailed two penalties before Taniela Tupou gave the Wallabies a 35-25 lead to defend in the final 10 minutes of the match. Dearns crossed with three minutes left on the clock to make it a three-point game, but Japan failed to hold onto the ball shortly after the restart as Australia got the Kiss era off to a winning start.<\/p>\n

Wallabies played into Japan\u2019s hands<\/p>\n

It was a frantic fixture in Osaka as those who filed into the oldest rugby union stadium in Japan were treated to a high-paced, nail-biting and thrilling Test match.<\/p>\n

It was the kind of match that the Japanese public loves to see, with both teams clearly eager to hold onto the ball and express themselves in possession, with kicking reserved only for moments where there were no other choices, providing an opportunity to score or when it was really, really needed.<\/p>\n

And that all played into the hands of the hosts who thrive on such high-paced, high-skilled matches where they can flex their intricate attacking running lines and find soft and tired shoulders. As much as the Australians will say that plays into their DNA, it looked more like the Wallabies were playing into the hands of the Japanese than vice-versa.<\/p>\n

Even so, it was Kiss\u2019 men who came out on top but perhaps not nearly as convincingly as many would have hoped. Perhaps next Saturday\u2019s showdown in Townsville will be different.<\/p>\n

All Blacks great points out the Richie Mo\u2019unga \u2018irony\u2019 over \u2018bizarre\u2019 NZ Rugby law: \u2018This is not a World Rugby thing\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Miles Amatosero, Will Skelton-sized thug<\/p>\n

Michael Hooper was an incredible player during his pomp, one of the best in the world in fact, but thankfully he hasn\u2019t opted to take up officiating after hanging up his boots.<\/p>\n

After Miles Amatosero needlessly clattered into the head of Japan captain Warner Dearns with a tuck shoulder and had his yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red card, the legendary former captain somehow felt that the rookie lock was hard done by.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, he\u2019s gotten it wrong. I don\u2019t necessarily agree with the red card; that should have remained a yellow card, in my opinion,\u201d Hooper remarked on commentary for Stan Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s the risk you run when you do come in at pace, trying to put a shoulder into a different area \u2013 I\u2019m sure it wasn\u2019t intended for the head. It\u2019s unfortunate for that man, in his second test match, earning a red card there. But as you heard the referee say, it is 20 minutes, and then you have a replacement; the Wallabies will get Jeremy Williams coming on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The matchday officials quite simply got the decision right with TMO Richard Kelly providing the facts and clear reasoning for the red card: \u201cThe outcome of a yellow card is going to be upgraded to a 20-minute red card. He\u2019s always illegal with no effort to wrap, with direct head contact. It\u2019s a high degree of danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amatosero has been tipped to be Will Skelton\u2019s successor, but after his first two appearances for the Wallabies, the only parallel that can be drawn between the two locks is their size. The former has a higher work rate in defence but is nowhere near as effective with ball in hand. Skelton is far more effective in the manner in which he uses his size in contact and manages to keep his aggression in check far better than Amatosero, whose year began with him punching his Waratahs\u2019 teammate Angus Scott-Young in pre-season.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old also played a significant role in the ugly scuffle during the Italy game. He is early in his international career and absolutely has the skill set and size to be a proper world-class lock, but right now, he is just in the same build as Skelton with thug-like tendencies in his game.<\/p>\n

All Blacks can forget about being \u2018vaguely competitive\u2019 against Springboks as New Zealand media slam performance versus Stormers<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan are rediscovering their mojo under Eddie Jones<\/p>\n

It was Eddie Jones who masterminded the Springboks\u2019 downfall at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Brave Blossoms\u2019 most famous victory. Jamie Joseph built on that over the following four years, turning the Asian country into a real force by the time their home World Cup rolled around.<\/p>\n

Japan fell off the pace somewhat after reaching the quarter-finals and were underwhelming at the 2023 tournament, but the return of Eddie Jones to the role was met with polarising views. In fact, his first two years back in charge were far from perfect and even left him under the cosh.<\/p>\n

However, year three is going far better for the experienced coach as the Brave Blossoms look to be a team trending in the right direction ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Jones\u2019 country of birth. The Brave Blossoms toppled Italy in their opening Nations Championship match, pushed a second-string Ireland team all the way in their second fixture and put up a good fight against a simply better French outfit.<\/p>\n

They dusted themselves off from those back-to-back defeats in July and produced a simply fantastic performance against a far more fancied Wallabies outfit.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the final scoreline that should be noted most, but how Japan played. The Japanese are renowned for their rapid attack and free-flowing attack, but where things have unravelled previously has been their inability to win the gain-line; with forwards like Jack Cornelsen, Warner Dearns, Ben Gunter and Faulua Makisi, Jones has found men who can boss the advantage line.<\/p>\n

The savvy coach has repeatedly unearthed superstars throughout his career, and Ryunosuke Ito is the latest example of that. The fly-half scored a blinder today in what was his fourth Test cap for his country, despite not playing a professional rugby match before July. At 21 years old, Ito is playing at a level well beyond his years, an all-court threat and the kind of superstar that Japan\u2019s World Cup plans can and should be built around.<\/p>\n

Ditto for tighthead prop Shuhei Takeuchi. Every good team needs a quality number three, and Takeuchi is just that for the Brave Blossoms as he not only got the better of Aidan Ross in the scrums but was sublime with ball in hand whether he was carrying to the line or passing out the back. Props nowadays need to be more than just tank scrummagers, and he fits that bill.<\/p>\n

Les Kiss: \u2018No one has a right to this position. No one\u2019s entitled\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Verdict on the first game of Les Kiss\u2019 era<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, the Wallabies fell into the trap of playing a game that best suited the Brave Blossoms, but ultimately, it\u2019s the final result that matters, and for Kiss three points were enough to put a tick in the wins column in his first game since taking over from Schmidt.<\/p>\n

One didn\u2019t expect Australia to play a vastly different game under Kiss, but there were subtle changes and some worrisome continued trends. The Wallabies were again ill-disciplined, with Amatosero\u2019s brain-fade being the headline incident, but Japan also scored a try after an overzealous McReight took a quick tap that was simply not on.<\/p>\n

Josh Canham was superb at lineout time, winning crucial ball on Australian and Japanese throws whilst the bench made a significant impact to win the game rather than lose it.<\/p>\n

The scrum was under the cosh in the first half, but once the replacements were made, it was turned from a weakness into a weapon whilst Declan Meredith produced a fine attacking display.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest criticism of the first performance under Kiss has to be the lack of control over the match. Time and time again, the Wallabies were made to work hard for their points by the Japanese but often gifted scores in return. There were points in the second half where they really could have taken the game by the scruff of the neck but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Japan remained in touching distance with two penalties off the tee \u2013 something Kiss should perhaps consider informing his players to do more of as his Reds team also didn\u2019t take shots at goal, opting to chance their arm for a try instead.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0World Rugby Rankings: How the Springboks could lose top spot before All Blacks series<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the Wallabies\u2019 35-32 victory over Japan in Osaka, here are our five takeaways from the first of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[923,3651,2772,17085,8,173,33],"class_list":["post-70953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-australia","tag-features","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-nihon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}