Uruguay fightback to beat Namibia 36-26 at the World Cup
Japan and Samoa meet in an intriguing Pool D clash at the Rugby World Cup this evening.
Both sides are still in with a quarter-final shot despite defeats to England and Argentina respectively last time out.
Samoa face Steve Borthwick’s side in their final pool game and back-to-back wins could be enough to take them through, while Japan’s meeting with Los Pumas on 8 October could become a last-eight play-off if victory is achieved here.
These two last met in the Pacific Nations Cup in July, with Samoa edging a hard-fought encounter 24-22 and another close encounter is expected here
Follow the match below, get all the Rugby World Cup odds here and the latest tips and free bets on the World Cup here.
TRY! Japan 7 – 0 Samoa
13 mins: Naoto Saito gets the ball quickly from the back of the scrum to set up a speedy passage of play, Pieter Labuschagne receives an offload after a break from Lemeki and he scores! It’s his second try in his career for the Brave Blossoms.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:20
Japan 0 – 0 Samoa
12 mins: Knock on for Samoa, Japan have the scrum.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:16
Japan 0 -0 Samoa
10 mins: Japan give away a penalty for not releasing. Theo McFarland safely gathers the ball in the lineout that follows.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:15
Japan 0 – 0 Samoa
7 mins: Ben Lam is oozing confidence under the high ball, he’s made a couple of solid takes in the past few minutes.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:13
Japan 0 – 0 Samoa
4 mins: Samoa give away a penalty now for obstruction, Japan choose to go for the corner. Rikiya Matsuda’s kick finds touch.
Taleni Junior Agaese Seu leaves the field early on for Samoa and is replaced by Brian Alainu’u’ese.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:08
Japan 0 – 0 Samoa
1 min: Japan are penalised for going in at the side and Samoa go for the posts. Alai D’Angelo Leuila’s 59 m kick has good accuracy but it falls slightly short.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:05
KICK OFF Japan 0 – 0 Samoa
Christian Leali’ifano gets the match started!
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 20:02
Japan player stats
15 players from Japan’s victorious side who played Samoa earlier this year are in the team today, including their only try-scorer Amato Fakatava who starts in the second row.
Shota Horie, Keita Inagaki, Michael Leitch and Kotaro Matsushima are all facing Samoa for the third time at a RWC today having also played against them in 2015 and 2019.
Lomano Lemeki makes his first start since 23 October 2021 and is Japan’s starting fullback today.
Seungsin Lee scored 17 points against Samoa earlier this year and will make his RWC debut if he is used from the bench today.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 19:55
Anthems and Siva Tau
Both teams are out for the anthems, starting with Japan and then Samoa.
Then we’ll have Samoa’s Siva Tau before kick-off in Toulouse.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 19:55
Samoa player stats
One player in the Samoa team currently plays their club rugby in Japan, Taleni Seu plays for Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath.
Alamanda Motuga, who has been named on the bench, hasn’t played since Samoa’s last match against Japan earlier in the year and will make his 15s RWC debut if he plays today. He also represented Samoa Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the Sevens Series.
It’s scrum-half Jonathan Taumateine’s 27th birthday today, and he’s contributed to two of Samoa’s six tries at this RWC.
Imogen Ainsworth28 September 2023 19:50
