Takamasa Maruo, second from right, battles for the ball in the second half against Ireland at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
15:08 JST, July 25, 2024
PARIS — Japan has lost its first two men’s rugby sevens matches at the Paris Olympics, beating New Zealand and Ireland.
The men’s rugby sevens tournament began on Wednesday, ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday. Japan lost 12-40 to Tokyo Olympic silver medallists New Zealand in the opening match of the first round of the League A at the Stade de France.
Japanese players leave the field after losing to New Zealand in the men’s rugby sevens.
The match was played in seven-minute halves. Japan’s first try came just over two minutes into the first half, when Shotaro Tsuoka collected a grubber kick from Josua Kerevi behind the opposition’s defensive line.
The score was at one point 7-7, but New Zealand pulled away, using the individual skills and larger size of their players, ending the first half with Japan trailing 7-26.
New Zealand scored two more tries in the second half, with Taiga Ishida scoring a try in the final minutes, but Japan ultimately lost the match.
Shotaro Tsuoka celebrates his try in the first half against New Zealand.
“We had a good tempo in attack, using the kicks [that we have been working on]”But we retreated into defense and couldn’t play risky rugby, which led 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 happy to play in front of such a great crowd. Two of our kicking tactics were successful because we had built up a lot of experience.”
Defeated by Ireland
In the second match, Japan lost 5-40 to Ireland.
Japan’s opponents scored first, as they did in the first match of the tournament. Japan eventually scored just one try, by Shotaro Tsuoka at 6:22 into the second half from a nice passing move.
Japan has one more match left in the first round: a match against South Africa on Thursday at 11:00 p.m.
