One day after Joe Schmidt said he was worried about “fatigue” hampering the Wallabies’ spring tour, the national coach got a strong reminder of the depth coming through as Australia A hammered a Neal Hatley-coached Japan XV in Osaka on Saturday afternoon.
With Eddie Jones watching on, the Japanese XV was no match for the Australian A side, who had university players coming up against a team in gold that had nine Wallabies in it – and the gulf in class showed.
While fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki scored one sparkling try in the first half, the Japanese XV proved no match for their rivals as Australia picked their opponents apart at the lineout and were far too physical in contact, especially inside the opposition 22 metre zone.
In contrast, the Japanese XV had a handful of entries inside the 22 metre zone, but couldn’t make an impression as the Australian defence routinely held the home side out.
Despite losing Ollie Sapsford to an upgraded red card for a high tackle after 49 minutes and Hamish Stewart to a yellow card (hands in the ruck) late in the second half, Australia coasted to the massive win and ran in 11 tries.
Australia A’s pack was far too strong for the Japan XV, with lock Darcy Swain and flanker Rory Scott amongst their side’s best.
Swain, who was called into Schmidt’s squad earlier this year after a three-year Test hiatus, particularly had a strong afternoon at the office.
The 28-year-old stole an early lineout and then scored two of his side’s opening three tries.
Scott, in tandem with his Brumbies loose-forward teammate Luke Reimer, was also dangerous on both sides of the ball and scored early in the second half.
While the Australian A front-row was also dominant, with Wallabies hooker Matt Faessler enjoying a 50-minute stint that saw him score and look comfortable on return from a long hiatus.
Playmaker Ben Donaldson, who was left out of the Wallabies squad but could yet link up with Schmidt’s squad next week in Tokyo, had a reasonable outing.
The Force playmaker had a couple of fine early touches to get Australia A on the front-foot and later helped set up a try to replacement prop Lington Ieli as he broke the line.
Donaldson also banged over eight goals from 11 conversions.
The Australia A backline got plenty of ball, with Mac Grealy and Tim Ryan amongst the tryscorers.
Christy Doranhttps://https://ift.tt/dVWMtrK A hammer Japan XV as forgotten Wallaby steps up, Donno finishes on a high
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