23rd : Bad outing from the Japanese camp, and George Ford finds a touch from 5m away.
22nd: No worries for Matsuda who puts Japan in front (6-3)
21st : Penalty again for Japan, the opportunity to take the score.
20th : A little refreshing break. We take the opportunity to eat some toast. Enjoy your food.
19th : Mitchell’s kick blocked, the Japanese are pressing.
18th : For the moment, we are not getting carried away, and the word is weak. There was a good Japanese sequence and that’s it.
16th : Nagare’s beautiful kick which comes out 5m from the English line.
14th: Japanese equalizer by Matsuda (3-3)
13th : The enormous counterattack of the Japanese, after an English maul which had been 20 m. The Brave Blossoms reached the English goal line and recovered a penalty.
11th : The first “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” which resonates in the Allianz Riviera.
9th : In front of Daly at the end of the line on one of the first offensive movements of the XV de la Rose.
8th : Joe Marler who comes to contest on the ground and wins a penalty. Missed opportunity for Japan.
7th : The enormous pressure from the Japanese, after a kick to follow. The English backs pass the ball, but are pushed into touch 5m from their line.
6th : Impeccable Eliott Daly on the high ball. And behind Mitchell who sends everyone back to the Japanese camp.
6th : For the moment, we have more the impression of seeing football, with only kicking, than rugby, within the grounds of OGCNice
4th : The English try to push the Japanese away from their line, to play among the Japanese. Matsushima goal kick.
3rd: It’s easy for George Ford who scores his first three points of the evening. (3-0)
2nd : Forward on the English sequence, but there was a line offside from the Japanese. Lawes points to the poles.
1st : Olalalalala Leicht’s forward in his goal. Scrum at 5m for the English.
9:01 p.m.: Come on, George Ford is going to kick off! Let’s go.
8:58 p.m. : We still vibrated a little to the English anthem. -1 inheritance point for my apple.
8:57 p.m. : Both teams are on the pitch. Make way for hymns, and the famous God Save the King.
8:55 p.m. : My favorite on the Japanese side is Shota Ori, the hooker. No one on the English side, my grandfather would disown me.
8:54 p.m. : The Allianz Riviera in Nice will be sold out with a very large majority of English people. If the XV de la Rose goes for a walk, we will be entitled to the Promenade des Anglais… Yes, it was easy, I grant you that.
8:51 p.m. : As a reminder, Owen Farrell, the man all French people love to hate, is serving another match suspension. It is therefore Ford which starts again in n°10. We will have the Tuilagi-Marchant pair in the center.
8:43 p.m. : The Japanese were messy against Chile, but did the essential by bringing back the offensive bonus point. But you will have to be much more controlled to hope for anything against the English.
8:39 p.m. : After their (surprise) victory against Argentina, and the masterstroke of conductor George Ford, the English must confirm against Japan to already have a foot in the quarter-final of the World Cup.
8:31 p.m.: Hello to all the Minutas and Minutos!! Are we still hungry for rugby? Obviously. A few minutes after the Fijian feat against Australia (22-15), another match may have a little surprise in store for us. Because, yes, between England and Japan, we are not safe from seeing the Brave Blossoms make us get out of our chairs.
We’re not going to lie to each other, this little England-Japan of families was one of the matches that we had checked off before this 2nd day of the group stage of the Rugby World Cup. Especially since England seems to have become more or less a respectable rugby team again (I said more or less) and on the other hand, Japan is still very strong in annoying the major rugby nations during the great occasions. The Blue Blossom are currently ahead of the XV de la Rose by one point (they scored a full card against Chile, unlike the English against Argentina) and could make the break in the event of a victory. For both teams, success would almost be synonymous with qualification.