Free to Air Live on TV and France vs Argentina Rugby World Cup 2019 TV Coverage
Rugby World Cup 2019 LIVE results: Japan win; France v Argentina, Australia v Fiji, New Zealand v South Africa
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Kotaro Matsushima scored a hat-trick as Japan overcame a severe case of opening-night nerves to give the hosts winning start to the Rugby World Cup with a 30–10 victory over Russia on Friday.
It followed a spectacular opening ceremony at Tokyo Stadium, with Australia vs Fiji, France vs Argentina and New Zealand vs South Africa featuring to come on a mouth-watering first Saturday of the tournament.
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all in action on a bumper Sunday.
Stay tuned to Standard Sport for all the action and results…
Ferrari’ Matsushima takes it up a notch at home World Cup
Kotaro Matsushima became the first Japan player to score a hat-trick of tries at a World Cup on Friday, earning praise from his own coach and the opposing manager after the “Brave Blossoms” beat Russia in the tournament’s opening match, writes Shinichi Saoshiro and Chris Gallagher.
Matsushima, born in South Africa to a Zimbabwean father and a Japanese mother, was a bright spark for the World Cup hosts who wound up comfortable 30–10 winners despite looking shaky through large spells of the game.
While he can also play as a full-back, his attacking flair has blossomed as a winger and the team’s reliance on their fleet-footed runner was evident on Friday.
All three of Matsushima’s tries — he had a fourth ruled out after a TMO decision — were scored after the pacey winger received offloads from his team mates before leaving opponents for dead out wide.
“We gave him (Matsushima) room and he can finish. It was a good game for him tonight. When you play him, you close his space down and put fast players up against him…sounds quite simple,” Russia’s coach Lyn Jones said.
Japan coach Jamie Joseph likened his two wingers, Matsushima and Lomano Lemeki, to high-powered sports cars.
“If we can create opps (opportunities) then both of our wingers, they can finish. They will get accolades for the tries because that is what the Ferraris get on the outside,” the former All Black said.
Japan will need the 26-year-old Matsuhima at his flying best when they face Ireland in Fukuroi City on Sept 28.
“Everybody was more nervous than we expected. But now everyone knows the World Cup atmosphere, so the nerves should be gone by next week’s match,” Matsushima said.
They tried to go forward early and then conceded seven points, but that’s just time as you can’t shortcut that type of decision in the attack.
“The fellas need more composure, that just needs more time. It comes with experience and good coaching.”
“You could see throughout the game we stuck to our game plan. A few penalties and a couple of missed opportunities, those are the things that made the difference in the end.
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“Everyone could see we were playing at the same intensity as Japan. We were pushing them to the edges and we were getting some dividends.
“Maybe we could have scored a couple more penalties if we went for it but we chose to apply the pressure through our set piece, but unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted.
“It was a huge effort from our players but I congratulate Japan on their performance.”
