Wales look to future after ending 18-game losing run with Japan win

Straits Times

2 days ago

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Wales' Josh Adams tries to catch the ball during the international rugby union Test match between Japan and Wales.
KOBE – Interim head coach Matt Sherratt said Wales' 31-22 win over Japan on Saturday 'has got to be the start of something' after ending their record 18-game losing streak.
The Welsh survived another second-half comeback from Eddie Jones' side in Kobe to pick up their first victory since the 2023 World Cup and consign their wretched run to history.
It was the longest losing streak for a Tier One country in the professional era.
Sherratt oversaw four of those defeats after replacing Warren Gatland on a temporary basis and he backed whoever gets the job permanently to build on the long-awaited win.
'Today is the end of a long season but for Welsh rugby it's got to be the start of something,' said Sherratt.
'The next guy coming in, a big motivation for the group was to let whoever that is start on a level playing field without the burden of the 18 in a row around his neck.'
Emotional scenes greeted the final whistle under the stadium's closed roof, after the Welsh came close to blowing another half-time lead in the same manner as last week's 24-19 defeat in the first Test.
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A Josh Adams try and a Kieran Hardy double put Wales in control until Japan scored on the stroke of half-time and then added two more tries after the break.
That cut the lead to two points until fly-half Dan Edwards, making his first start for Wales, scored a 75th-minute try to kill off Japan's comeback.
'Around 65 (minutes), you almost felt the sense that things were going quite similarly to last week,' said Wales captain Dewi Lake.
'So to score that try in the dying moments, it sinks in that you've got the job done, you've won the game and that ultimately was our goal coming out here.'
In another match, New Zealand hit their stride with a much improved performance to beat France 43-17 in the second test, running in six tries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had called for better execution after the tight 31-27 win in the first test in Dunedin last weekend and his players delivered to sew up the series with next week's Hamilton clash to spare.
Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor and Tupou Vaa'i all crossed to give the hosts a 29-3 halftime lead before Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane added two more tries after the break.
'We wanted to bring fire in our defence and I thought we did that in most parts of the game,' said captain Ardie Savea, whose 29th test five-pointer saw him overtake Richie McCaw as New Zealand's most prolific try-scoring forward
'Still, credit to the French, they never give up, they're always there. So I'm proud of our boys for sticking it in and just doing a good job tonight.' AFP, REUTERS