Rugby World Cup 2023 – The Japan barometer – Samoa: Lomano Lemeki electric, Ben Lam worrying

Tops

Lemeki swimming

He is the player who gained the most meters with the ball (136!). The Japanese full-back constantly tried to bring danger into the Samoan defense. With success ! On Pieter Labuschagne’s first try, it was he who broke several tackles before failing a few meters from the goal. A huge tackle at the start of the second period on Jonathan Taumateine ​​to set the tone. In this match which struggled to win hearts, Lomano Lemaki rewarded us with some appreciable restarts. To review.

Duncan Paia’aua

He is clearly the only one who tried things in this match! The Toulonnais, unlike his teammates, did not constantly seek a physical challenge (like Tumua Manu, precious but greedy), and made his support speak several times. He scored Samoa’s second try a quarter of an hour from time which gave hope to his selection.

Michael Leitch

He may be 34 years old, but Michael Leitch – the Japanese who has played the most matches in the World Cup – is still in good shape! The Fijian naturalized Japanese third row finished as the best tackler of the match (18 tackles), a statistic which perfectly illustrates his good game in defense. In the first period, the veteran scored his team’s second try, well behind the line after a major action from Japan. Always present, Leitch could once again take his selection to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. A real performance.

Flops

Alai D’Angelo Leuila

Samoa’s number 12 did not shine at the Toulouse Stadium. Slow, slow, the selection’s scorer missed one of the two attempts he made. He was mainly caught in defense on the Japanese’s second try in the first period. He did not make enough use of his physique, which was robust to say the least, which, on the contrary, served him poorly against the Japanese speed. Replaced tactically before half-time by Danny Toala, he returned to the pitch five minutes from time.

Ben Lam

But where has Ben Lam gone? Invisible with ball in hand, the Montpellier player was seen for the first time in the match in the 48th minute of the Japan – Samoa match and not for the right reasons: caught by the patrol for a high tackle, the winger was penalized with a yellow card, transformed into red by the bunker rule. Disappointing, like his selection during this World Cup.

Jonathan Taumateine

He had to bring speed, energize the attack of a team below everything in the game since the start of the World Cup, but Jonathan Taumateine ​​will not have succeeded in his mission. The man with the most beautiful mullet at the World Cup cannot say the same about his match: by making his forwards play almost every time and by not understanding that the key to the match did not lie in the physical challenge, the half of melee was wrong. He is not the only one. Other than that? He received a yellow card in the 31st minute for a dangerous tackle, which did not help his team’s affairs.