Wales slumped to an 18th Test defeat in a row in the searing heat in Japan
Wales captain Dewi Lake was left close to tears after the defeat to Japan in Kitakyushu, as interim head coach Matt Sherratt said the heat wasn’t to blame for their 18th Test defeat in a row.
Wales had been leading 19-7 at half-time thanks to scores from Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers, as well as a penalty try. However, they wilted in the second half – allowing Eddie Jones’ inexperienced Brave Blossoms to come from behind for a victory that knocked Wales down to 14th in the world rankings.
As the final whistle was blown, Wales’ players were in a state of disbelief on the sidelines – with captain Lake close to tears. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia.
“You could see the feelings not just from the squad but the whole staff as well,” said Sherratt. “They are a very passionate group.
“We had a lead going into the first half so to lose the game at the end is very disappointing.
“Already we have got to quickly use the hurt to fuel us for next week.
“The great thing about this tour is we get the opportunity to put it right.”
When it came to the conditions, which resulted in cooling breaks in each half as well as an extended half-time break, Sherratt refused to use it as an excuse for Wales’ second-half collapse.
“I would be making excuses if I said that [conditions played a part],” he said. “If you look at the game, we took pretty much every chance we got bar one in their 22.
“Every ball that hit the floor bounced for us and we were on the right side of the penalty count.
“In the second half there were some big moments. We had a lineout around 45 minutes to take the game to three scores and it was a tough call by the referee to penalise us.
“We have a young group, we have not had a win for a while and those little scars can start to run deep.
“In the second half every bounce went for them in the aerial battle, we had some key lineout positions we did not make the most of and the penalty decisions went away from us.
“Maybe the conditions added to that as well but my instinct is not so much.”
Captain Lake himself said Wales would focus on their own mistakes as they looked to put things right in Kobe next week.
“I don’t want to speak for everyone but we are gutted,” he said.
“It’s very tough to take because we have worked hard. We take nothing away from Japan for the way they played and coming out on top but we had moments to win that game and put it to bed.
“It’s very tough to take.”
