The All Blacks XV got their two-match series against the Japan XV off to a fantastic start when they sealed a 38-6 win over their hosts at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a comfortable victory for the visitors who dominated for long periods, especially in the second half as they scored 27 unanswered points during that period after holding an 11-6 lead at half-time.
Fly-half Stephen Perofeta led the way for the All Blacks XV as he scored 16 points courtesy of a try, a conversion and three penalties. Their other points came via tries from Jack Goodhue, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Alex Nankivell and Folau Fakatava, while Brett Cameron also added a conversion.
For the Japan XV, Rikiya Matsuda succeeded with a couple of penalties.
The home side were fastest out of the blocks when Matsuda opened the scoring in the fifth minute before Perofeta crossed for the All Blacks XV’s first try 10 minutes later, after Christian Lio-Willie laid the groundwork with a powerful run in the build-up off the back of a scrum.
Perofeta was off target with the conversion attempt but then traded penalties with Matsuda which meant the visitors held a slender 8-6 lead midway through the half.
The rest of the half saw All Blacks XV upping the ante on attack but another Perofeta three-pointer off the kicking tee was their only reward before the teams changed sides at the interval.
Full time here in Tokyo!
Arigato gozaimasu 🖤 pic.twitter.com/mPOb16yV1B
— AllBlacksXV (@AllBlacksXV) July 8, 2023
The second half saw Perofeta adding another penalty before Goodhue crossed for a converted try in the 54th minute which gave his side a 21-6 lead.
The next 10 minutes saw the visitors continuing with their dominance and during that period Nanai-Seturo and Nankivell also dotted down, although Cameron failed with both conversion attempts.
Despite having the match in the bag, the All Blacks XV did not take their foot off the pedal and just before full-time Fakatava also crossed the whitewash, with Cameron adding the extras to seal an emphatic win for the New Zealand outfit.
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