2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A

External videos
External videos
	Rugby World Cup 2019: Japan v Scotland on YouTube

Pool A of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 20 September 2019. The pool included hosts Japan, and previous 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-finalists Ireland and Scotland. They were joined by the European qualifier, Russia, and Samoa, the winner of the European-Oceania Cross-Regional play-off.

Japan won all four of their matches, including surprise victories over both Ireland and Scotland, to finish top of the pool and become the first Asian nation to reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Ireland picked up a bonus point in each of their matches, and their victory over Scotland in their opening pool match proved the difference between the two sides in the hunt for second place. Samoa finished in fourth place, their only win coming against bottom-placed Russia.

Overview

The opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup was played in Pool A with Japan scoring a 30–10 win over Russia. Kotaro Matsushima became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. For the Russian side, Kirill Golosnitsky scored the first try of the tournament after four minutes – the fastest try ever scored in the opening match of a World Cup.^[1] Two days later, Ireland defeated Scotland 27–3.^[2] On 24 September, Samoa played their first match against Russia in Kumagaya. Despite Samoa's being reduced to 13 men after Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u were sin-binned within two minutes of each other, Russia could not capitalise on their advantage and Samoa went on to win 34–9.^[3] Four days later, hosts Japan defeated Ireland 19–12, scoring four out of six penalties. While it was an upset win for Japan, World Rugby later admitted three of the four offside penalties were incorrectly awarded to Japan.^[4]^[5] Kenki Fukuoka scored a try in the 58th minute to give Japan a two-point lead after Ireland's Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney had scored the opening two tries. Yu Tamura's conversion and fourth successful penalty kick sealed the result for Japan.^[6] Scotland recorded their first victory of the World Cup with a 34–0 whitewash victory over Samoa in muggy conditions in Kobe, with Samoan captain Jack Lam stating that the rugby ball was "a bar of soap."^[7]

Three days later, Kobe Misaki Stadium held another match in Pool A – this time it was Ireland, who would whitewash their opponents (Russia) in a 35–0 victory with five different players getting tries for the Irish. The Irish though, did not have everything go right with Jordi Murphy being subbed off in the 27th minute due to a possible rib injury, which added to the Irish back row pain after losing Jack Conan earlier in the tournament.^[8] Japan recorded their third victory over Samoa in Toyota with a 85th minute try from Kotaro Matsushima sealing the Japanese a 38–19 bonus point victory.^[9] Russia in the final match of the tournament was hammered by Scotland 61–0 with George Horne scoring a hat-trick as the Scots became the first team in World Cup history to not concede a point from two World Cup matches.^[10] A red card to Bundee Aki in the 29th minute forced Ireland to go down to 14 men but that was the only blemish with Ireland winning 47–5 over Samoa in Fukuoka. Johnny Sexton scoring two tries for the Irish.^[11] Typhoon Hagibis saw the Japan–Scotland match under threat with the Scottish Rugby Union demanding legal action if it was cancelled.^[12] But after an inspection deemed the match to go ahead,^[13] Japan held their nerve against a fast-finishing Scotland to take home a 28–21 victory with Kenki Fukuoka scoring two tries. The win saw Japan become the first Tier 2 team to qualify since 2007, as they topped the group while Ireland finished in second place.^[14]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	T	B	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	4	4	0	115	62	53	13	3	19	Advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup
2	Ireland	4	3	1	121	27	94	18	4	16
3	Scotland	4	2	2	119	55	64	16	3	11	Eliminated but qualified for 2023 Rugby World Cup
4	Samoa	4	1	3	58	128	−70	8	1	5
5	Russia	4	0	4	19	160	−141	1	0	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Matches

All times are local Japan Standard Time (UTC 09)

Japan vs Russia

20 September 2019
19:45 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Japan	30–10	Russia
Try: Matsushima (3) 12' m, 39' c, 69' c Labuschagné 47' m Con: Tamura (1/3) 40' Matsuda (1/1) 71' Pen: Tamura (2/2) 44', 64'	Report	Try: Golosnitski 5' c Con: Kushnarev (1/1) 6' Pen: Kushnarev (1/1) 61'

Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu
Attendance: 45,745
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Japan

Russia


FB	15	Will Tupou	71'
RW	14	Kotaro Matsushima
OC	13	Timothy Lafaele
IC	12	Ryoto Nakamura
LW	11	Lomano Lemeki
FH	10	Yu Tamura	67'
SH	9	Yutaka Nagare	61'
N8	8	Kazuki Himeno
OF	7	Lappies Labuschagné
BF	6	Michael Leitch (c)	71'
RL	5	James Moore
LL	4	Wimpie van der Walt	61'
TP	3	Asaeli Ai Valu	55'
HK	2	Shota Horie	75'
LP	1	Keita Inagaki	55'
Replacements:
HK	16	Atsushi Sakate	75'
PR	17	Isileli Nakajima	55'
PR	18	Koo Ji-won	55'
LK	19	Luke Thompson	60'
FL	20	Hendrik Tui	71'
SH	21	Fumiaki Tanaka	61'
FH	22	Rikiya Matsuda	67'
FB	23	Ryohei Yamanaka	71'
Coach:
Jamie Joseph


FB	15	Vasily Artemyev (c)
RW	14	German Davydov
OC	13	Vladimir Ostroushko
IC	12	Dmitry Gerasimov	68'
LW	11	Kirill Golosnitsky
FH	10	Yuri Kushnarev	65'
SH	9	Vasily Dorofeev	33'	42'	74'
N8	8	Nikita Vavilin
OF	7	Tagir Gadzhiev
BF	6	Vitaly Zhivatov	65'
RL	5	Bogdan Fedotko	61'
LL	4	Andrei Ostrikov
TP	3	Kirill Gotovtsev	68'
HK	2	Stanislav Sel'skiy	65'
LP	1	Valery Morozov	65'
Replacements:
HK	16	Evgeny Matveev	65'
PR	17	Andrei Polivalov	65'
PR	18	Azamat Bitiev	68'
LK	19	Andrey Garbuzov	62'
FL	20	Anton Sychev	65'
SH	21	Dmitry Perov	33'	42'	74'
FH	22	Ramil Gaisin	65'
WG	23	Vladislav Sozonov	68'
Coach:
Lyn Jones

Player of the Match:
Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)

Assistant referees:
Nic Berry (Australia)
Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:
Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

This was the first Rugby World Cup opener not to feature a Tier 1 nation.
Kotaro Matsushima (Japan) became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, and the first player to score one in a Rugby World Cup opener.
Russia's try was the fastest to be scored in an opening match of a Rugby World Cup.

Ireland vs Scotland

22 September 2019
16:45 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Ireland	27–3	Scotland
Try: Ja. Ryan 6' c Best 14' m Furlong 25' c Conway 56' m Con: Sexton (1/2) 8' Murray (1/2) 27' Pen: Carty (1/1) 68'	Report	Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 21'

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Attendance: 63,731^[15]
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Ireland

Scotland


FB	15	Jordan Larmour
RW	14	Andrew Conway
OC	13	Garry Ringrose
IC	12	Bundee Aki		21'
LW	11	Jacob Stockdale
FH	10	Johnny Sexton		58'
SH	9	Conor Murray		58'
N8	8	CJ Stander
OF	7	Josh van der Flier		14' to 22'		74'
BF	6	Peter O'Mahony				27'
RL	5	James Ryan
LL	4	Iain Henderson		58'
TP	3	Tadhg Furlong		50'
HK	2	Rory Best (c)
LP	1	Cian Healy		50'
Replacements:
HK	16	Niall Scannell				74'
PR	17	Dave Kilcoyne		50'
PR	18	Andrew Porter		50'
LK	19	Tadhg Beirne	70'	58'
FL	20	Jack Conan		14'	22'	27'
SH	21	Luke McGrath		58'
FH	22	Jack Carty		58'
CE	23	Chris Farrell		21'
Coach:
Joe Schmidt


FB	15	Stuart Hogg
RW	14	Tommy Seymour	58'
OC	13	Duncan Taylor	65'
IC	12	Sam Johnson
LW	11	Sean Maitland
FH	10	Finn Russell
SH	9	Greig Laidlaw	62'
N8	8	Ryan Wilson
OF	7	Hamish Watson	38'
BF	6	John Barclay	53'
RL	5	Jonny Gray	65'
LL	4	Grant Gilchrist
TP	3	WP Nel	53'
HK	2	Stuart McInally (c)
LP	1	Allan Dell	62'
Replacements:
HK	16	Fraser Brown	38'
PR	17	Gordon Reid	62'
PR	18	Simon Berghan	53'
LK	19	Scott Cummings	65'
FL	20	Blade Thomson	53'
SH	21	Ali Price	62'
CE	22	Chris Harris	65'
WG	23	Darcy Graham	58'
Coach:
Gregor Townsend

Player of the Match:
CJ Stander (Ireland)

Assistant referees:
Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Television match official:
Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

This was the first meeting between the two nations at a neutral venue.

Russia vs Samoa

24 September 2019
19:15 JST (UTC 09)

Russia	9–34	Samoa (1 BP)
Pen: Kushnarev (2/2) 19', 26' Drop: Kushnarev (1/1) 48'	Report	Try: Leiua (2) 16' m, 80' m Amosa 45' m Fidow (2) 49' c, 53' c Lee-Lo 63' m Con: Pisi (2/5) 50', 54'

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya
Attendance: 22,564
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Russia

Samoa


FB	15	Vasily Artemyev (c)
RW	14	German Davydov
OC	13	Vladimir Ostroushko
IC	12	Dmitry Gerasimov		65'
LW	11	Kirill Golosnitsky
FH	10	Yuri Kushnarev		55'
SH	9	Vasily Dorofeev		55'
N8	8	Nikita Vavilin		65'
OF	7	Tagir Gadzhiev
BF	6	Vitaly Zhivatov
RL	5	Bogdan Fedotko
LL	4	Andrei Ostrikov		65'
TP	3	Kirill Gotovtsev	47'	71'
HK	2	Stanislav Sel'skiy		57'
LP	1	Valery Morozov		59'
Replacements:
HK	16	Evgeny Matveev		57'
PR	17	Andrey Polivalov		59'
PR	18	Azamat Bitiev		71'
LK	19	Andrey Garbuzov		65'
FL	20	Anton Sychev		21'
SH	21	Dmitry Perov		22'
FH	22	Ramil Gaisin		55'
WG	23	Vladislav Sozonov		65'
Coach:
Lyn Jones


FB	15	Tim Nanai-Williams		65'
RW	14	Alapati Leiua
OC	13	Rey Lee-Lo	29'
IC	12	Henry Taefu
LW	11	Ed Fidow
FH	10	Tusi Pisi		65'
SH	9	Dwayne Polataivao		40'
N8	8	Afa Amosa		33'	40'	46'
OF	7	TJ Ioane
BF	6	Chris Vui (c)
RL	5	Kane Le'aupepe
LL	4	Filo Paulo		65'
TP	3	Michael Alaalatoa		55'
HK	2	Motu Matu'u	31'		40'
LP	1	Logovi'i Mulipola		51'
Replacements:
HK	16	Ray Niuia		33'
PR	17	Paul Alo-Emile		55'
PR	18	Jordan Lay		51'
LK	19	Senio Toleafoa		65'
LK	20	Josh Tyrell				46'
SH	21	Melani Matavao		40'
FH	22	AJ Alatimu		65'
FH	23	UJ Seuteni		65'
Coach:
Steve Jackson

Player of the Match:
Alapati Leiua (Samoa)

Assistant referees:
Jérôme Garcès (France)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
Television match official:
Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

This was the first meeting between the two nations.
Ahsee Tuala was due to start the game, but was replaced with Henry Taefu following injury ahead of kick off.

Japan vs Ireland

28 September 2019
16:15 JST (UTC 09)

Japan	19–12	Ireland (1 BP)
Try: Fukuoka 59' c Con: Tamura (1/1) 61' Pen: Tamura (4/6) 18', 34', 40', 72'	Report	Try: Ringrose 14' m Kearney 21' c Con: Carty (1/2) 22'

Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Fukuroi
Attendance: 47,813
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Japan

Ireland


FB	15	Ryohei Yamanaka	50'
RW	14	Kotaro Matsushima
OC	13	Timothy Lafaele
IC	12	Ryoto Nakamura
LW	11	Lomano Lemeki
FH	10	Yu Tamura
SH	9	Yutaka Nagare	56'
N8	8	Amanaki Mafi	31'
OF	7	Lappies Labuschagné (c)
BF	6	Kazuki Himeno
RL	5	James Moore
LL	4	Luke Thompson	64'
TP	3	Koo Ji-won	54'
HK	2	Shota Horie
LP	1	Keita Inagaki	64'
Replacements:
HK	16	Atsushi Sakate
PR	17	Isileli Nakajima	64'
PR	18	Asaeli Ai Valu	54'
LK	19	Wimpie van der Walt	64'
FL	20	Michael Leitch	31'
SH	21	Fumiaki Tanaka	57'
FH	22	Rikiya Matsuda
WG	23	Kenki Fukuoka	50'
Coach:
Jamie Joseph


FB	15	Rob Kearney	68'
RW	14	Keith Earls
OC	13	Garry Ringrose
IC	12	Chris Farrell	61'
LW	11	Jacob Stockdale
FH	10	Jack Carty	61'
SH	9	Conor Murray
N8	8	CJ Stander
OF	7	Josh van der Flier
BF	6	Peter O'Mahony	55'
RL	5	James Ryan
LL	4	Iain Henderson	66'
TP	3	Tadhg Furlong	61'
HK	2	Rory Best (c)	61'
LP	1	Cian Healy	46'
Replacements:
HK	16	Seán Cronin	61'
PR	17	Dave Kilcoyne	46'
PR	18	Andrew Porter	61'
LK	19	Tadhg Beirne	66'
FL	20	Rhys Ruddock	53'
SH	21	Luke McGrath	66'
FH	22	Joey Carbery	61'
FB	23	Jordan Larmour	61'
Coach:
Joe Schmidt

Player of the Match:
Shota Horie (Japan)

Assistant referees:
Jérôme Garcès (France)
Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:
Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

Will Tupou was due to start the game, but was replaced by Lomano Lemeki due to injury ahead of kick off.
Iain Henderson (Ireland) earned his 50th test cap.
This is Japan's first victory over Ireland.
This is Ireland's first Rugby World Cup pool stage loss since losing 30–15 to Argentina during the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
This is Ireland's first loss to a Tier 2 nation since losing 40–25 to Samoa in 1996.
This is the first time that Ireland has failed to score any points in the second half of a match since their match against France in the 2016 Six Nations Championship.

Scotland vs Samoa

30 September 2019
19:15 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Scotland	34–0	Samoa
Try: Maitland 30' c Laidlaw 34' c Penalty try (2) 57', 75' Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 31', 36' Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 9' Drop: Hogg (1/1) 38'	Report

Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Attendance: 27,586
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)

Scotland

Samoa


FB	15	Stuart Hogg
RW	14	Darcy Graham
OC	13	Chris Harris
IC	12	Sam Johnson	64'
LW	11	Sean Maitland
FH	10	Finn Russell	75'
SH	9	Greig Laidlaw	64'
N8	8	Blade Thomson
OF	7	Jamie Ritchie
BF	6	Magnus Bradbury	73'
RL	5	Jonny Gray
LL	4	Grant Gilchrist	52'
TP	3	WP Nel	58'
HK	2	Stuart McInally (c)	52'
LP	1	Allan Dell	13'
Replacements:
HK	16	Fraser Brown	52'
PR	17	Gordon Reid	13'
PR	18	Zander Fagerson	58'
LK	19	Scott Cummings	52'
N8	20	Ryan Wilson	73'
SH	21	George Horne	64'
FH	22	Adam Hastings	75'
CE	23	Duncan Taylor	64'
Coach:
Gregor Townsend


FB	15	Tim Nanai-Williams
RW	14	Belgium Tuatagaloa		45'
OC	13	Alapati Leiua
IC	12	Henry Taefu
LW	11	Ed Fidow	57' 75'
FH	10	Tusi Pisi		54'
SH	9	Melani Matavao		71'
N8	8	Jack Lam (c)		3'	14'
OF	7	TJ Ioane				66'
BF	6	Chris Vui
RL	5	Kane Le'aupepe
LL	4	Filo Paulo		51'	79'
TP	3	Michael Alaalatoa		44'
HK	2	Ray Niuia		54'
LP	1	Logovi'i Mulipola		44'
Replacements:
HK	16	Seilala Lam		54'
PR	17	Paul Alo-Emile		47'
PR	18	Jordan Lay		44'
FL	19	Piula Fa'asalele		51'	79'
LK	20	Josh Tyrell		4'	14'	66'
SH	21	Pele Cowley		71'
FH	22	UJ Seuteni		54'
CE	23	Kieron Fonotia		45'
Coach:
Steve Jackson

Player of the Match:
Jonny Gray (Scotland)

Assistant referees:
Nigel Owens (Wales)
Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television match official:
Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

This is the first time since beating Italy 29–0 in 2017 that Scotland have kept their opponents scoreless, and the first time ever against Samoa. The last time they did so at a Rugby World Cup was in 2007, when they beat Romania 42–0.
This is the first time that Samoa has failed to score any points in a Rugby World Cup match.

Ireland vs Russia

3 October 2019
19:15 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Ireland	35–0	Russia
Try: Kearney 2' c O'Mahony 13' c Ruddock 35' c Conway 62' c Ringrose 76' c Con: Sexton (3/3) 4', 15', 37' Carty (2/2) 63', 77'	Report

Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Attendance: 26,856
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Ireland

Russia


FB	15	Rob Kearney	50'
RW	14	Andrew Conway
OC	13	Garry Ringrose
IC	12	Bundee Aki
LW	11	Keith Earls
FH	10	Johnny Sexton (c)	40'
SH	9	Luke McGrath
N8	8	Jordi Murphy	27'
OF	7	Peter O'Mahony
BF	6	Rhys Ruddock
RL	5	Jean Kleyn	61'
LL	4	Tadhg Beirne
TP	3	John Ryan	58'
HK	2	Niall Scannell	58'
LP	1	Dave Kilcoyne	58'
Replacements:
HK	16	Seán Cronin	58'
PR	17	Andrew Porter	58'
PR	18	Tadhg Furlong	58'
LK	19	Iain Henderson	61'
N8	20	CJ Stander	27'
SH	21	Conor Murray
FH	22	Jack Carty	40'
FB	23	Jordan Larmour	50'
Coach:
Joe Schmidt


FB	15	Vasily Artemyev (c)
RW	14	German Davydov
OC	13	Igor Galinovskiy
IC	12	Kirill Golosnitsky		15'
LW	11	Denis Simplikevich		71'
FH	10	Ramil Gaisin
SH	9	Dmitry Perov
N8	8	Victor Gresev
OF	7	Tagir Gadzhiev
BF	6	Anton Sychev		70'
RL	5	Bogdan Fedotko	34'	64'
LL	4	Andrey Garbuzov		50'
TP	3	Kirill Gotovtsev		68'
HK	2	Evgeny Matveev		40'
LP	1	Andrey Polivalov		40'
Replacements:
HK	16	Stanislav Sel'skiy		40'
PR	17	Valery Morozov		40'
PR	18	Vladimir Podrezov		68'
LK	19	Andrei Ostrikov	51'	50'
LK	20	Evgeny Elgin		64'
FH	21	Sergey Yanyushkin		71'
FL	22	Roman Khodin		70'
CE	23	Vladimir Ostroushko		15'
Coach:
Lyn Jones

Player of the Match:
Rhys Ruddock (Ireland)

Assistant referees:
Mathieu Raynal (France)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
Television match official:
Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

Igor Galinovskiy (Russia) earned his 50th test cap.

Japan vs Samoa

5 October 2019
19:30 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Japan	38–19	Samoa
Try: Lafaele 28' c Himeno 53' c Fukuoka 76' m Matsushima 80 5' c Con: Tamura (3/4) 29', 55', 80 7' Pen: Tamura (4/5) 3', 8', 24', 51'	Report	Try: Taefu 73' c Con: Taefu (1/1) 74' Pen: Taefu (4/5) 10', 15', 34', 45'

City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota
Attendance: 39,695
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Japan

Samoa


FB	15	Ryohei Yamanaka	57'
RW	14	Kotaro Matsushima
OC	13	Timothy Lafaele
IC	12	Ryoto Nakamura	70'
LW	11	Lomano Lemeki
FH	10	Yu Tamura
SH	9	Yutaka Nagare	63'
N8	8	Kazuki Himeno
OF	7	Lappies Labuschagné (c)
BF	6	Michael Leitch	64'
RL	5	James Moore
LL	4	Wimpie van der Walt	68'
TP	3	Koo Ji-won	52'
HK	2	Atsushi Sakate	40'
LP	1	Keita Inagaki	52'
Replacements:
HK	16	Shota Horie	40'
PR	17	Isileli Nakajima	52'
PR	18	Asaeli Ai Valu	52'
LK	19	Uwe Helu	68'
FL	20	Hendrik Tui	64'
SH	21	Fumiaki Tanaka	63'
FH	22	Rikiya Matsuda	70'
WG	23	Kenki Fukuoka	57'
Coach:
Jamie Joseph


FB	15	Tim Nanai-Williams		40'
RW	14	Ahsee Tuala		55'
OC	13	Alapati Leiua
IC	12	Henry Taefu
LW	11	Ed Fidow
FH	10	UJ Seuteni
SH	9	Dwayne Polataivao		66'
N8	8	Jack Lam (c)
OF	7	TJ Ioane	25'	70'
BF	6	Chris Vui
RL	5	Kane Le'aupepe
LL	4	Piula Fa'asalele		61'
TP	3	Michael Alaalatoa		56'
HK	2	Seilala Lam		56'
LP	1	Jordan Lay		66'
Replacements:
HK	16	Ray Niuia		56'
PR	17	Paul Alo-Emile		66'
PR	18	James Lay		56'
LK	19	Senio Toleafoa		61'
LK	20	Josh Tyrell		70'
SH	21	Pele Cowley		66'
FH	22	Tusi Pisi		55'
CE	23	Kieron Fonotia		40'
Coach:
Steve Jackson

Player of the Match:
Lomano Lemeki (Japan)

Assistant referees:
Angus Gardner (Australia)
Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television match official:
Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

Ben O'Keeffe was due to be part of the officiating team for this game, but swapped with Angus Gardner's appointment between England and Argentina.

Scotland vs Russia

9 October 2019
16:15 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Scotland	61–0	Russia
Try: Hastings (2) 14' c, 18' c G. Horne (3) 22' c, 45' c, 59' m Turner 51' c Seymour 56' c Barclay 75' c McInally 78' c Con: Hastings (8/9) 15', 20', 24', 46', 53', 57', 76', 80'	Report

Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Fukuroi
Attendance: 44,123
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Scotland

Russia


FB	15	Blair Kinghorn
RW	14	Tommy Seymour
OC	13	Duncan Taylor
IC	12	Peter Horne
LW	11	Darcy Graham	47'
FH	10	Adam Hastings
SH	9	George Horne	65'
N8	8	Ryan Wilson
OF	7	Fraser Brown	31'
BF	6	John Barclay (c)
RL	5	Ben Toolis
LL	4	Scott Cummings	61'
TP	3	Zander Fagerson	40'
HK	2	George Turner	65'
LP	1	Gordon Reid	61'
Replacements:
HK	16	Stuart McInally	65'
PR	17	Simon Berghan	40'
PR	18	W. P. Nel	61'
LK	19	Grant Gilchrist	61'
FL	20	Magnus Bradbury	31'
FL	21	Jamie Ritchie
SH	22	Henry Pyrgos	47'
CE	23	Chris Harris	65'
Coach:
Gregor Townsend


FB	15	Vasily Artemyev (c)			61'
RW	14	German Davydov
OC	13	Vladimir Ostroushko	38'	40'
IC	12	Dmitry Gerasimov
LW	11	Vladislav Sozonov
FH	10	Ramil Gaisin	65'
SH	9	Dmitry Perov
N8	8	Nikita Vavilin	58'
OF	7	Tagir Gadzhiev
BF	6	Vitaly Zhivatov
RL	5	Evgeny Elgin	50'
LL	4	Andrei Ostrikov	69'
TP	3	Kirill Gotovtsev	61'
HK	2	Stanislav Sel'skiy	61'
LP	1	Valery Morozov	61'
Replacements:
HK	16	Sergey Chernyshev	61'
PR	17	Azamat Bitiev	61'
PR	18	Vladimir Podrezov	61'
LK	19	Bogdan Fedotko	50'
LK	20	Andrey Garbuzov	69'
FH	21	Sergey Yanyushkin	65'
N8	22	Anton Sychev	58'
FH	23	Yuri Kushnarev	38'	40'	61'
Coach:
Lyn Jones

Player of the Match:
Adam Hastings (Scotland)

Assistant referees:
Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television match official:
Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Notes:

This is the first meeting between the two nations.
Vladimir Ostroushko (Russia) earned his 50th test cap.
Scotland became the first team to hold their opponents to nil points more than once in a single World Cup campaign.
Mathieu Raynal was due to referee this game but withdrew ahead of kick off due to illness – Wayne Barnes stepped up from assistant with Alexandre Ruiz covering the assistant role.

Ireland vs Samoa

12 October 2019
19:45 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Ireland	47–5	Samoa
Try: Best 4' c Furlong 10' c Sexton (2) 21' c, 39' m Larmour 48' c Stander 65' c Conway 70' c Con: Sexton (4/5) 5', 11', 23', 50 Carbery (2/2) 67', 72'	Report	Try: J. Lam 26' m

Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka
Attendance: 17,967
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)

Ireland

Samoa


FB	15	Jordan Larmour
RW	14	Keith Earls
OC	13	Robbie Henshaw		62'
IC	12	Bundee Aki	29'
LW	11	Jacob Stockdale
FH	10	Johnny Sexton		51'
SH	9	Conor Murray		53'
N8	8	CJ Stander
OF	7	Josh van der Flier
BF	6	Tadhg Beirne		60'
RL	5	James Ryan		57'
LL	4	Iain Henderson
TP	3	Tadhg Furlong		45'
HK	2	Rory Best (c)		50'
LP	1	Cian Healy		57'
Replacements:
HK	16	Niall Scannell		50'
PR	17	Dave Kilcoyne		57'
PR	18	Andrew Porter		45'
LK	19	Jean Kleyn		57'
FL	20	Peter O'Mahony		60'
SH	21	Luke McGrath		53'
FH	22	Joey Carbery		51'
WG	23	Andrew Conway		62'
Coach:
Joe Schmidt


FB	15	Tim Nanai-Williams
RW	14	Ahsee Tuala
OC	13	Alapati Leiua
IC	12	Henry Taefu
LW	11	Ed Fidow		50'
FH	10	UJ Seuteni		29'
SH	9	Dwayne Polataivao		70'
N8	8	Jack Lam (c)
OF	7	TJ Ioane	59'	70'
BF	6	Chris Vui
RL	5	Kane Le'aupepe
LL	4	Filo Paulo		14'	17'	54'
TP	3	Michael Alaalatoa		54'
HK	2	Seilala Lam	6'			47'
LP	1	Logovi'i Mulipola		47'
Replacements:
HK	16	Ray Niuia		14'	17'	47'
PR	17	Paul Alo-Emile		47'
PR	18	Jordan Lay		54'
FL	19	Piula Faʻasalele				54'
LK	20	Josh Tyrell		70'
SH	21	Pele Cowley		70'
FH	22	Tusi Pisi		29'
CE	23	Kieron Fonotia		50'
Coach:
Steve Jackson

Player of the Match:
Jordan Larmour (Ireland)

Assistant referees:
Romain Poite (France)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
Television match official:
Rowan Kitt (England)

Japan vs Scotland

13 October 2019
19:45 JST (UTC 09)

(1 BP) Japan	28–21	Scotland (1 BP)
Try: Matsushima 18' c Inagaki 26' c Fukuoka (2) 40' c, 43' c Con: Tamura (4/4) 20', 27', 40 2', 44'	Report	Try: Russell 7' c Nel 50' c Fagerson 55' c Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 8', 51' Russell (1/1) 56'

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Attendance: 67,666
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)

Japan

Scotland


FB	15	Will Tupou	51'
RW	14	Kotaro Matsushima
OC	13	Timothy Lafaele
IC	12	Ryoto Nakamura	75'
LW	11	Kenki Fukuoka
FH	10	Yu Tamura
SH	9	Yutaka Nagare	51'
N8	8	Kazuki Himeno
OF	7	Lappies Labuschagné
BF	6	Michael Leitch (c)	73'
RL	5	James Moore	52'
LL	4	Luke Thompson
TP	3	Koo Ji-won	22'
HK	2	Shota Horie	73'
LP	1	Keita Inagaki	57'
Replacements:
HK	16	Atsushi Sakate	73'
PR	17	Isileli Nakajima	57'
PR	18	Asaeli Ai Valu	22'
LK	19	Uwe Helu	52'
FL	20	Hendrik Tui	73'
SH	21	Fumiaki Tanaka	51'
FH	22	Rikiya Matsuda	75'
FB	23	Ryohei Yamanaka	51'
Coach:
Jamie Joseph


FB	15	Stuart Hogg
RW	14	Tommy Seymour	52'
OC	13	Chris Harris
IC	12	Sam Johnson
LW	11	Darcy Graham	60'
FH	10	Finn Russell
SH	9	Greig Laidlaw (c)	52'
N8	8	Blade Thomson
OF	7	Jamie Ritchie
BF	6	Magnus Bradbury	66'
RL	5	Jonny Gray
LL	4	Grant Gilchrist	52'
TP	3	WP Nel	52'
HK	2	Fraser Brown	52'
LP	1	Allan Dell	52'
Replacements:
HK	16	Stuart McInally	52'
PR	17	Gordon Reid	52'
PR	18	Zander Fagerson	52'
LK	19	Scott Cummings	52'
N8	20	Ryan Wilson	66'
SH	21	George Horne	52'
CE	22	Peter Horne	61'
FB	23	Blair Kinghorn	52'
Coach:
Gregor Townsend

Player of the Match:
Kenki Fukuoka (Japan)

Assistant referees:
Mathieu Raynal (France)
Matthew Carley (England)
Television match official:
Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Notes:

This was Scotland's 700th test match.
This was Japan's first win over Scotland.
This was the first time that a Tier 2 nation had defeated two Tier 1 nations in a single World Cup tournament.
With this win, Japan topped the pool and advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time – the first Asian side to do so.
Japan became the first Tier 2 nation since Fiji in 2007, and the fourth ever, to advance to the quarter-finals.
Japan became the first Tier 2 nation to top their pool and win all of their pool games.
The game was at risk of cancellation due to the after effects of Typhoon Hagibis the previous night. There was a lot of determination that, of all games, this one would be played. During the early hours of that morning a clean up operation was carried out by a large number of local residents. After an appeal put out by stadium management, they had spent the night in the stadium to be sure of being there as soon as the worst of the typhoon had passed. To get the venue match-ready mud had to be cleaned up and the entire pitch was dried by hand with towels. It was passed safe by 1100 and the game went ahead.

References

^ Pugmire, Jerome (20 September 2019). "Japan beats Russia 30–10 in Rugby World Cup opener". Tokyo: Japan Today. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^ Duggan, Keith (22 September 2019). "Rugby World Cup: Ireland take a bow after near perfect opening night". Yokohama: The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^ "Samoa ease past battling Russia in bruising Rugby World Cup encounter". The Guardian. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ Kinsella, Murray (2019-10-01). "Ireland get World Rugby feedback that three offside penalties were incorrect". The42.ie. Archived from the original on 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ "Rugby World Cup: World Rugby admitted penalty errors in Japan game, says Schmidt". BBC Sports. 2019-10-01.
^ Freeman, Rich (28 September 2019). "Japan stun world No. 2 Ireland with 19–12 victory at Rugby World Cup". Japan Today. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ Bull, Andy (30 September 2019). "Scotland shower points over Samoa in Rugby World Cup walkover". The Guardian. Kobe Misaki Stadium. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ Thornley, Gerry (3 October 2019). "Rugby World Cup: Ireland make heavy weather of Russia win". Kobe Misaki Stadium: The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "Japan's late bonus from Matsushima against Samoa hurts Scotland". The Guardian. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Bull, Andy (9 October 2019). "Scotland run in nine tries to hammer Russia and keep World Cup hopes alive". The Guardian. Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Thornley, Gerry (12 October 2019). "Improved Ireland qualify for Rugby World Cup quarter-finals". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Harris, Talek (12 October 2019). "World Rugby slams Scotland legal threat over typhoon-hit game". Tokyo: Japan Today. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Kitson, Robert (2019-10-13). "Rugby World Cup: Scotland v Japan to go ahead but Namibia v Canada off". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
^ Phillips, Mitch (13 October 2019). "Japan beats Scotland 28-21 to advance to Rugby World Cup quarterfinals for first time". Japan Today. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ "RUGBY WORLD CUP , Pool A - Yokohama, 22 September 2019, 16:45 local, 07:45 GMT". espnscrum. Retrieved 9 March 2023.

[1] Pugmire, Jerome (20 September 2019). "Japan beats Russia 30–10 in Rugby World Cup opener". Tokyo: Japan Today. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

[2] Duggan, Keith (22 September 2019). "Rugby World Cup: Ireland take a bow after near perfect opening night". Yokohama: The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

[3] "Samoa ease past battling Russia in bruising Rugby World Cup encounter". The Guardian. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

[4] Kinsella, Murray (2019-10-01). "Ireland get World Rugby feedback that three offside penalties were incorrect". The42.ie. Archived from the original on 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2021-03-16.

[5] "Rugby World Cup: World Rugby admitted penalty errors in Japan game, says Schmidt". BBC Sports. 2019-10-01.

[6] Freeman, Rich (28 September 2019). "Japan stun world No. 2 Ireland with 19–12 victory at Rugby World Cup". Japan Today. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

[7] Bull, Andy (30 September 2019). "Scotland shower points over Samoa in Rugby World Cup walkover". The Guardian. Kobe Misaki Stadium. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

[8] Thornley, Gerry (3 October 2019). "Rugby World Cup: Ireland make heavy weather of Russia win". Kobe Misaki Stadium: The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

[9] "Japan's late bonus from Matsushima against Samoa hurts Scotland". The Guardian. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

[10] Bull, Andy (9 October 2019). "Scotland run in nine tries to hammer Russia and keep World Cup hopes alive". The Guardian. Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

[11] Thornley, Gerry (12 October 2019). "Improved Ireland qualify for Rugby World Cup quarter-finals". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

[12] Harris, Talek (12 October 2019). "World Rugby slams Scotland legal threat over typhoon-hit game". Tokyo: Japan Today. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

[13] Kitson, Robert (2019-10-13). "Rugby World Cup: Scotland v Japan to go ahead but Namibia v Canada off". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-13.

[14] Phillips, Mitch (13 October 2019). "Japan beats Scotland 28-21 to advance to Rugby World Cup quarterfinals for first time". Japan Today. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

[IRE_SCO_2019_WC-15] "RUGBY WORLD CUP , Pool A - Yokohama, 22 September 2019, 16:45 local, 07:45 GMT". espnscrum. Retrieved 9 March 2023.

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v t e 2019 Rugby World Cup
Stages	Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D Knockout stage Final
General	Qualifying Squads Statistics Warm-up matches