Kirwan eyes Japan improvement

Japan coach John Kirwan cautioned that his side could still play better despite seeing the reigning champions hammer Kazakhstan 61-0 to secure their 14th straight Asian Five Nations win.

On a hot and humid Saturday night in Bangkok, the regional giants overcame some sloppy handling to run in nine tries on their way to thumping the hapless Kazakhs, who had two players sin-binned in the second-half.

"That was much better than last week, though we still left quite a bit out on the field," All Blacks wing legend Kirwan said after his team's romp, which included four tries for the impressively mobile hooker Takeshi Kizu.

"There were far too many errors for my liking but the structures were much better."

Japan laboured to a 45-22 away victory over Hong Kong the previous week that left the Kiwi admitting his side would have to improve for September's World Cup.

In sweltering conditions, Japan ran in four first-half tries to lead 28-0 at the turnaround, but there was to be no repeat of last year's 101-7 annihilation of the Kazakhs.

In equally sapping conditions in Colombo, Hong Kong put on an impressive display of running rugby as they scored seven tries on their way to a 48-3 win over Sri Lanka, with number eight Pale Tauti leading a dominant performance by the forwards.

The victory moved Hong Kong a step closer to their first ever runners-up spot.

The hard-working pack's rolling mauls and driving play laid the foundation for flyhalf Keith Robertson and his backline to dominate.

"This is probably not conditions to play a rugby match in. People don't realise what both teams underwent out there," said Hong Kong coach Dai Rees.

"It was draining humidity, it was unbelievably hot. Both sides suffered big time but all credit to our guys."

In the next round of matches Japan travel to Dubai to face the UAE on Friday, while Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka meet in Almaty on Saturday. Hong Kong are not playing.

AFP