It only took three minutes for Christian Loamanu to show rugby fans at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Sunday the raw talent that led him to become the youngest ever player to play for Japan on its recent tour of South America.
New Zealand Chiefs winger Sitiveni Sivivatu (left)
and Hanyani Shimange of the South Africa Stormers fight for the ball in
Saturday's Super 12 match at Newlands. A Stephen Donald penalty 10 minutes
from time earned the Chiefs a nail-biting 37-34 victory. Both sides were
already out of contention for a place in the semifinals.
Taking the ball 30 meters out, the Tongan-born wing showed speed, strength, determination and a good step off his right foot to go over for the opening try of the game between Japan Universities and New Zealand Universities, which the visitors eventually won 31-29.
Unfortunately, the 19-year-old student at the Saitama Institute of Technology, who weighs in at 105 kg, then spent 77 minutes showing the defensive frailties -- particularly in dealing with kicks -- that he will need to work on if he is ever to have the same impact on the game in Japan as another Tongan-born wing had on the international scene: Jonah Lomu.
In the end, the game boiled down to the Kiwis taking the right options at the right time and punishing the Japanese mistakes.
Waikato University wing Alan Syme was the main beneficiary, collecting a try, two conversions and four penalties with the decisive try coming in the 78th minute when he beat Loamanu to a kick ahead from the impressive Peter Leuoso.
A last-minute try from Shota Goto and touchline drop-kick conversion from Eiji Ando set up a grandstand finish, but the hosts were left to rue some less-than-average kicking earlier in the game that eventually proved to be the difference between the teams.
Kanto Gakuin's Tomoki Kitagawa, with two tries, and Waseda's Yuta Imamura were the pick of the Japan backs, but an inability to put points on the board when it mattered eventually came back to haunt the Japanese students.
The New Zealanders, meanwhile, were delighted to finish their tour unbeaten, having earlier beaten Japan A 42-18 and Japan B 38-23, and judging by the reaction of coach Bryce Bevin there will be plenty to talk about on the flight home.
"We have some wonderful stories about our experiences with Japanese referees over the years," he said. "Just as you have to accept conditions like the sun and wind, you cannot change them."