Wales scrape past Japan 28-21 at Principality Stadium but leave questions ahead of All Blacks clash

Wales beat Japan 28-21 at the Principality Stadium in the Nations Championship this weekend, but the victory was unconvincing, underwhelming and a nervy struggle, with head coach Steve Tandy admitting he expected better and captain Dewi Lake saying his team had let themselves down at times against Eddie Jones’ Japan.

Wins have been scarce for Wales in recent seasons and this result would have been a fourth victory in 13 internationals for Tandy, yet the performance offered few certainties as tougher tests loom with New Zealand due in Cardiff next Saturday and Australia visiting the following weekend.

The standout performer was wing Louis Rees-Zammit, who earned player-of-the-match honours after an influential display that included an early incisive break and his first try in eight internationals following his brief foray with American football and the NFL. Tandy praised him: "There aren’t many athletes that can come back from a different sport and get back to playing international rugby like he did so quickly,” and added: "By his own admission, Zam wants more. He wants to be one of the best wings in the world, if not the best. "He's got all the attributes to do that, and he's kicked on.” Tandy also said: "The best teams in the world have people that can break the game up, do something out of nothing," and "He gone up a level and he deserved his man-of-the-match performance." Rees-Zammit produced five of Wales' 16 line-breaks, made 121 metres and beat 13 defenders.

There were encouraging individual displays elsewhere: back-row duo Aaron Wainwright and Jac Morgan impressed in attack and defence, full-back Blair Murray was a consistent attacking threat, Josh Adams scored two tries, and centre Eddie James showed glimpses alongside Max Llewellyn in a new midfield pairing. Aaron Wainwright has joined Leicester from Dragons.

Wales spent long periods defending and managed only around 40% in territory and possession, completing 227 tackles to Japan’s 115 and finishing with the top eight tacklers in the match. Morgan led the official Nations Championship tackle charts with 24, followed by lock Dafydd Jenkins on 23 and Wainwright on 20. Wales forced 10 turnovers, with Alex Mann securing three, and there were crucial defensive interventions from Dewi Lake, Josh Adams and prop Nicky Smith when Japan threatened.

A clear weakness was the line-out, with six throws going astray as hookers Lake and Ryan Elias struggled to find their jumpers against Japan’s man-mountain locks Harry Hockings and co-captain Warner Dearns, disrupting Wales’ attacking maul. Lake said: “We have got to be better. When we did get it right, we got joy from that area, but we would have loved to go to our driving maul more often. "You have to credit Japan in that area for the defensive work they do. "They're number one in the world for a reason in this department, but we're always going to look at ourselves first.” Tandy acknowledged rustiness: "It does get clunky in your first hit out since the summer. It takes time to build that cohesion back, whereas you look at the amount of games South Africa, New Zealand and Japan have played since the last time we did in July. "If you look at last year's Six Nations, we got better in every game and we will look to do that again."

Wales repeatedly allowed Japan back into the contest through handling errors, moments of indiscipline and lapses in concentration, with Tandy saying: “There were moments where we'd go seven points up and there'd be a sloppy knock-on or we'd look for the pass from a line break rather than take the tackle. "There are bits where there's lots to like, but in Test matches, you need to be ruthless and reward yourself when on top.” Fly-half Sam Costelow was criticised for kicking attacking ball away at key moments, and the source says neither Costelow nor Dan Edwards have nailed down the Wales number 10 jersey.

Wales remain 10th in the world after this win, which again came against a nation ranked between ninth and 12th, and Tandy’s four international victories to date are recorded as a Japan double plus wins over Italy and Fiji. New Zealand opened their campaign with a victory against Scotland that the article says cemented their place as the world's second best side behind South Africa; Wales have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953. Tandy said: "It is a massive privilege to take on the All Blacks in our stadium. We want to test ourselves against the best so this is another awesome opportunity to go play against one of the top two teams in the world.”

Wales host New Zealand in Cardiff next Saturday, the fixture that follows a weekend in which 52,425 supporters watched the Japan game at the Principality Stadium; attendances will again be scrutinised after mixed reactions to this performance and recent crowds referenced in the report.