Wales beat Japan 17-0 in Tokyo to win second WXV match
Wales beat Japan 17-0 in Tokyo on Saturday, their second win of the WXV women's tournament this autumn. Japan did not score at all, so Wales also kept a clean sheet, meaning the opponents failed to score. It is Wales' first clean sheet since they beat Hong Kong 65-0 in November 2018.
Wales led 7-0 at half-time. Seren Lockwood scored two tries and Kelsey Jones added another. A try is worth five points, and Freya Bell kicked the conversion, a two-point kick taken from in line with the posts after a try.
Japan had a rough afternoon with discipline. Flanker Nami Asari was shown a yellow card six minutes into the match, which sends a player to the sin bin, or off the pitch, for ten minutes. Nami Yoshida was also sin-binned, in the 76th minute.
The afternoon ended on a worrying note for Wales. Centre Freya Bell was taken off on a stretcher with a knee injury that looked serious. Stretchers are used when a player cannot walk off unaided, and the injury news is a concern for the team.
The match kicked off at 18:30 local time at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium. Julianne Zussman was the referee. The two sides meet again in Kumagaya City on 31 October. World Rugby's head-to-head record shows Wales have now won both of their meetings with Japan, and Japan have won none.
WXV is the top-level women's international competition, and this year's Global Series involved 18 nations. Wales' squad included eight players who had not yet won a full international cap, so the Tokyo result gives several newcomers their first taste of a big win on the road.
