Japan thrashes Canada 55-28 to open Pacific Nations Cup

It was a tale of two halves for Canada's men's rugby team on Sunday.

Up against Japan to open the Pacific Nations Cup tournament, Canada faltered early. Thirty-one minutes into the game, the Brave Blossoms held a 31-0 lead.

"(Japan) were so efficient, the speed of ball," said Canada's head coach Kingsley Jones. "It was like a whirlwind, like a wave coming over the players."

The Canadians rallied but couldn't climb out of the hole, and ultimately settled for a 55-28 loss.

"I spoke at halftime to the team and I said `Do we want to wait until next week to put things right or do we want to start now? Can we win the second half?' That was the challenge," Jones said.

"And we won the second half. Japan may have taken their foot off the gas a little bit, but I'm really proud of the players, the way they stuck at it."

Warner Dearns touched twice for 14th-ranked Japan, while Malo Tuitama, Dylan Riley, Kani Shimokawa, Seungsin Lee and Tomoki Osada also contributed tries. Lee also booted six conversions and a penalty.

Andrew Coe, Lucas Rumball and twins Talon and Takoda McMullin each had a try for No. 21-ranked Canada, while Peter Nelson added four conversions.

Japan jumped out to an early lead when Tuitama broke through the Canadian line and ran in for a try just four minutes into the game.

Canada's offence responded, working its way deep into scoring territory, but were unable to finish.

"I think I'm disappointed in that first 25, 30 minutes. I don't think we did ourselves justice for where we're at," said Rumball, Canada's captain.

"(Japan) came in with an around the corner speed kind of game, and we didn't adjust quick enough. I thought after that, we found our feet, found our bearing, and got into the game better. But we can't