A Scotland XV beat a Japan select team 24-5 at Murrayfield on Tuesday evening.
As the team from the land of the rising sun took to the pitch, the setting sun over Murrayfield broke through the cloud to bathe the east stand crowd of over 8000 in its evening rays.
The enthusiatic support cheered on a Scottish side comprising Scotland and Scotland A players, in this warm-up to their upcoming respective outings in Argentina and Romania. A win for the home side - though not the tally some may have predicted - signalled job done for head coach, Andy Robinson.
Said Robinson: "We've trained hard for the last three days and this was a very good exercise, exactly what we needed.
"We haven't been together for a while, mistakes happen and we need to correct them for Argentina. I was disappointed with the contact area - that's a lesson for us - and we made three or four sloppy offloads. However some of our lines, the way the first try was scored - the simplicity of it - I was pleased with.
"We can look at any performance and see how we can improve it, however."
After a cautious start from both sides, it was Alex Grove who put the first points on the board on the five minute mark, after clean hands through the backs sent him sprinting down the left wing and over the whitewash; Phil Godman successfully converted to put the home side ahead, 7-0.
Missed opportunities from the visitors followed, creating a pattern for the remainder of the first-half.
A penalty for Scotland early in the second-half heralded Scotland's second try as John Barclay shrugged off two tackles to cross the line. Godman's conversion then increased Scotland's lead to 14-0.
Barclay's second came after 52 minutes, the result of some powerful pick and go action from the Scotland forwards to make the score. Godman missed the conversion to put Scotland 19-0 to the good.
Scotland's fourth try came courtesy of Simon Danielli who found ample space after good hands passed the ball through the line, allowing the Ulster winger to cross the whitewash after 73 minutes. Jim Thompson, on for Godman, missed the conversion, 24-0.
Patient driving from the Japanese forwards was eventually rewarded with flanker Youngdae Kim putt Japan on the scoreboard for the first time, just short of the final whistle, with an uncoverted try, making the final score Scotland 24-5 Japan.
Scotland centre, Max Evans, said: "All in all it was a good game to get the cobwebs out with there being a bit of a break since the end of the season.
"It's been a successful game to have, going into a tough two-game tour of Argentina."
The Scotland squad set off on Friday (4 June) in advance of their games in Tucuman on Saturday 12 June and Mar del Plata on Saturday 19 June. Both these games will be shown live on BBC 2 Scotland.
Final Scotland 24 - 5 Japan
Man of the Match: John Barclay
Attendance: 8186
Referee: James Jones (WRU)
Teams
Scotland XV
15. Hugo Southwell , 14. Sean Lamont , 13. Nick de Luca , 12. Alex Grove , 11. Simon Danielli , 10. Phil Godman , 9. Mike Blair,1. Allan Jacobsen , 2. Ross Ford , 3. Moray Low , 4. Scott MacLeod , 5. Jim Hamilton , 6. Kelly Brown , 7. John Barclay , 8. Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes , 16. Fergus Thomson (62 mins, for Ford) , 17. Geoff Cross (50 mins, for Low) , 18. Al Kellock (50 mins, for Hamilton) , 19. Graeme Morrison (68 mins, for Lamont) , 20. Mark McMillan (63 mins, for Blair) , 21. Max Evans (50 mins, for De Luca) , 22. Jim Thompson (53 mins, for Godman)
Japan Select
15. Ayumu Goromaru , 14. Yuta Imamura , 13. Takayuki Yamauchi , 12. Aisea Mattaali Havea , 11. Paea Mifiposeti , 10. Masakazu Irie (captain) , 9. Shuhei Oshima,1. Hiroshige Teduka , 2. Hirotaka Hirahara , 3. Yusuke Nagae , 4. Timothy Oliver Bond , 5. Tomoaki Taniguchi , 6. Koji Shinozuka , 7. Youngdae Kim , 8. Iongi Sioeri
Substitutes , (all used) , 16. Tomohiro Senba , 17. Takahiro Doi , 18. Eiri Nakata , 19. Hidetoshi Mine , 20. Nathan Anderson , 21. Kenji Syomen , 22. Tomoki Kitagawa
With thanks to the SRU.
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