Currie 17 - 35 Japan XV: Japanese power too much for spirited Currie

CURRIE represented the Scottish club championship with a good degree of style and pride last night, but it was not enough to rein in a powerful and quick Japanese side.

Japan 'A' will face a Scotland XV at Murrayfield on Tuesday and, with all of last night's team expected to play barring injuries, this match certainly proved the squad have the rugby nous to be competitive next week. They were in danger of running away with the game after scoring two tries in rapid succession just before the ten-minute mark and adding a third after 24 minutes, but the spirit that rose up in the Currie side to hang on with a shortage of possession in the first period laid the foundations for a competitive second half.

After Ayumu Goromaru and Peter Horne shared early penalties, Japan's clinical edge appeared with tries by Masahiro Tsuiki, the right winger, and Koji Shinozuka, the blindside flanker, after a stunning break by one of Japan's trio of Tongans, Paea Mifi Poseti. The Tongan No 8 Iongi Sioeri was a thumping presence in the Japan attack and proved he had a nose for the try-line when he ran onto a pass from scrum-half Shuhei Oshima at a ruck and crashed through despairing tackles to score a third Japanese try, Goromaru's second conversion handing Japan a 22-3 lead at half-time.

The first half had brought a good, open match, both sides putting in big hits with John Cox, the Currie prop, showing he could match the physical Japanese forwards with a thunderous tackle on Kenji Syomen, the slight Japan fly-half as Currie responded to the early laying of the gauntlet by the tourists.

The second half brought new hope for the Malleny faithful as Horne, being loaned to Currie by Glasgow, superbly caught a chip over the Japanese defence by Graeme White, shrugged off a defender and sprinted round behind the posts just two minutes in. Horne converted and was soon adding the points to a try when Alan Whittingham, one of the stars of the Currie youth system, intercepted a pass on his own ten-metre line and showed terrific pace to streak nearly 60 metres to score. Japan continued to stretch the Currie defence with good set-piece work releasing slick backs and two tries by Hiroshige Teduka and Sioeri took them out of sight at 35-17. Currie still finished the stronger, with Horne leading the charge, but they could not find a way over the line despite great efforts at the death.

Scorers: Currie: Tries - Horne, Whittingham; Pen - Horne; Cons - Horne 2. Japan XV: Tries - Tsuiki, Shinozuka, Sioeri 2, Teduka; Pens - Goromaru 2; Cons - Goromaru 2.

Currie: P Horne; C Kinloch, G Whyte, A MacMahon, K McShane; A Binikos, R Snedden; J Cox, N Scobie, A Hamilton, A Adam (capt), O Palepoi, M Cairns, J Thomson, R Weston. Subs used: A Reekie, G Scott, G Temple, S Ormiston, F Strachan, A Whittingham, S Walker.

Japan XV: A Goromaru; M Tsuiki, A Havea, M Irie (capt), P Mifi Poseti; T Kanai, H Hirahara, N Yusuhi, T Bond, T Taniguchi, K Shinozuka, Y Kim, I Sioeri. Subs used: H Teduka, R Arita, T Doi, H Mine, E Nakata, Y Iijima, N Anderson, Y Imamura, T Yamauchi, K Iwamoto.

Referee: P Allan (SRU).