Shaunne Hughes was captain for the day as the Gaijin were missing regular captain Alaister Nimmo.

The Gaijin were to rue wrong options and poor kicking. They also gave away some silly penalties but the referee certainly did them no favours with some questionable penalties within easy kicking distance allowing Akanegahama to stay in touch on the scoreboard. Wade Dahlgren scored two tries and had two disallowed in a very impressive performance of power. The first of his tries was definitely a try (yours truly was under the mass of bodies right next to Wade) however the referee was unsighted on the other side of the ruck. Others say the second of his disallowed tries was also a try but the referee didn`t see it that way.

For the Gaijin it was hard to go past Wade Dahlgren (despite an on-field explosion with some team-mates) as Man of the Match. He ran the ball with venom and was constantly dragging three or four defenders with him. Apisai Bati was also on fire out in the backs constantly causing a menace to the Akanegahama backs. It was too hard to split the two for Man of the Match honours so they were shared. Takayuki Kitajima in the front row also had a solid game and Takashi Narita, who moved to half-back from hooker early in the game, had a fine performance behind the scrum. No ‘Goat’ was awarded as everyone pulled their weight and there were no embarrassing moments.

　　　　　　The result flattered the Akanegahama side but, perhaps, next time it will be third time lucky for the Gaijin.

Thanks to Steve Bull for organizing this ‘Friendly’ and to Shino Iwasaki for her valued medical support. Also a big thanks to the Apisai family and the Harris family (Bev, Angie & Angelia - visiting from Australia) for their support.

SCORE: Akanegahama 18 (2 tries, 1 goal, 2 penalties) TGRFC 17 (Dahlgren 2, O`Donoghue 1 tries, Hughes 1 goal)

MEN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wade Dahlgren & Apisai Bati

TEAM:

1. David Huffman (Canada)

2. Takashi Narita (Japan)

3. Takayuki Kitajima (Japan)

4. Wade Dahlgren (USA)

5. Arnaud Fouche (France)

6. Joffa Harris (Australia)

7. Dave Kelver (USA)

8. Sean O`Donoghue (Ireland)

9. Josh (USA)

10. Shaunne Hughes © (Australia)

11. Andy Ballard (England)

12. Apisai Bati (Fiji)

13. Jo Iwasaki (Japan)

14. Steve Bull (England)

15. Jonathon Dean (Canada)

Reserves: Dana Post (USA), Lawrence Hii (Australia), Yoshihiro Sato (Japan)