Rugby World Cup: England secure quarter-final spot after Japan hold off Samoa in close 28-22 contest

England are now through to the quarter-finals after Japan defeated Samoa; Japan is now in second place in Group D after the 28-22 win; Samoa’s Ben Lam was shown a red card in the second half for a dangerous tackle

England qualified for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup after Japan defeated 14-man Samoa 28-22 in Toulouse to keep alive their own hopes of progressing to the knockout stages.

The Brave Blossoms next take on Argentina in the final round of Pool D matches – and only one of them will join Steve Borthwick’s side, who are confirmed as group winners ahead of their clash with Samoa due to their superior head-to-head record . , in the knockout phase.

Japan, who reached the last eight for the first time as hosts four years ago, opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Pieter Labuschagne stretched in the corner and Rikiya Matsuda converted.

D’Angelo Leuila’s penalty put Samoa, without captain Chris Vui, on the board due to a late substitution, but Matsuda’s kick quickly restored Japan’s advantage.

Michael Leitch added another try in the corner before Samoa’s Jonathan Taumateine ​​was sent to the sin bin after a shoulder shove in the build-up.

Michael Leitch was among the try scorers for Japan who helped Japan hold off a Samoa setback

Japanese hooker Shota Horie was subsequently booked for making head-on contact as he stood up in a challenge with Seilala Lam, who went to the TMO for a bunker assessment but was not upgraded.

Samoa – whose last pool match with England is in Lille on October 7 – made the most of their man advantage, Lam landing after a driving maul to go into the break trailing 17-8.

Samoa soon found themselves down a man when Ben Lam was sent to the sin bin after the TMO spotted a high tackle to the side of Labuschagne’s head.

Japan extended their lead when Kazuki Himeno was run over in the corner, but the usually reliable Matsuda failed to convert.

Things then got worse for Samoa when Lam’s card was upgraded to red before Matsuda again found his range to push Japan further ahead at 25-8.

Kotaro Matsushima sprinted clear for what Japan thought was a bonus point try, but it was ruled out due to the slightest setback from Dylan Riley in the build-up.

Rikiya Matsuda converted three of his team’s attempts, taking them one step closer to progression

However, Samoa kept in touch as Duncan Paia’aua crossed the corner, which Leuila converted from a tight angle only for fly-half Matsuda to push Japan away again with another long-range penalty.

The 14 men fought on and pulled back the deficit when Christian Leali’ifano dived over and then converted his own try, but Japan held on to set up a potential winner-takes-all showdown with Argentina in Nantes.

What’s next?

Next for Samoa is a match against England on October 7 in Lille, with kick-off at 4.45pm BST.

For JapanA big clash with Argentina awaits on Sunday, October 8 in Nantes, with kick-off at 12:00 BST.