Sep 20, 2007, 23:52 GMT
Cardiff, Britain - Wales closed in on a place in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup on Thursday with a convincing 72-18 victory against Japan in their Pool B game played in Cardiff.
An enthusiastic home crowd in the Millennium stadium in Cardiff - one of just two cities outside France hosting matches at the competition - saw the Welsh run in 11 tries to the two for the Asian side.
It was a record-breaking evening for the Welsh as they scored their highest number of points-ever in a Rugby World Cup match, as well as their highest number of tries. They also added their biggest- ever win at the competition.
For Japan, on the other hand, it was a 13th-straight defeat, breaking their own record of 12 defeats.
But even if the final score was a convincing victory for the more fancied side, Japan were certainly not overwhelmed in the first half and were trailing by just 29-11 at the break.
The Welsh tries were scored by Martyn Williams and competition top scorer Shane Williams, who each scored two and individual tries by James Hook, Dafydd James, Kevin Morgan, Gareth Cooper, Thomas Rhys Thomas, Alun-Wyn Jones and Michael Phillips.
Stephen Jones top scored for the Welsh with five conversions and one penalty for a personal tally of 13 points, while Ceri Sweeney added two conversions.
Hirotoki Onozawa and Kosuke Endo scored tries for Japan, while Shotaro Onishi added two penalties and Bryce Robins scored with one conversion.
Welsh scrum half Michael Phillips said that the opening spell had not been that easy. 'It was a tough opening 20 minutes, but we competed well, got through it and scored some fine tries.
'We needed a big win. And we can still improve on it. We can't afford to be playing like that against the bigger teams.'
The Welsh flanker Martyn Williams said it was a welcome boost after a challenging week. 'Yes, it was a good boost. The boys enjoyed it, but we have a massive game coming up against Fiji.
'We've shown we can play some great rugby in the last few games and I think we're gradually getting better as the tournament goes on.'
The victory takes Wales into second place in the group on ten points, as have Fiji and New Zealand. The All Blacks are overwhelming favourites to advance to the quarter-finals with Fiji and Wales competing for the second place. They will face each other in Nantes on 29 September.
Your Talkback on this Story