■JAPAN’S pace got the better of Romania’s brawn at a packed Egao Kenko Stadium.
With Michael Leitch and Fumiaki Tanaka showing all their experience and Ryuji Noguchi and Jumpei Ogura highlighting the growing competitiveness of Japan’s young players, the Brave Blossoms were in a different class for much of the contest.
Akihito Yamada sprinted over for the first try and Kenki Fukuoka made the most of a good long pass from Derek Carpenter to go over for the second.
It took just 90 seconds of the second half for Japan to increase the lead with Leitch picking a superb ang...