Fluctuating fortunes end on the level

Japan's up-tempo style of play was always going to cause trouble to Canada's more physical approach but the best part of the final result wasn't the drawn scores so much as two of the lower-ranked teams playing such entertaining rugby.

The Brave Blossoms have prided themselves on sticking to their style of play throughout this tournament no matter who they came up against.

Their high-energy, up-tempo play has meant they have been more than competitive for a long way in each of their Pool A matches and it was always going to be hard for the bigger, slower Canadians to counter.

"We made heaps of inroads in the style of how we play," said Japan coach John Kirwan after the match. "We talked about Japanese style and we played that. I felt today we dominated most parts of the game."

But what Japan didn't dominate - and needed to - was possession.

So long as they could put together the phases, their rushing at the gain line was going to be hard for the Canadians to contain.

Japan's cause wasn't helped when they lost one of their main ball carriers in big centre Alisi Tupuailai, who went off injured after just 12 minutes.

More disappointed

The stats show that it was the Canadians who dominated possession even though Japan's energetic rushing defence kept the Canucks pinned in their own half for the majority of the match.

It was the Canadians holding on to the ball in those final minutes that turned what looked like being a Japanese win into a draw, which will have left Japan more disappointed than the Canucks, especially as it gave Canada a great chance of finishing third in their pool to give them automatic qualification for RWC 2015.

Japan's constant sniping at the Canadian line when in possession in the first half yielded two tries as they poked through the defence from deep in the Canucks' half to have the advantage at the break.

But Canada's second long-range try immediately after the restart undid all Japan's good work.

Japan then had to knuckle down to take up where they had left off in the first half and constantly forced the Canadians back with up-tempo phase play, although errors - Japan had 18 turnovers to Canada's 13 - were cruelling their chances.

Winning lead

With the territory advantage, Japan fly half James Arlidge was able to kick two penalties that came directly from the pressure exerted by his energetic team.

Canada's physicality - and maybe the fact they had played one less match - did eventually take its toll on the Japanese.

After grabbing what looked a winning lead, Japan's energy seemed to dissipate, giving Canada the chance to hold possession, send the ball wide, find gaps and grab points (a try, not converted, and penalty) to tie up the scores.

Japan had missed 12 tackles in the second half and 17 for the match, Canada 13 with just five in the second half.

"From our perspective I thought we played some reasonable rugby in the first half, but our handling errors let us down and put the pressure straight back. You can't afford to score points and then make a mistake which puts them straight back into it," said Canada coach Kieran Crowley.

"The second half we didn't play it as smart as we should have. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes that we started to move the ball outside those inside channels and we started to create a bit of go-forward. Disappointed in that aspect but pleased that we get two points out of it."