W21, 09:30, Classification 7-8, NEW ZEALAND 11 SOUTH AFRICA 8

Quarters: 4-3, 2-3, 3-0, 2-2

Referees: Yusuku Kajiwara (JPN), Martin Murray (CAN)

Extra man: NZL: 5/11. RSA: 1/8.

Penalties: NZL: 1/2. RSA: 1/1.

Teams:

NEW ZEALAND: Jessica Milicich, Isabella Morrison (2), Gabrielle Milicich, Shinae Carrington, Kaitlin Howarth (1), Caitlin Parker-Allen, Emmerson Houghton (3), Katie McKenty, Grace Tobin (1), Gabriella MacDonald, Kirsten Hudson (1), Kate Enoka (3), Chantelle Conroy, Elizabeth Alsemgeest. Head Coach: Angela Winstanley-Smith.

SOUTH AFRICA: Rebecca Thomas, Yanah Gerber (1), Astrid Faustmann (1), Nicola Barrett (1), Hannah Calvert (1), Amica Hallendorff, Kim Rosslee, Cassandra Day, Anna Thornton-Dibb, Nicola MacLeod (1), Emma Joubert (1), Georgie Moir (1), Stephanie Berry. Head Coach: Sarah Harris.

In the battle of the southern hemisphere's Commonwealth countries, New Zealand came home the winner. It was a "big W" said one Kiwi p[layer. They were thrilled to have beaten South Africa in a match that was locked at six by halftime. Only a three-goal breakout in the third period made a major difference to the result.  In two minutes the shape of the match had changed through two extra-man-attack goals and one from the penalty line. Emmerson Houghton, named player of the match, scored three goals to lift her tournament tally to 16 — fourth highest at the time of the match. She has been a revelation and a boost for the Kiwis' future. Kate Enoka slammed in three, her best of the week. Eight players scored for South Africa, showing the balance in teh team. The South Africans have been improving and matching fitness with many teams. It led 2-0 but was behind 4-3 at the first break and the comeback from two down to level at 6-6 was another highlight. New Zealand 's conversion of extra-man attack was critical in winning the match.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Emmerson Houghton (NZL) — Player of the match

“Really good to come away with the win on the last day. It wasn’t an easy game. South Africa made us work hard and it’s good to make us fight and finish on a win. Good on the girls, because we fought the whole game. We definitely take away our team bond and how we work together as a team and we’re looking forward to get back and working hard for the next tournament." 

Angie Winstanley-Smith (NZL) — Head Coach

"I'm happy to win (first win). Yesterday it was tough (losing 12-14 to Kazakhstan). I thought we had it, but we showed our age — seven new members and 10 under 20. Today we scored lots in the third quarter. The girls gave 100 per cent. There is a great culture in the tea, It's been a lot of hard work to attend all the major championships — FINA Worlds, World Cup and World Leagues —in the last three years and all self-funded. So now we have to go home and work hard to Korea."

W22, 10:45, Classification 5-6, KAZAKHSTAN 7 JAPAN 16

Quarters:

Referees: Reynel Castillo (PUR), Garren Gaisford (RSA)

Extra man: KAZ: 0/6. JPN: 4/10.

Penalties: Nil.

Teams:

KAZAKHSTAN: Alexandra Zhazkimbaeva, Anastassiya Yezemina, Aizhan Akilbayeva, Anna Turova (3), Komila Zakirova, Darya Roga, Anna Novikova, Darya Muzareva, Anastassiya Murataeiyera, Zamirco Myrzabekova (2), Anastassiya Mirshina (2), Viktoria Khritankova, Azhare Alibayeva. Head Coach: Marat Navrazbekov.

JAPAN: Rikako Miura, Yumi Arima (2), Akari Inaba (4), Shino Magariyama (4), Chiaki Sakanoue, Miku Koide (1), Yuri Kazama (1), Yuki Niizawa, Ayaka Takahashi, Misaki Noro (1), Marina Tokumoto (1), Kotori Suzuki (2), Minami Shioya. Head Coach: Makihiro Motomiya.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Japan was inspired to beat Kazakhstan after losing to it at last year's Asian Game in Jakarta by just a single goal. The nine-goal margin is justification for all the hard work in the lead-up to Tokyo 2020. The speed and combinations of the Japanese were hard to stop. Even in the shorter passes they were snappy and had deadly effect. Shino Magariyama was named player of the match and her four goals were the result of that union, finishing off movements started well back down the pool. The fact that the final passes were unselfish was testament to the team spirit and, more importantly goals on the board. Kazakhstan was also inspired in the first half, and had the lead at 5-4 after Zamira Myrabekova fired in consecutive goals, one from two metres and the second from six metres. Japan levelled before the long break and kept Kazakhstan scoreless in the third period for 11-5. Kazakhstan broke its 15-minute drought in the fourth when Anna Turova netted her third off a cross pass at centre forward. The prowess of Akari Inaba, Magariyama and Yumi Arima made Kazakhstan's task too tough.

Shino Magariyama (JPN) — Player of the match

“At the Asian Games last year at the very important and critical game we lost to Kazakhstan by one goal. So today we were determined to win (beat them) but at the same time win with as big a margin as possible, like today. All the players did their best today and we are very happy with that. Our biggest target was to make the Super Final (which we have missed), but still we are happy we have been able to show progress because at the Asian Games last year we lost to China with a big difference, but this time we trail them with a one-point difference, so we have shown improvement. We can participate as the host country (Tokyo 2020), but we would like to show as good a performance as possible competing against the top teams in the world. So at the upcoming 2019 (FINA) World Championships we will use it as an opportunity to improve even further."

 Marat Navrazbekov (KAZ) — Head Coach

"Japan beat us on counter-attack. We have a young team with five players on the team for the first time. We are only scoring our goals at centre forward as we have our best two players there, 10 (Zamirco Myrzabekova) and 11 (Anastassiya Mirshina). We are not shooting well outside. We are happy to play the better teams like Australia because of their tactical and technical play."

M21, 12:15, Classification 7-8. SOUTH AFRICA 8 NEW ZEALAND 10

Quarters: 3-1, 2-3, 1-2, 2-4

Referees: Jinyong An (KOR), Evan Andrews (CAN)

Extra man:  RSA: 0/13. NZL:0/6.

Penalties: RSA: 3/3. NZL: 1/1.

Teams:

SOUTH AFRICA: Lwazi Madi, Olver Roarke, Timothy Rezelman, Ethan Coryndon-Baker (1), Garreth Prout, David Rom, Jason Evezard (4), Loodewyk Rabie, Dylan Cronje, Mark Spencer (2), Liam Neill, Miguel Morsis, Keegan Clark. Head Coach: Paul Martin.

NEW ZEALAND: Sid Dymond, Matthew Lewis, Nicholas Paterson (2), Ryan Pike, Nicholas Stankovich (2), Matthew Small, Anton Sunde (1), Sean Bryant, Joshua Potaka, Matthew Bryant, Jerome McGuinness (1), Sean Newcombe (2), Bae Fountain. Head Coach: Davor Carevic.

New Zealand came back from a bad start and converted two down to two up by the final hooter. There was nothing to separate the teams for much of the match and it was only New Zealand's fitness and finishing in the final two minutes that saw it emulate the women's team in finishing seventh. Both the Kiwi teams are at the start of their preparations for the FINA World Championships and will return home to compete in their national leagues. South Africa was 3-1 at the quarter and looked strong, especially Liam Neill at centre forward, turning with ease for the second goal. The Kiwis had the match at 4-3, three minutes into the second quarter with three straight, including Sean Newcombe's "pat shot" off a rebound in front of goal. In the final period, South Africa led 7-6, the Kiwis tied and then went ahead, only for South Africa to level at 8-8 less than five minutes from time. Then Nicholas Stankovich scored his only two goals of the match for victory and a tournament tally of seven. New Zealand struggled with major fouls, but had no problems with defence, denying South Africa at every one of the 13 chances. South Africa replied by shutting out the Kiwis six times. South Africa had three Kiwis sent from the match while Olver Roarke  (RSA) was the only one to sit out the final minutes. The Kiwis gave up 16 majors, including three penalty goals (all scored by Jason Evezard), and still won the match. It was a clash of even teams with similar styles and they might get to face each other again in Gwangju in July. Anton Sunde finished the highest scored for the Kiwis with 11 goals and South Africa's best was Evezard with 14.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Sean Newcombe (NZL) —Player of the match

“We knew straight away it would be a dogfight and they came out guns blazing, went up three or four goals; really we just had to put our heads down and get stuck in, get a few goals back on them. We started the competition with a very close loss to Kazakhstan. Of course, we’re happy with that result, but disappointed at the same time, because we could have been playing off for a higher position. Spirits are high, we’re going to keep building on this, we’ve got a great team, great coach and hopefully we can produce some more good results."

Paul Martin (RSA) — Head coach

"I am disappointed in the scoreline in terms of that we had our opportunities and chances and we didn't take them. I think we were the better team on the day, the teamwork and the effort was there and everyone gave a 100 per cent; not finishing is the only critical thing they lost the game on. The team needs to play more, we just go from tournament to tournament and we don't play any test matches. When we play at home, it's quite easy, but the team doesn't have experience in intense game situations and we don't have a culture of being in the position to win matches at international level. In terms of the whole competition, we wanted to tick a few boxes and we wanted to do a few individual goals and most of those were achieved. Overall it's been a great tournament."

M22, 13:30, Classification 5-6, ARGENTINA 7 CHINA 5

Quarters: 1-2, 1-2, 1-1, 2-1

Referees: Nick Hodgers (AUS), Michael Baty (RSA)

Extra man:  ARG: 2/12. CHN: 3/13.

Penalties: ARG: 1/2. CHN: 1/1

Teams:

ARGENTINA: Diego Malnero, Ramiro Veich (1), Tomas Galimberti, Guido Martino, Emanuel Lopez (1), Tomas Echenique, Juan Montane Tobares, Eduardo Bonomo, Ivan Carabantes, Esteban Corsi, Carlos Camnasio (4), German Yanez (1), Octavio Salas. Head Coach: Daniel Poggio.

CHINA: Honghui Wu, Zhangxin Hu, Jiahao Peng, Yu Liu, Fada Qin, Zekai Xie (1), Zhongxian Chen (2), Rui Chen, Yimin Chen (1), Feihu Tan (1), Xiao Liu, Nuanxiang Liang, Zhiwei Liang, Chenghiao Chu, Rongkun Lie. Head Coach: Petar Porobic.

Argentina is moving a move on the world stage and upset China to claim fifth spot in Perth. The lowest-scoring match of the week produced some riveting water polo with the match locked at one, two, three and four by three-quarter time. Argentina then strung together three goals in succession for 7-4 with 2:44 left on the clock.  The match was ostensibly over and China's consolation came from an extra-man goal to Zhongxian Chen with 47 seconds remaining. It was Chen's second goal of the match and his 14th for the tournament to finish best of his team. Carlos Camnasio was the difference between the teams with his vibrant all-round play and finishing, claiming four goals, two on action and two on extra-man attack. His last two were in the final-quarter tidal wave. He lifted his tournament tally to nine while German Yanez's one penalty strike boosted him to 18, Argentina's best. If he had not moved forward on his first penalty attempt he could have equalled Japan's Yusuke Inaba on the top of list before the latter had played the final.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

German Yanez (ARG) — Player of the match 

 “I am very happy with the game that I played. I am happier for the team that they made a strong effort to win this tough game. The team made a strong effort to arrive here and to train to come to this tournament. We are improving match by match and we are very happy."

Evangelos Patras (CHN) — Goalkeeper coach from Greece

"Argentina controlled the ball in offence and they had good defence. Many of our players are not very experienced and the team had made a few mistakes. In the third quarter our side had fallen into the trap of the Argentinians and they couldn't score. All in all it was a very good competition, not only for us, but for all the teams. I believe that the level is better than last year and we played more good games with tight scores. Also, the new rules helped a lot in that way. This competition has brought us one step closer to achieving our goals."

M23, 14:45, Classification 3-4, KAZAKHSTAN 4 CANADA 9

Quarters: 1-3, 0-1, 3-3, 0-1

Referees: German Moller (ARG), Andrew Carney (AUS)

Extra man: KAZ: 3/11. CAN: 2/9.

Penalties: CAN: 1/1.

Teams:

KAZAKHSTAN: Pavel Lipilin, Yevgeniy Medvedev (1), Maxim Zhardan, Roman Pilipenko, Miras Aubakirov (1), Alexey Shmider, Ruslan Akhmetov, Yegor Berbelyuk (1), Stanislav Shvedov (1), Mikhail Ruday, Ravil Manafov, Yulian Verdesh, Valeriy Shlemov. Head Coach: Dejan Stanojevic.

CANADA: Dusan Aleksic, Gaelan Patterson, Sean Spooner, Nicholas Bicari (4), Jeremie Cote (1), Jeremie Blanchard, Bogdan Djerkovic (1), David Lapins (1), Aleksa Gardijan, Aria Soleimanipak, Devon Thumwood, Reuel D'Souza (2), Milan Radenovic. Head Coach: Pino Porzio.

Canada took the match by the scruff of the neck and made sure that Kazakhstan would not be standing on the dais. By collecting bronze, and having the tournament's best player in Nicholas Bicari (above, scoring a penalty goal), Canada looked odds on to win the bronze. It was a medal that was presented quickly after the match so that the team could get to the airport for the long flight home. Canada also had player of the match Dusan Aleksic guarding the goalmouth, something he did brilliantly in this match and most of the tournament. Canada played probably its best match of the week, keeping control throughout, something it has lacked in previous encounters.  At 3-1 by the quarter, Canada was looking sharp and the 5-1 halftime margin had Kazakhstan rocking. The margin was trimmed to 7-4 at the final break, but goals dried up for the Asian team. Bicari was brilliant, no doubt. He shot identical goals in the opening quarter from the top, an unaccustomed position for him as he normally rules the roost at two metres. He drilled one from the penalty line in the second quarter and then blasted one from eight metres down the throat in the fourth. His four goals lifted him to equal-second 18 on the high-scorers' list. Reuel D'Souza scored twice for 10 goals. For Kazakhstan it was a learning step for a team littered with youngsters. Yevgeniy Medvedev was restricted to one goal, taking him to fourth equal place on the list with 14 goals.

Both teams head to Belgrade for the Super Finals full of eagerness and expectations.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Pino Porzio (CAN) — Head Coach

"I'm happy for the bronze medal, it's the first Intercontinental medal for Canada men. It's a young team. On the game, I preferred that we control with some really smart water polo. We had big defence and this is a big step looking ahead."

Aleksic Dusan (CAN) — Goalkeeper and player of the match

“Great to win a medal. Last match is always very important for our team for the build-up. With a score of 9-4 it’s very good for us. I really wanted to make a big difference and I wanted to keep the score low and I wanted to have a really good defence."

On Canada's thoughts on the week:

 “It was great to work on our mental side. One game every day for six days, it’s demanding. To never give up, we showed that against China and in most important games, and then this final game for a medal. It’s never easy and we never gave up — we fought until the end. It was very important to us… it’s who wants it more, so today we really wanted it more. "

Dejan Stanojevic (KAZ) — Head coach

"It felt like Canada had one extra player and that made it difficult. Not just a difference in this match but all the tournament. And that was (Nicholas) Bicari. He was the best at this tournament. We didn't score in the first two periods and we missed open shots, which made it difficult. On the tournament, it was a very hard week, a game a day and the games were not easy. Teams were not perfectly prepared as it is mid season. We had three players turn up to the airport not having been in a plane before. The idea and the vision was to be in the first four teams for Belgrade. This was the only thing and we were satisfied. We have four (top) players not here, but these players here can see which level now and in the future to be better. The tournament was excellent, like every time in Australia. Compliments to the organisers."

W23, 16:15, Classification 3-4, CHINA 11 CANADA 8

Quarters: 2-2, 4-2, 2-1, 3-3

Referees: Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)

Extra man: CHN: 5/9. CAN: 2/9.

Penalties: CAN: 1/1.

Teams:

CHINA: Jiaqi Zhang, Xinyan Wang, Xiaohan Mei (1), Zihan Zhao (1), Guannan Niu (1), Jing Yan, Yiwen Lu, Cong Zhang (2), Huan Wang (3), Danyi Zhang (1), Xiao Chen (1), Jing Zhang (1), Yineng Shen. Head Coach: Dali Gong.

CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo (2), Axelle Crevier (1), Gurpreet Sohi, Monika Eggens, Kelly McKee, Joelle Bekhazi (1), Elyse Lemay-Lavoie (1), Hayley McKelvey (1), Amanda Amorosa, Kindred Paul (1), Shae Fournier (1), Claire Wright, Blaire McDowell. Head Coach: Pavlidis Theocharis.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

China collected bronze in an exciting match where Canada threw everything on attack, including the goalkeeper in the final minute.  A 4-2 second quarter for China was the difference, plus the 5/7 extra-man-attack conversion rate. Canada made just 2/9. There were plenty of chances for Canada, with centre forward Krystina Alogbo missing a short shot from centre forward with a slow shot and an open goal shot going wide. Those chances proved critical. Head coach Pavlidis Theocharis was irate with a goal-judge decision in the final quarter about a ball he thought did not cross the line. He pleaded for goal-line technology, which is included in the raft of new rules, but not yet initiated until technology is finalised. It came at a crucial time, but Canada was well behind. It spurred Canada to come back to 9-7 and 10-8 before Canada stretched it to 11-8 with 23 seconds remaining. China played its best match all week and Canada is still rebuilding. China's Huan Wang scored three for China to tally 14. Elyse Lemay-Lavoie and Hayley McKelvey were Canada's best shooters in Perth with 11 goals apiece.

Yineng Shen (CHN) —Goalkeeper and two-time winner of player of the match

“I am very happy. In this tournament I wanted to get MVP and have a good performance and I am happy to achieve this. The medal is OK, but we want to try and get a better result. Next time maybe we will make the final. This time (tournament) we focused on a different side so we will go back to China focus and on the opposite side – to get a more balanced team." 

Cora Campbell (CAN) — Team leader

"The match didn't go our way. We were working on things and we had new players trying a few things."

On the tournament:

"Top notch."

W24 17:30, Classification 1-2, AUSTRALIA 12 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 14 in penalty shootout (FT: 9-9)

Quarters: 3-3, 1-5, 2-1, 3-0. Pens: 3-5

Referees: Gabriella Varkonyi (HUN), Liang Zhang (CHN)

Extra man: AUS: 4/7. USA: 1/6.

Penalties: AUS: 1/1. USA: 4/5.

Teams:

AUSTRALIA: Lilian Hedges, Keesja Gofers (3 +1), Hannah Buckling (1 +1), Elle Armit, Isobel Bishop (1), Bronwen Knox, Rowie Webster (2 +1), Amy Ridge, Zoe Arancini, Lena Mihailovic (1), Jessica Zimmerman, Pascalle Casey, Gabriella Palm, Sophie Milliken, Nioka Thomas.

Head Coach: Predrag Mihailovic.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Gabrielle Stone, Jordan Raney (+1), Stephanie Haralabidis (2 +1), Rachel Fattal, Abrielle Hill, Honnie Vandeweghe, Jamie Neushul (1 +1), Kiley Neushul (2 +1), Brigitta Games, Kaleigh Gilchrist (2 +1), Jewel Roemer (1), Alys Williams (1), Ashleigh Johnson,. Head Coach: Adam Krikorian.

United States of America squeezed home with the title after a penalty shootout victory over the host nation in front of a 1000-strong crowd. USA was without star Maggie Steffens, the inspirational captain, who suffered a head injury against Canada the night before. However, USA's defence was strong in the first quarter with the able Ashleigh Johnson in goal. Saying that, the Aussie Stingers were stoic on defence as well with Gabriella Palm playing her 50th match and producing another outstanding performance. This came through in the second half when USA's 8-4 halftime lead with trimmed and eventually shattered as the Stingers won the third period 2-1 and the last by a magnificent 3-0, gaining the 9-9 equaliser through skipper Rowie Webster at 0:39. It was late coming but the crowd rose as one as the ploy was plotted at a timeout and the ball moved to Webster, who claimed her 22nd goal of the tournament, eight goals higher than second place-getter and team-mate Zoe Arancini. USA head coach Adam Krikorian was fuming early in the second quarter as the USA player moved forward on the penalty shot and it was disallowed. It would have been USA's fourth penalty strike. Krikorian was beside himself, yelling at the referee about the decision. However, that was 3-3 and USA raced to 8-4 almost making it a distant memory. Krikorian was still irate after the match as that missed opportunity came back to haunt the team. The shooter must not move forward from the 5m penalty line. Then came the shootout, with no-one heading to the drinks and food concession. Isobel Bishop had her first shot blocked while three more Aussie Stingers struck. Unfortunately, all five USA shooters nailed their attempts, even with the Aussie goalkeeper being substituted after the second. It was 14-13 and the fifth Aussie shooter was not required. USA had retained the Intercontinental Cup, winning four of the five titles. This goes with the Olympic, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Pan American crowns. Australia's extra-man scoring conversion rate was exceptional at 4/7 while giving up four penalties and restricting USA's extra-man count to 1/6.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Adam Krikorian (USA) — Head coach

"We are not in the best shape and we stopped attacking after halftime, but a great team like Australia, you can't hold them down forever. They were bound to score some goals. I didn't understand why they took one of our penalties away. She said our player moved forward and I don't have the angle to be able to see. Only the video will tell. With not having Maggie Steffens on the team everyone had to play a little bit more and a little bit better, and thankfully they did."

M24, 19:00, Classification 1-2, JAPAN 8 AUSTRALIA 10

Quarters: 2-3, 4-4, 1-3, 1-0

Referees: Voijin Putnikovic (SRB), Michael Goldenberg (USA)

Extra man: JPN: 1/8. AUS: 3/5.

Penalties: AUS: 1/1

Teams:

JAPAN: Katsuyuki Tanamura, Seiya Adachi (2), Irario Koppu Haruki, Mitsuaki Shiga, Takuma Yoshida, Atsuto Iida, Yusuku Shimizu, Mitsuru Takata (1), Atsushi Arai (1), Yusuke Inaba (2), Keigo Okawa (2), Kenta Araki, Tomoyoshi Fukushima. Head Coach: Yoji Omoto.

AUSTRALIA: Joel Dennerley, Richard Campbell, George Ford (1), Joseph Kayes (2), Nathan Power, Lachlan Edwards (4), Aidan Roach, Nicholas Brooks, Andrew Ford (1), Timothy Putt, Lachlan Hollis (1), Blake Edwards (1), Anthony Hrysanthos. Head Coach: Elvis Fatovic.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Match report

Australia came through with the gold medal after an enthralling match in which either team could have climbed to the top of the dais. In fact, a turnover decision late in the match took away the momentum from Japan and allowed the Aussie Sharks to control the final minutes and close out the match. The speed of reaction shooting of Japan appeals to most spectators and other teams are forced to try the same just to keep up. Often the ball went coast to coast with players spread over the whole surface of the pool. It was attractive water polo, played at lightning pace with brilliant ball skills making the difference when it came to converting goals. Japan opened the scoring but Australia had the quarter-time lead before a frantic second quarter set the arena alight. Japan equalised twice and went to the lead at 5-4. Australia retook the lead at 6-5 and led 7-6 at halftime. The third period was almost a dried well for Japan, scoring just once as Joe Kayes and the Edwards brothers, Blake and Lachlan, sent the match into the final quarter 10-7 ahead. Lachlan's backhander from two metres was a dream shot. Then it was time for Australia to go scoreless as Japan narrowed to 10-8 with seven minutes remaining. The frenetic activity around the final seven minutes was due heavily by the defence and the supreme prowess of Joel Dennerley in goal was vital to Australia's victory.

Joel Dennerley (AUS) — Goalkeeper, Player of the match

“Definitely a tough contest. We knew they would come out and fight the four quarters. We had a tough round game that went down to the last few seconds; we knew we needed to be switched on from the beginning and play right the way through. This week’s been about us getting together as a team. We’re spread out all across the world and we used the opportunity to play some competitive matches. For the next few months we’ll build towards World League (Super) Finals and ultimately (FINA) World Championships in July. Being isolated in Australia from Europe we need to take every opportunity to play some official matches against international opposition. For some of our younger guys who’ve only been in the squad for a few years it’s been a great opportunity to play on home soil in front of a great crowd. So, we’re very privileged to be able to do that." 

Yoji Omoto (JPN) — Head Coach

"Generally, we are satisfied with the team's performance although, we need to sharpen up our accuracy because we made some mistakes in the attack. We are very proud that we are spending the most amount of hours training in the world, therefore the team is very dedicated. We just need to keep talking [during the game] and shape up our defence. Until a few years ago we didn't expect that we would play such a close match with Australia. this just shows how much we have improved. We look forward to training with the team further so we can compete with the top teams in the world"

Keigo Okawa (JPN) — Captain

"Before the game, we anticipated a very close competition, therefore losing to Australia didn't come as a surprise. Going forward we need to improve our defence. Rather than just calling each other constantly to confirm our tactics, we need to improve our game and just do it instinctively."