Wales 98 Japan 0

Wales ran in 14 tries in their biggest ever winning margin against a raw, outclassed Japan in Cardiff.

Captain Colin Charvis equalled the Wales record of four tries in a match, Tom Shanklin got a hat-trick, and Rhys and Shane Williams claimed braces.

Mefin Davies, Gethin Jenkins and Gareth Cooper got the other scores, Gavin Henson landing all 14 conversions in a flawless kicking display.

Wataru Ikeda missed one penalty in Japan's only points-scoring chance.

Wales' plans were disrupted moments before kick off when a stomach muscle injury forced Brent Cockbain out, Mike Owen moving to lock with Ryan Jones in at No 8.

It hardly ruffled the home side, though, and after just three minutes a forward drive from a line-out saw captain Colin Charvis cross for the opening try.

A massive 56,380 crowd saw Owen inspire an attack from the restart, and after the ball was recycled on the Japanese 22 it came to Rhys Williams in midfield who dummied his way over.

A beautiful Shane Williams break from his own 22 took him into the opposition half where he fed Henson, the No 12 choosing to send Charvis in for his second score rather than going for the line himself.

Charvis nearly got his hat-trick five minutes later, but was held up a metre short, allowing Davies to pick up for his second try in as many games.

Japan managed to stretch the Wales defence with an extended period of attacking play, but another Shane Williams break from deep in his own half ended up with an easy try for Shanklin.

The centre then doubled his tally by showing the strength to split the midfield defence for another score.

Charvis got his hat-trick with an eight-metre run, before a Cooper snipe set up prop Jenkins for a 25m gallop to the line.

Japan had a chance to get on the scoreboard with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but scrum-half Ikeda's kick fell short, leaving it 56-0 at the break.

Five minutes after the restart, a Jenkins charge ruptured the visitors' defence, the prop feeding Charvis who ran in from half-way for his record-equalling score.

The scoring slowed as Wales appeared to lose interest and concentration, but a Cooper snipe saw the scrum-half over for Wales' 10th try on 55 minutes.

Japan then lost attacking ball, Wales firing straight back downfield for Shane Williams to score.

Shanklin then got his hat-trick and his eighth try in his last three Wales games, Henson's successful conversion breaking Neil Jenkins' Wales record of 11 in one game.

Wales broke from their own 22 for the best try of the game, the ball going through Henson's, Shanklin's and Kevin Morgan's hands before Shane Williams went in for his 21st international try, overtaking the marks of Gerald Davies and Gareth Edwards.

A 75-metre touch-line run by Rhys Williams and a glorious conversion from Henson brought Wales to within two points of the 100 mark.

But the visitors held on in the dying minutes to prevent Wales breaking the 100-point barrier for just the second time in their history.

That was the 102-11 win over Portugal in 1994, Wales' previous highest winning margin.

Points Scorers:

Wales (56) 98
Tries:  Charvis (4), R Williams (2), Davies, Shanklin (3), Jenkins, Cooper, S Williams (2)
Cons:  Henson (14)

Japan (0) 0

The teams:

Wales:  R Williams (Blues), H Luscombe (Dragons), G Henson (Ospreys), T Shanklin (Blues), S Williams (Ospreys), C Sweeney (Dragons), G Cooper (Dragons), Duncan Jones (Ospreys), M Davies (Neath RFC), G Jenkins (Blues), M Owen (Dragons), J Thomas (Ospreys), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), C Charvis (Newcastle, capt), R Jones (Ospreys).
Replacements:  S Jones (Dragons), A Jones (Ospreys), A Popham (Leeds), M Williams (Blues), M Phillips (Scarlets), M Watkins (Scarlets), K Morgan (Dragons).

Japan:  R Miki (World Fighting Bull), K Kubota (NEC Green Rockets), M Mukoyama (NEC Green Rockets), Y Motoki (Kobelco Steelers), H Daimon (Kobelco Steelers), H Yoshida (Kubota Spears), W Ikeda (Sanyo Wild Knights), Masahito Yamamoto (Toyota Motor Verbitz), T Yamaoka (Suntory Sungoliath), R Yamamura (Yamaha Motors), H Kiso (Yamaha Motors), T Kumagae (NEC Green Rockets), F Mau (World Fighting Bull), N Okubo (Japan RFU), T Miuchi (capt, NEC Green Rockets).
Replacements:  Mitsuga Yamamoto (Sanyo Wild Knights), Y Hisadomi (NEC Green Rockets), T Yamaguchi (Kubota Spears), H Ono (Toshiba Brave Lupus), K Tanaka (Suntory Sungoliath), S Shimomura (Sanyo Wild Knights), K Sawaki (Suntory Sungoliath).

Attendance:  56,380
Referee:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)