New Zealand Maori swept Japan aside in Napier in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday, winning 65-22 courtesy of a second-half try shower that included a hat-trick from Hosea Gear.
The ever-improving Japanese actually led 22-17 at half-time of an enthralling match, but ran out of steam against the more powerful Maori in the second half.
The win now sets the Maori up -- Sunday's result permitting -- for a winner-takes-all showdown against Australia A next weekend.
The Maori ran in 10 tries in all.
Japan's James Arlidge got the scoreboard ticking over with an early penalty, but the Maoris struck twice within four minutes shortly after, with Zar Lawrence finishing off a break by Piri Weepu and Liam Messam stealing maul ball to set Callum Bruce away.
But the Japanese struck back, with another quick-fire brace of tries. Full-back Bryce Robins finished off a move sparked by a half-break from Shaun Webb, and then wing Christain Loamanu found space out wide to score after the Japanese had stolen Maori line-out ball.
The Maori regained the lead once more when Messam drew the defence in the centres to create just enough space for inside centre Tamati Ellison to go over in the corner.
But Japan blindside flanker Luke Thompson crossed after Webb fielded a poor clearance kick, and fed Robins, who ran straight and hard up the middle before finding the supporting Thompson. Arlidge's conversion gave Japan their 22-17 lead at the break.
Gear drove over for his first try after a concentrated forwards build-up, then moments later, after 55 minutes, he latched onto a good pass from prop Jacob Ellison after Webb lost the ball in the tackle.
Full-back Dwayne Sweeney then touched down, before Gear completed his hat-trick as Japan crumbled
Lawrence and Bruce both added their second tries as the Maori bench ran the Japanese ragged, and centre Jason Kawau finished off the romp in the final minute.
"We were disappointed and there were some harsh words said at half-time," Maori captain Tamati Ellison said.
"We were confident in our ability to open things but frustrated that we hadn't done so in the tournament so far. We stuck with it and things eventually did open up for us."
Japan captain Tomokazu Soma regretted his team had not been able to sustain its first-half effort.
"We did our best in the first half," he said.
"I was really proud of our first half and proud of the game but we failed to maintain that so I am not satisfied. We are very disappointed."
The scorers:
For NZ Maori:
Tries: Lawrence 2, Bruce 2, Ellison, Gear 3, Sweeney, Kawau
Cons: Bruce 6
Pen: Bruce
For Japan:
Tries: Robins, Loamanu, Thompson
Cons: Arlidge 2
Pen: Arlidge
New Zealand Maori: 15 Shannon Paku, 14 Glen Horton, 13 Jason Kawau, 12 Tamati Ellison (co-captain), 11 Zar Lawrence, 10 Callum Bruce, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Liam Messam (co-captain), 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Hoani MacDonald, 5 Jason Eaton / Isaac Ross, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Bronson Murray, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Jacob Ellison.
Replacements: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 Keith Cameron, 18 Thomas Waldrom, 19 Scott Waldrom, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Dwayne Sweeney, 22 Hosea Gear.
Japan: 15 Bryce Robins, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imamura, 12 Shotaro Onishi, 11 Christian Loamanu, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Tomoki Yoshida, 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani, 7 Hare Makiri, 6 Luke Thompson, 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Tomoaki Taniguchi, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Taku Inokuchi, 1 Yuta Inose.
Replacements: 16 Naonori Mizuyama, 17 Yosuke Ikegaya, 18 Koji Shinozuka, 19 Yoshitaka Nakayama, 20 Fumiaki Tanaka, 21 Shaun Webb, 22 Hiroki Yoshida.
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
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