Pumas put 54 past Japan

Argentina started their November Test campaign with an impressive 54-20 win over Japan at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.

They led 21-6 at half-time thanks to tries from Matías Moroni and Nicolás Sánchez, with Sánchez kicking three penalties and a conversion.

Yu Tamura's two penalties put the Brave Blossoms on the board but they were rarely in this contest as Argentina kept them out of reach.

Santiago Cordero kicked off the second-half scoring with a 42nd minute try before Moroni crossed for his second seven minutes later in Tokyo.

Finally Japan's fans had something to cheer on 52 minutes when powerful number eight Amanaki Lelei Mafi crossed to make it 35-13.  However, Sánchez and Cordero then scored near the hour mark before replacement scrum-half Tomás Cubelli went over to extend the scoreline to 54-13.

A late try from Japan wing Lomano Lava Lemeki, converted by Tamura, was the final act, as Argentina now travel to Europe full of confidence.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Mafi, Lemeki
Cons:  Tamura 2
Pens:  Tamura 2

For Argentina:
Tries:  Moroni 2, Sánchez 2, Cordero 2, Cubelli
Cons:  Sánchez 5
Pens:  Sánchez 3

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 13 Amanaki Lotoahea, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa (cc), 11 Akihito Yamada, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 7 Yuhimaru Mimura, 6 Uwe Helu, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie (cc), 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Kotaro Yatabe, 20 Malgene Ilaua, 21 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 22 Takahiro Ogawa, 23 Timothy Lafaele

Argentina:  15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Lucas Noguera
Replacements:  16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Leonardo Senatore, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Craig Maxwell-Keys (England), Tim Baker (Hong Kong)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)