TheBreakdown
Men's Rugby World Cup 1987 · Ballymore, Brisbane | Meeanjin · 24 May 1987Head-to-head
Full-time reportFull time
USA won by 3 points.Half-time 11–15 · Tries 3–3

Pitch map

Layers

Swipe the pitch sideways to see it full size.

222735375879
Totals only: no positions in the feed
Tacklesmademissed
JPN4920
USA5428
Kicks at goalconv.pensdrops
JPN0/32/70
USA3/31/20
← USA attack · Japan attack →Hover a try for detail · dots = tackles made · dashed = penalty goal · orange = missed · squares = rucks · triangles = line breaks and defenders beaten · rings = turnovers · bars at the foot = zone counts · thin lines = kicks from hand = attacking entries and ball won per band
  • Territory is not in the feed for this match.
  • Zone counts are not in the feed for this match.
  • Tackle positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Kick positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Ruck, line break, turnover, lineout and kick-from-hand positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Tries with a dashed ring have no recorded position, so they sit in the in-goal at the end that side attacked.
Tries and goal kicks as a table
MinTeamWhatScore
22′JapanTry, Nofomuli Taumoefolau, conversion missed7–3
27′USATry, Mike Purcell, converted7–7
35′JapanTry, Kojiro Yoshinaga, conversion missed11–9
37′USATry, Ray Nelson, converted11–13
58′USATry, Blane Warhurst, converted14–19
79′JapanTry, Nofomuli Taumoefolau, conversion missed18–21
Sample dataTerritory shares are estimated, and tries without a recorded position are placed in the in-goal. Other positions are as logged by the match feed and approximate.

Score progression

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08152330HT0′20′40′60′80′
22′Nofomuli Taumoefolau27′Mike Purcell35′Kojiro Yoshinaga37′Ray Nelson58′Blane Warhurst79′Nofomuli Taumoefolau
JPN

Team stats

USA
50%Possession50%
102Carries82
311Metres gained242
8Clean breaks6
28Defenders beaten20
142Passes116
26Offloads15
49Tackles made54
20Tackles missed28
20/33Rucks won36/45
19/27Lineouts won16/20
23/24Scrums won17/19
2/2Mauls won2/3
6Penalties conceded16
45Kicks from hand66
Goal kicking
JPN conversions 0/3, penalties 2/7 · USA conversions 3/3, penalties 1/2. Pale segment = set piece lost.

Match statistics and event positions come from World Rugby’s public match feed, which is unofficial and not licensed for reuse; TheBreakdown reduces them to the figures shown. This feed has team statistics but no positions for this match.

Line-ups

Japan

  1. 1Koji YasumiProp
  2. 2Tsuyoshi FujitaHooker
  3. 3Koji HoraguchiProp
  4. 4Toshiyuki HayashiSecond row
  5. 5Atsushi OyagiSecond row
  6. 6Katsufumi MiyamotoFlanker
  7. 7Sinali LatuFlanker
  8. 8Michihito ChidaNumber 8
  9. 9Hisataka IkutaScrum-half
  10. 10Seiji HiraoFly-half
  11. 11Shinji OnukiWing
  12. 12Eiji KutsukiCentre
  13. 13Kojiro YoshinagaCentre
  14. 14Nofomuli TaumoefolauWing
  15. 15Shogo MukaiFull-back
  16. 16Tsutomu HiroseBench
  17. 17Toshitaki KimuraBench
  18. 18Seiji KuriharaBench
  19. 19Mitsutake HagimotoBench
  20. 20Katsuhiro MatsuoBench
  21. 21Daijiro MuraiBench

USA

  1. 1Rick BaileyProp
  2. 2John EverettHooker
  3. 3Fred PaoliProp
  4. 4Kevin SwordsSecond row
  5. 5Ed BurlinghamSecond row
  6. 6Blane WarhurstFlanker
  7. 7Gary LambertFlanker
  8. 8Brian VizardNumber 8
  9. 9Mike SaundersScrum-half
  10. 10Joe ClarksonFly-half
  11. 11Gary HeinWing
  12. 12Roy HeluCentre
  13. 13Kevin HigginsCentre
  14. 14Mike PurcellWing
  15. 15Ray NelsonFull-back
  16. 16Mike CaulderBench
  17. 17Dave HortonBench
  18. 18Dave DicksonBench
  19. 19Tony RidnellBench
  20. 20Neal BrendelBench
  21. 21Pat JohnsonBench

Match officials

Sample data
Referee
Sample Referee
Assistant referee
Sample Assistant 1
Assistant referee
Sample Assistant 2
TMO
Sample TMO

Sample data Match officials is placeholder content: TheBreakdown has no data source for it yet, so nothing here is real.

Context

All-time, Japan 13–13 USA, 1 drawn in 27 scored Tests. Full head-to-head

Japan going in
USA going in

Also on this day

Results to 27 September 2026. Scoring and line-ups come from World Rugby match summaries where available; older Tests may have neither.