Kirwan relieved with draw

Japan coach John Kirwan admitted his side "got out of jail'' after snatching a controversial injury-time draw in the World Cup clash with Canada.

Kirwan's men scored a try well past the 80-minute mark after referee Jonathan Kaplan refused to halt the game with Canada leading 12-5 despite the ball going out of play for a lineout.

The 12-12 draw gave Japan the advantage in the battle to avoid the Pool B wooden spoon having played all their matches and with bottom-placed Canada facing Australia in their final game.

"It was like getting out of jail,'' Kirwan said after watching Koji Taira's dramatic late score and Shotaro Onishi's nerveless conversion.

"I thought we were pretty average but you can't question our courage and commitment. We showed a lot of courage.''

Kirwan's assistant Christopher Gibbes added: "It was a see-saw battle, an emotional roller-coaster. We have been saying we had to play 80 minutes and this time the gut stood out.''

Canada coach Ric Suggitt had no complaints about the outcome, saying: "We have been saying all week that they come on strong at the end of the game and that's what happened tonight. They deserved what they got.''

Captain and scrum-half Morgan Williams, whose clever crossfield kick set up what he thought was the winning try by Dth van der Merwe, said: "They came at us pretty hard and our kicking wasn't the best. We should have won the game and not let this happen.

"I think we are pretty dejected right now. But a tie is a lot better than a loss and we have to pick up the pieces for Australia.''

Suggitt added: "We will have to do something remarkable on Saturday for us not to finish last in our pool.''

The result helped Japan avoid their 14th successive defeat in World Cups, and denied Canada the chance to maintain their record of posting a win in every tournament for which they have qualified.

Japan started with great intensity and went ahead through Kosuke Endo's superb individual try.

After Japan stole the ball at the lineout, the wing steamrollered his way through the first line of defence before shrugging off another attempted tackle and touching down. Onishi missed the conversion.

Canada piled on the pressure and seven minutes into the second half their forward power finally told as Pat Riordan returned from 10 minutes in the sin-bin to eventually finish off after a succession of rolling mauls.

James Pritchard failed with the conversion to keep the scores level.

Williams then tapped and kicked a penalty crossfield to Van der Merwe for the easiest of touchdowns. This time, Pritchard made no mistake with the conversion.

As Canada did in the first half, Japan poured forward late on but they appeared to have failed to get the try they needed when the ball went for a lineout in stoppage time.

But Kaplan played on and Japan poured forward again, Taira eventually touching down in the corner.

Onishi kicked the conversion from out wide to spark jubilant celebrations among the Japanese players and dejection among their opponents.

Canada prop Jon Thiel said: "It feels like a loss right now. It is tough to take. Maybe it will be different tomorrow.''

Looking ahead to Australia, he added: "A lot of people have decided what the outcome will be and fair enough.

"We have to pick ourselves up and play hard and show them we are not going to lie down.''