Typhoon tragedy inspired historic triumph — Joseph
‘This game was all for you, we played with our heart’, Japan captain tells suffering locals
Japan’s Kiwi coach Jamie Joseph says the impact of Typhoon Hagibis inspired his team’s historic Rugby World Cup quarter-final appearance. Hagibis, the largest storm to hit Japan for 61 years, caused death and widespread destruction as it reached the mainland overnight on Saturday.
Wild winds, heavy rain and flooding forced the cancellation of three World Cup pool games — New Zealand’s match against Italy, England against France and Namibia’s quest for their first win in this arena over Canada.
The typhoon also threatened to wipe out Japan’s final pool game against Scotland in Yokohama — much to the anger of the Scots, who desperately needed to win to stay alive in the cup.
Scotland might now be wishing it could have been called off as the Bravehearts went down to the Brave Blossoms, Japan winning 28-21 to remain unbeaten and advance from the group stages for the first time.
Rather than toast success, Joseph immediately turned attention to locals affected by the huge storm.
“It’s important to acknowledge what went on last night with regards to the typhoon,” Joseph said after his side scored four tries, three in the first half, to book their quarter-final with the Springboks on Sunday.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of publicity around the rugby side of things but when we woke up this morning 19 people were killed in the typhoon. There were a further 12 people missing.
“We talked about that as a team. Sometimes those sorts of things can be overwhelming but I think that came out in the match, particularly when there were times when it was really tough.
“Whilst we’re celebrating about our victory there are a lot of people that are really suffering and that really helped our players today.”
Japan captain Michael Leitch, who continues to prove an inspirational figure in the loose forwards, followed Joseph’s theme around the desire to play for the people of Japan.
“This game was more than just us,” Leitch said. “There are a lot of people out there suffering from the typhoon — this game was all for you.
“First of all for this game to happen there were a lot of people who did a lot of hard work — there were guys up all night with sponges sweeping the ground,” Leitch said.
“The crowd was massive for us. Today was more than just a game for us. From the very start we played with our heart. We’re grateful for the opportunity to inspire Japan. At this time Japan needs that and we showed that for 80 minutes.
“This is great for not just Japanese rugby but rugby in Asia. For us to qualify for the quarter-finals, now we’re shifting the goal posts.”
Joseph said the passionate support of the Japanese public was fundamental to the team’s tenacity.
“A lot of that has to do with what’s going on inside our own camp and the fact we’re playing a home World Cup. We all feel and see the amount of support that’s behind our team and that’s incredibly motivational.”
As momentum builds and the nation swings behind his team, Joseph said they had thousands of fans applauding them at their hotel, while he experienced the feeling of royalty in front of the crowd.
“It’s a little bit different, especially for me being from a small town in New Zealand, and it’s different for us as a rugby team.
“It’s hugely motivational and we understand we’re representing the nation.”
As for Sunday’s clash against South Africa, after upsetting the Springboks at the last World Cup in 2015, Leitch promised a fierce contest.
“We’re not coming out next week to have a good game and lose. We’re coming out to win.”