‘Japan’s victory over Ireland is no surprise’
STEVE Borthwick is unsurprised by Japan’s stunning victory over Ireland after declaring the World Cup hosts now face tier-one opponents with the expectation of winning.
A 19-12 triumph over the Pool A heavyweights in Shizuoka has set the first Asian tournament ablaze, four years after the Brave Blossoms produced the greatest upset in rugby history by toppling South Africa.
Borthwick, England’s forwards coach, helped mastermind the Springboks ambush as part of Eddie Jones’ coaching team and the result was responsible for transforming the game in Japan.
And now the heroics against Ireland, who entered the World Cup at the summit of the global rankings, has offered sight of a first ever quarter-final.
“It wasn’t surprising. It was a good game to watch. They played very well, they played smart,” Borthwick said. “The big thing was the tenacity with which they play. They were impressive in that regard. They’ve got speed, they’ve got talent and then that tenacity.
“What 2015 did undeniably was lift rugby within Japan and it’s really important that they are effectively backing that up, building on what has been done before.
“A big area of development prior to 2015 was making the team believe they could win and having the expectation of winning, so to see them play the way they did was great.”
Japan will climb to a record position of eighth when the next set of global rankings are released, and Borthwick expects the bold decision to stage the World Cup on these shores will be rewarded.
“There’s a lot of competition for sport over here. Baseball gets a lot of support and rugby had dropped
■WALES boss Warren Gatland hailed his players’ composure and fitness after a memorable World Cup victory over Australia.
The Pool D showdown did not disappoint as Wales cruised into a 26-8 lead before Australia went within a point of drawing level - and were then finally broken by Rhys Patchell’s late penalty.
Wales’ 29-25 triumph keeps them on course for a down quite a bit before 2015,” the former England captain said. “The team in 2015 looked a lot at how they could grow the popularity of the sport and they felt a lot of responsibility for doing that.
“When you see the excitement in the stadiums with the supporters they have, the passion for the game potential last-eight fixture against France or Argentina - but Australia appear to be hurtling towards a quarterfinal clash against England.
“I would like to see them (Wales players) celebrate tonight,” Gatland said.
“They deserve to celebrate - it was a tough game and a great win. I thought our composure and fitness were really good and we soaked up a lot of pressure.” is there. As more people are exposed to the sport during this tournament, it can grow even bigger.”
England have swapped Kobe for Tokyo, where they will be located for the remainder of the group stage to play pivotal matches against Argentina and France. Jones names his team to face the Pumas on Thursday.