Jamie’s shock troops leave Irish stunned
Hosts Japan have stunned world No 2 Ireland in the biggest upset of the Rugby World Cup.
Four years after shocking South Africa at the 2015 World Cup, the Jamie Joseph-coached Japan were at their giant-killing best in their thrilling 19-12 win in Shizuoka yesterday.
The upset has implications for the All Blacks, who will play the team which finishes second in Pool A in the quarterfinals, as long as they finish on top of Pool B.
Japan captain Lappies Labuschagne said it was ‘‘difficult to put into words’’ what the victory meant.
Reflecting on the shock result against South Africa four years ago, he said: ‘‘That was a great game, but we came into this tournament knowing what we wanted to do.
‘‘Thanks to each and every one of you for coming out to support us.’’
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt admitted Japan had raised their game to ‘‘furious’’ levels.
‘‘We felt we played well in the first quarter, then stopped playing to a degree,’’ he said.
‘‘It was pretty difficult, we fell the wrong side on the penalty count and they could have gone either way with the offsides.
‘‘That gave them the front foot, they didn’t come off the button.
‘‘What a furious, intense effort it was. We knew potentially it was coming.
‘‘We are disappointed we didn’t manage to control the end of the game. Congratulations to them.’’
Japan trailed 12-3 after 21 minutes, before Yu Tamura slotted a couple of penalty goals to pull them to within 12-9 at halftime.
They enjoyed a wealth of possession inside Ireland’s half in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but struggled to convert it into points as Tamura pulled a 40m penalty goal attempt wideleft, his second miss of the game.
However, with a vocal and passionate home crowd sniffing a boilover, the 10th ranked side in the world hit the front when replacement Kenki Fukuoaka dived over out wide.
Tamura’s successful conversion made it 16-12 with a quarter of the match to run, before he extended their lead with a 72nd minute penalty.
Fukuoaka almost iced the game with a 60m intercept try in the waning minutes, but was dragged down a few metres short by a desperate Keith Earls tackle.
Ireland had one last chance to steal the match after Japan spilled the ball attempting to close the game out, but Irishman Joey Carbery inexplicably kicked the ball out.
‘‘What a furious, intense [Japan] effort it was.’’ Ireland coach Joe Schmidt