Japan upset lights up World Cup as Argentina, Springboks back on track
The Rugby World Cup exploded into life on Saturday as Japan produced one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history on home turf, stunning the highly fancied Ireland 19-12.
The Brave Blossoms were magnificent against the Irish, who came into the tournament ranked the best side in the world, and were roared on by a passionate crowd of 47,000 in Shizuoka.
The result throws Pool A wide open, as Japan took a huge stride toward their first-ever quarter-final from a group that also includes Scotland. In the earlier World Cup game, Argentina got their campaign back on track after an agonizing opening loss against France, beating a spirited Tongan side 28-12 with the help of a hat-trick from hooker Julian Montoya. South Africa routed Namibia as expected, also bouncing back after their loss to defending champions New Zealand in their tournament opener to record a 57-3 victory.
The Springboks ran in nine tries against their fellow Africans, a mismatch that became even more pronounced when the Namibians went down to 14 men toward the end of the game, the second yellow card of the match. But it was the Japan-Ireland contest that everyone was waiting for although even the most partisan home fan could not have predicted that the hosts would turn over their illustrious Six Nations opponents. “We've got another couple of games to go but we'll enjoy tonight I reckon,” grinned Japan coach Jamie Joseph. “We're very proud of the players.”
Ireland had polished their credentials as one of the tournament favorites by beating Scotland 27-3 in their opener but the defeat to Japan leaves their qualification for the knock-out stages uncertain.
“We'll not be happy with how we played but we'll have to dust ourselves down and get better,” said Ireland captain Rory Best.
Coach Joe Schmidt said a few of the offside penalties that went against them “could have gone either way” but hailed the Brave Blossoms for a result that rivals their “miracle of Brighton” win over South Africa in 2015.
The Brave Blossoms will now target the Scotland match, the last game of the pool phase, to shore up their route through to a firstever quarter-final, with their next game against Samoa, on a short turnaround, on Oct. 5.
Scotland were poor by their own admission against the Irish and coach Gregor Townsend changed his entire backrow for their now critical clash against the Samoans on Monday.