JAPAN CLIMB

TO NEW HIGH IN RANKINGS

Japan rose to a record ranking high of seventh yesterday after their historic run to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, providing some respite as the host nation reels from a deadly typhoon.

As rival teams and Japan’s public united in praise, the Brave Blossoms climbed to one place above France and also higher than Scotland, Argentina and Italy.

It came on the back of Sunday’s 28-21 win over Scotland which put Japan into their first World Cup quarter-final at the top of Pool ‘A’, and in some style after four superb running tries.

The game had added poignancy as it came a day after Typhoon Hagibis smashed through Japan, killing dozens of people and triggering landslides and flooding.

The match was only confirmed at the last minute after safety inspections.

“The brave performance of Japan Rugby Team, who never give up will give courage and energy to those who suffered damage from the typhoon,” tweeted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Sunday’s victory carried echoes of 2011 when the Japanese Women’s Football Team lifted the World Cup, embodying the resilience of a nation recovering from the deadly earthquake and tsunami earlier that year.

Although reports of the typhoon dominated Japanese newspapers, the rugby victory featured on the front pages of all the major titles, including the Nikkei Business Daily.

“Cherry in full bloom,” the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun wrote in a headline, using Japan’s original nickname of the

Cherry Blossoms - now usually given as the