Resolute Japan put on super show to blow away Scotland
After the devastation, the delirium. After the doubt, the certainty. Japan laid to rest any qualms about their right to compete among the elite, applied some balm to local grief after Typhoon Hagibis had done its worst, made us all appreciate the fact that the game was taking place at all with a performance that made the heart skip and the soul sing to go through to a quarterfinal against South Africa in Tokyo on Sunday, the first time Japan have ever reached the promised land. It was a gilt-edged performance.
Japan progress, Scotland depart – a clinical summation of a fullblooded occasion.
All that guff about legal action was tossed to the winds that still rustled around the stadium. Scotland lost, but at least they did it in the right way, in the flesh, guts out, lungs scorched, rallying hard with two tries in seven minutes early in the second half to evoke memories of that Calcutta Cup comeback, but not even the magician that is Finn Russell could pull another rabbit from the hat. Scotland played a full part but they exit at the pool stage for only the second time.
It was brilliant, it was breathless and it was beautiful, flushing away the bad vibes of the putative courtroom drama. Sport can never compensate for proper tragedy. But this spectacle, a ripper from first whistle to last, at least provided some alternative memories.
This was no fairy tale, either, as it had been four years ago in Brighton. In 2015, the Brighton miracle, was just that, a bolt from a clear blue sky. This has been different. Japan have played as if they believed that they would win. They had the structures and they had the spirit. In their wings, the two-try Kenki Fukuoka and Kotaro Matsushima, they have speedsters the equal of any; in Shota Horia, a hooker of unquenchable energy and, in captain Michael Leitch, a leader from the trenches. Japan play rugby as you might want it to be played: with verve, with cleverness, with alacrity, a fusion of thought and deed, of intelligence but might as well, thrusting through tackles.
Above all, you need precision. The handling was slick and constant, the angles sharply cut, the backup support unrelenting. The tempo, from both sides, never waned. To judge by the manner in which Japan formed a walking arrow-formation phalanx with Leitch at its head, the Brave Blossoms version of the haka, as they left the warm-up to thunderous roars of approval, the team were intent on showing their mettle. And they did.
Scotland came storming back from a 21-7 half-time deficit, forcing Japan to dig deep, to show that they could resist as well as dazzle.
The union of player and supporter in Japan has made for a wonderful backdrop to this World Cup, a growing sense of attachment and engagement, a desire to be in on the act as this band of brothers go about their business with grace, humility and serious intent.
Japan have put muscle and bone into the campaign and the country has given its heart and soul to complete the pact. The atmosphere was electric. The tragic events surrounding this occasion only served to compound the intensity. You might expect massed ranks of red in Cardiff, where rugby is the national sport, but here, where sumo, baseball and football rule the roost? It was an astonishing backdrop, moving, too, with a minute’s silence before kick-off for those who have suffered from Hagibis.
The host side have a doubleedged sword hanging over them: the backing of their people off-set by the responsibility that comes with it. It almost did for New Zealand in 2011 and to judge by the jittery look on Japanese faces on opening night, composure would be key to a performance. It was. Japan were not fazed by Scotland’s rapid-fire start, Russell touching down within seven minutes. Japan were not frazzled by nerves or consumed by doubt. What was enveloping them was a mission to fulfil, of drawing strength from the group.
It was remarkable that the game took place at all. Staff slept in the stadium overnight to ensure that everything that could be done to get the game played, would be done. Almost a metre of rain, four months’ worth, had fallen throughout Saturday as the typhoon gave this part of Japan a belting. By morning, it was as if it had never happened. But, of course, with fatalities and misery not far away, harsh realities were in everyone’s mind as well as the great distraction itself – sporting action.
Scotland knew that they would have to quell the passion of the crowd if they were to have any chance of subduing their opponents. They were backslapping from first whistle, led by towering lock, Jonny Gray. The stadium may have been against them, the country also, but they were up for the fight.
Japan, though, had their measure, sweeping all before them in a vivid first half, the wings both scoring as well as prop Keita Inagaki to seemingly set their side fair for the quarter-finals. But Scotland had other ideas, bless ’em, and what had looked to be something of a procession to glory became theatre of the highest order with WP Nel and Zander Fagerson piling over. Scotland had so much ground to make up and they strove valiantly to recover it. But this was Japan’s moment. “Nippon! Nippon!” echoed round the stadium. No one was going to deny them.