Rugby World Cup: Japan’s old guard to the fore on glorious night for host nation

On the crowded Keio train down to the main afternoon billing, the Australians weren't talking about what to expect from the Welsh. They were still transfixed by the Saturday evening rugby game and the dauntless exploits of the hosts. They kept revisiting key moments and scenes. It was Ireland's misfortune to be the team and country against whom Japan caught fire in a way that has grabbed the attention of the country.

On Saturday evening in Shizuoka, Jamie Joseph gave a partial glimpse into what had gone into preparing for the night. It was a huge feather in the cap of the former All Black, who also represented Japan at the 1999 World Cup. Everything went perfectly, from reeling Ireland back after getting caught out with two early cross-kicks which led to both of the Irish tries, to enjoying a rampant closing 20 minutes when the Irish visibly wilted and stalled in the unforgiving and dead pitchside heat.

“The big focus for us this week was to put in the tackles and we knew how Ireland would come at us,” Joseph said.

“They surprised us a couple of times with cross-kicks and caught our wingers out and scored a couple of tries, so there was something we needed to adjust to. But teams go to a certain pattern under pressure and when we got ahead, the Irish tried to take us on physically.

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“I think mentally we were prepared for that. But you still have to make those tackles. There were some critical turning points when the players just showed some courage and were able to hold out a very tough Irish attack. And it’s those moments in big games that win the game.”

But the strange thing was that Ireland, one of the most reliably patterned and set-piece performers in the first tier under Schmidt, didn’t revert to any identifiable pattern at all after the Japanese had begun to successful dictate the tempo and flow of the game.

Trailing 16-12 following Kenki Fukuoka’s try on the hour mark, the situation was serious but not critical. Most people would back a clear-thinking and operating Irish team to calmly climb out of this hole: to slow the game with an injury, to gain a bit of territory, to engineer a penalty and squeeze the Japanese over the last quarter.

Instead, the pace of the game actually increased. The Irish players – wisely – didn't use the sapping warmth as an excuse. But the fatigue was obvious and it remains a concern. Japan were still full of running in the 80th minute, gunning for a fourth try and maybe the most sobering moment of the evening was the closing act, when Joey Carbery kicked for touch so that Ireland could hold onto what they hadn't got.

But questions remain. The Irish were drained while Luke Thompson, back in elite rugby after retiring from the game and the tournament's oldest player, looked comfortable over the hour he played before dragging his spent body to the sideline.

“I just got the itch,” he said on Saturday evening of his 11th hour return to Japan.

“ I saw the boys playing and I was watching them last year and I must have been very animated watching it cos my wife said, ‘do you want to be still out there?’ and I said, ‘yeah, yeah, I’d love to be out there’. And she said, ‘well, why don’t you?”

In fact, it was the veterans of so many punishing experiences who brought the challenge to Ireland, from captain Michael Leitch coming in as a replacement after half an hour to hooker Shota Horie, whose was emblematic of Japan's play-everything and try-everything approach.

“This year he has been in great form,” said Joseph of the dreadlocked 33-year-old.

“He is a quality rugby player. Physically, set-piece is something that when I first came to Japan wasn’t on his high priority list. He was renowned for his skill and his X-factor as a hooker, which is not normal. But now he has been able to do both – he has got back passes, kicks in behind, he can tackle like a flanker, he can jackal like a flanker. I think he is the ultimate tight forward and he is a big reason why we performed so well tonight.”

Japan celebrated with abandon afterwards: fireworks over the stadium, the players dancing around, the supporters hanging around the seats for the longest time afterwards, inhaling the last of the magic. They were right to, even if nothing has been won or lost. In an odd way, this brilliant win puts Japan under a new kind of spotlight now.

“We’ve got a goal to make the top eight and we’re not there yet,” said Joseph. “We know that 2015 we won three games and still missed out. That hangs in the background but we are a new team and we still know the challenges we have. We have two really good teams to play still. And this shows you if you are not 100 per cent on your game you can lose to anyone.”

For Ireland, words that sting.