FADED GLORY: The Cherry Blossoms are the United Nations of RWC. PHOTO/AP
EVER COME across species of cacti that flowers nocturnally once a year and wilts by sunrise?
Oversized and pretty, they tend to be vibrant in predominantly shades of ivory and vanilla with that subtle hint of an alluring scent.
Well, the Cherry Blossoms have just joined that nocturnal genus after their 32-30 upset victory over South Africa last Sunday at the Rugby World Cup.
Sure, I'm still smarting from picking the Boks to demolish the Japanese in the office sweepstakes.
To add to my agony, I made the monumental mistake of thinking - assumed on logic I'd hasten to add - they would maintain their giant-killing reputation over second-tier Scotland.
That aside, I didn't pick Georgia to outmuscle Tonga.
For what it's worth, it's great to see the "biggest upset" in rugby history from the Brave Blossoms.
In fact, the RWC organisers should be paying some sort of bonus to the South Africans for adding zest to the pool stages of the four-year tournament.
My initial reaction was Boks coach Heyneke Meyer and his stable are in the throes of engineering a more suitable path to the playoffs in terms of who would be the easier opposition but, it seems, that theory may be redundant as they can still finish on the top of their pool.
Is the politics of the racial quota system creating some sort of turbulence to the extent where conspiracy theorists can become stakeholders, too?
I doubt it. South Africa has too much pride as a sporting nation, let alone a rugby one, for protagonists to put a much-revered brand in jeopardy.
For me, just as France lost two games in the 2011 cup and still made the final in their one-point loss to the All Blacks, the Springboks remain the dark horses in this campaign.
It's pointless whipping up a frenzy about which teams are likely to miss the muster when some crucial games such as England v Wales (8am tomorrow), England v Australia, South Africa v Scotland, Wales v Australia and France v Ireland have yet to be played.
You see, that's the perennial aberration with the RWC. A shocking upset in any tourney comes with an unwritten but entrenched iffy clause that all isn't lost.
Without doubt, just as South Africa do, a nation tends to lose some face but, hey, no one ever loses sleep over it.
Meyer may find his head on the chopping block but if his side make it to the final, let alone win it, a good part of the disgruntled masses will forgive, if not forget, and that apathetic fan base will talk about Meyer the Mastermind.
The bigger issue facing the RWC architects is finding ways to whet the insatiable appetite of the rugby faithful who want to see underdogs score a try against overwhelming favourites, never mind doing the impossible.
That isn't about to happen anytime soon if the draw in the "pool of death" is anything to go by.
It's ridiculous that Fiji were expected to muster energy in five days against heavyweights England and Australia. It appears teams have to grumble, as Samoa did in 2011, to receive favourable draws.
If anything, this cup's draws should have been doctored for the sake of parity. Besides, world rankings mean nothing because teams adopt a different mindset.
It's hard to miss the imperial hangover of a referee awarding a try but with the help of TV replay and groans from a partisan English crowd, overturning his decision. Ironically a few days later another ref awarded a try without TMO referral to a Scotsman whose leg had strayed over the dead-ball line.
Even more amusing is the interpretation of a scrum that is going nowhere, never mind the murky tackled-ball area or whether it constitutes eye-gouging if the aggressor isn't even looking at the victim.
How much time does a Wallaby feed in a scrum need before its deemed to have stamped its supremacy?
The overwhelming answer: "It depends on whether Wallabies are a first-tier nation or a lower-tier one."
Sticking to the theme of realism, how many contracted foreign players can a team boast to maintain their sense of national identity?
For that reason Japan, with a roster heavy with mercenaries from New Zealand, Tonga and Australia, will never convince purists of their authenticity as a bona fide rugby nation.
Corporatism always will be a factor in any sport but Japan's United Nations set up is creating a precedent for a mongrel-mob mentality which will indubitably dilute the credibility of rugby although it does endorse the Asians as 2019 RWC hosts in the board game of monopoly.
As intoxicating as Japan's victory may be, it's difficult to get past the diplomacy of the All Blacks, France and South Africa in a bid to make perennial minnows appear as "emerging nations".
Conversely, to suggest SBW and Julian Savea, to name a few in the defending world champions' mix, had done enough against Namibia yesterday to warrant starting XV status at the business end is ludicrous.
Any such assertions are tantamount to insulting the intelligence of the rugby collective because, warm fuzzies aside, such mismatches serve little purpose in a tournament that begs cutting to the chase to the world's top eight immediately following a second-tier qualifying stage.