Japan's head coach Jamie Joseph, right, hugs captain Pieter Labuschagne after winning over Ireland. Photo / AP
Japan's head coach Jamie Joseph, right, hugs captain Pieter Labuschagne after winning over Ireland. Photo / AP
Talking points from Japan's incredible Rugby World Cup triumph over Ireland.
YOU BRING A LITTLE DYNAMITE
Bruce Springsteen was singing about making a highway run, not sport, but for a Rugby World Cup to catch fire it needs something really dramatic, a little dynamite. Four years ago it was Japanbeating South Africa. Back in 1987 it was John Kirwan scoring against Italy. The most boring Cup, in 2007, might have come alight when France rolled the All Blacks in a quarter-final, but the French then burnt out against England in Paris, and the tournament rolled to a dreary conclusion with South Africa managing to stay awake slightly longer than an equally tedious England team to win. But this Cup? The 19-12 win by the Brave Blossoms over Ireland was a triumph in every possible way, the result in itself a promoter's dream, and the way it was achieved a blessing for those who get more pleasure from high wire, risk taking, running and passing, than the kick and chase that got Ireland ahead 12-3 early in the game.
NOW THEY REALLY CAN PARTY AT TONY BROWN'S PLACE
The Highlanders/Otago influence was all over the Japanese victory. Coach Jamie Joseph and his assistant Tony Brown first played together for Otago back in 1995, and the daring way Japan approached their task was a reflection of the glory days at Carisbrook when Joseph and Brown shared the stage with exciting players like Jeff Wilson and Marc Ellis.
Japan's head coach Jamie Joseph, right, hugs captain Pieter Labuschagne after winning over Ireland. Photo / AP
So it was a moment of lovely nostalgia to see that when Japanese halfback Fumiaki Tanaka was shouting instructions in the last stages of the game the mouthguard he wore sported his old Highlander colours, blue and gold.
SO WAS THAT DUMB, SMART, OR JUST GIVING IN?
There are some moments a player would probably like forever erased from the memory bank. Poor Joey Carbery had two in the game at Shizuoka. At the 74 minute mark the replacement Irish first-five, with a converted try needed to draw the game, was given the ball on the Irish 10 metre line for a penalty kick to touch. Ireland wanted a lineout well inside the Japanese 22. Carbery rushed the kick, and Ireland found themselves throwing in off a measly 20 metre gain. Then, with the hooter for fulltime gone, and Ireland in possession but hard against their own line, Carbery kicked the ball out, to end the game.
"The ball kinda came quickly to me", he said afterwards. "I knew we were still in with a losing bonus point and I didn't see too many other options on, so I just put it out". Coach Joe Schmidt has a well earned reputation as one of the most decent guys in the game, so little wonder he backed his player, saying the bonus point could be vital when the knockout stage was reached. So far so sort of reasonable, but gee, it sure looked like meek surrender at the time.
MANNERS NEVER GO OUT OF FASHION
It's one of the quirks of different rugby crowds that some stay politely silent when an opposing kicker lines up a shot at goal. One place you'll find that still is in Ireland. Another is Japan. So no wonder there was an almost cathedral like hush over the ground whenever a kick was taken in Shizuoka. All Black first-five Andrew Mehrtens once suggested to me that he'd become so used to booing and yelling and even, in France, fireworks being set off, that if fans really wanted to spook him all they'd need to do was stay very, very quiet. I grew up when being polite and silent for a kicker was the norm in this country. There's a lot that's better about rugby now, from fitness to skills, but it'd be great to hear the respect shown kickers by Irish and Japanese fans replicated by all New Zealand crowds too.
WHERE'S A CALCULATOR WHEN YOU NEED IT?
The loss to Japan means that Ireland may yet end up playing the All Blacks in a quarter-final on 19 October, should Japan win Pool A, and Ireland finish second. I wish no ill to the Brave Blossoms, but wouldn't it be a game for the ages in Tokyo if Japan finished second in the pool, and played the All Blacks, who will surely win Pool B? It isn't a Kiwi conceit to believe the All Blacks are the Japanese fans' second favourite team, so the crowd fervour at such a match would be off the scale.
YOU'RE AWFUL, BUT WE STILL LOVE YOU
Australian Peter FitzSimons wrote a "memories of the World Cup" story which included a line so sneaky, and so cheeky, it was impossible to not laugh. Writing of the 2011 World Cup final, he said, "The All Blacks beat France, in a match where, every now and then, Richie McCaw was spotted onside."
