Japan stun South Africa 34-32 in Pool B cliffhanger
And it’s a very Japanese way of doing it.
Quite lovely. No, not because it’s the Saffas, but because it’s good rugby.
Well, yes, OK, it is partly because it’s the Saffas but still.
Japan stun South Africa 34-32 in Pool B cliffhanger
And it’s a very Japanese way of doing it.
Quite lovely. No, not because it’s the Saffas, but because it’s good rugby.
Well, yes, OK, it is partly because it’s the Saffas but still.
It got this neutral egging Japan on at the end. A thoroughly deserved win.
More evidence that the gap between the 1st and 2nd divisions of international rugby is closing.
That lick of paint on the Goldstone Ground worked a few wonders eh?
A win for the underdog is always good for making sport more exciting to watch.
The Japs turned down an injury time penalty, which could have given them an excellent draw, in order to go for the win. That is very impressive.
Wonderful, wonderful match to watch. Thoroughly outclassed in height and weight, the Japs made up the deficiencies with suicidal courage in the tackle and speed of thought with ball in hand. By the end of the game, the Saffers were run off their feet. Probably the game of the series for the uncommitted.
Thanks to the kind draw, the Boks should be able to recover, but if Japan managed to win the rest of their games, it very much changes the path to the final out of England’s group. Boks and ABs for coming top vs Japan and Frogs for coming second.
Can’t beat an underdog story, especially one which involves such attacking, running play. Haven’t shouted so loudly in a rugby match in( a week or two short of) 12 years…
Dorset
You were neutral?
Everyone hates the Boks. They’re the southern hemisphere version of England.
Great game, thoroughly deserved result.
As a Southern Hemisphere dweller, BiF, I can assure you most hated goes accolade belongs to the Aussies. If you say you’re an ABA, everyone knows you mean Anyone but Australia. It is because of their graceless in defeat, graceless in victory attitude across all sports.
Doc – I’m an ABAF – Anyone But Australia or France. I do watch Australia versus France games and have still to figure out which I wish to lose more. The rules of the game are complex but I’m not sure if there is a way for both teams to lose.
Quite like the Boks, but so pleased for Japan; let’s hope they can keep it up!
DocBud, you obviously haven’t lived in South Africa. They are just as graceless as the Aussie. It was nigh on impossible for any visiting rugby nation to win a test match before international referees were introduced for test matches.
I’ll have to admit to being a K1W1, but for me it’s ABE, anyone but England. rather Australia than the thoroughly undeserving English.
Not that i object to this result, great match.
bif,
It’s irrational but …
I worked in SA on a mobile phone license bid and got to like the place and people, except that small group of mostly rugby following whites who still thought they had divine right to a pampered lifestyle.
and even more irrational ….
My father was in the Fleet Air Arm in the Pacific at the end of the war and their ship brought back POWs. He didn’t talk about it much but his hatred of the Japanese has had an effect on me. I also met this guy when I attended a Poppy parade whilst working in Hong Kong. Yet I’ve not me a Japanese person I did didn’t like.
So I watched the game as a lover of the game and complete neutral and ended up cheering for Japan because I’m English and supporting the underdog when they are doing well comes natural, but like James I started off wanting them both to lose.
And well done to Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick. They got the tactics spot on…. don’t take the Boks on in an arm wrestle, tackle low as they aren’t that good at the off load and run the Boks ragged so they are tired in the last 20 mins.
It won’t work against more mobile team but that’s where coaches earn their money.
Fantastic game, and credit to the Japanese for going for the try at the end.
Re: the Boks, one of the stories that I noted prior to the World Cup was the amount of grief the management were getting from the government (or rather the ANC) over their selection policy.
When a party that selects Zuma for President thinks it can have a say in picking people who should survive 80+ minutes of one of the world’s toughest contact sports, you know you’re in trouble.
Compare and contrast with Mandela’s attitude in 1995 – get behind the team, let them select their people, and keep politics away from sport.
Goldstone Ground? That was turned into a row of warehouse style shops in late 90’s; this was the American Express ground built on cheaper land.
All part of returning England to an eighteenth century pre-industrial economy based on land values .
Good game though.Nigel Owens was at his most typical in refereeing Georgia v Tonga
Good for Japan and the world cup.
Quite lovely. No, not because it’s the Saffas
I’m sure you found it quite lovely when Japan beat England at the Women’s World Cup, too. :-p
Henry Crun,
We lived in South Africa for 12 years, two of our children were born there, will be holidaying there week after next. Not a fan of crunchies but most South Africans are lovely people. As are most Aussies, but it is written into the Constitution that any Aussie win was against the odds and any defeat was undeserved.
Ed Snack,
Please justify your comment re: thoroughly undeserving England. Preferably without resorting to the myth of being boring. Feel free to use vowels.
Ted S,
You must have a lot of free time. What ‘sport’ are you referring to?
DocBud,
You know very well. It is true that modern football can be a depressing litany of hissy fits, general squealing and ill-conceived hairstyles.
But you get none of that in the Women’s game.
Also, if you missed the Women’s World Cup, you missed England beating Germany in the 3rd Place Play-off.
Now you feel foolish.
Correct, Jack C.
England went out in the semis on an own-goal in second half stoppage time.
They would have gone out on penalties anyway. 😉
Doc Bud, if I have to explain, you simply don’t get it.
Re: the Boks, one of the stories that I noted prior to the World Cup was the amount of grief the management were getting from the government (or rather the ANC) over their selection policy.
I never quite got that: The ‘Boks have fielded Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen, and Tendai Mtawarira for years, with Habana and Mtawarira being two of the first names on the team sheet. More recently, Siya Kolisi has been added to the squad and looks to become a first choice at some point. Gio Aplon was looking good in the side until he bust his arm and went overseas.
I can’t think of a single coloured player that has been banging on the door and not getting picked. The good ones get picked and become legends, and there are plenty others in the Super XVs. All I can think of is these dickheads in the ANC want quotas, making the team mostly coloured. If that’s the case, then we can expect English and Australian rugby to improve dramatically as talent streams out to find a new home.
Ed Snack,
I don’t think England are thoroughly undeserving, quite the opposite, so no, I don’t get it. But with your silly cop out, I’ll never understand why you think they are.