Ireland boss Joe Schmidt claims Ireland are still in the mix for World Cup glory after being ambushed in Shizuoka.
Schmidt's eyes remain focused on the big prize - an historic first quarter-final victory against the All Blacks or the Springboks - despite that 19-12 loss to Japan last Saturday.
The 53-year-old is convinced that, as long as Ireland steer a smooth path past tomorrow's opponents Russia and then Samoa next week, they can hit full throttle against the big guns in the knock-out stages.
"Before the tournament, Japan worried me," confessed Schmidt. "Probably more than Scotland in a lot of ways, because we know Scotland inside out. We had only lost one of our last seven games against Scotland.
"It was the whole equation of Japan being capable of that outstanding effort, the fact that their games are nicely spaced - they're the home nation and it was disappointing when the home nation got beaten out the last time.
"We knew that they'd be really challenging."
Schmidt pointed to referee Angus Gardner's performance in the 19-12 loss to the Brave Blossoms.
He revealed that feedback from World Rugby confirmed that at least four of Ireland's nine penalties conceded against Japan were wrongly awarded -three for offisde and a scrum penalty at a vital moment.
"For us, the biggest disappointment is you've got to have confidence after the first 20 minutes, you've scored two tries, you feel like you've got a degree of control on the game," he said.
"Our scrum's very strong. It's disappointing to concede that scrum penalty and the feedback is that it was a tough call.
"But you've got to get above that and continue to be positive, and I'm still incredibly positive about this group.
"They're such a good group of young men that they are determined to make sure we get it right in these next two games.
"Then beyond that, it doesn't matter which team you play in the pool next door to us, it is a monumental game.
"It is probably the two form teams (New Zealand and South Africa), maybe along with England, in the world at the moment and we'd like to think we can be in that mix.
"And we have to maintain our focus on what's immediately in front of us with these next two games, and then attempt to really reach that level in the quarter-final".
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