The lives of Japan’s players were transformed after the final whistle sounded on Saturday against Ireland in Shizuoka. Victory against the team ranked No 1 in the world at the start of the World Cup turned virtual unknowns in their own country into celebrities, now mobbed when they appear in public.
“It was an historic win and we have received loads of comments and congratulations,” said Kenki Fukuoka, whose second-half try put Japan ahead and turned the game. “I went into a convenience store and was overwhelmed with support.
“This has to be just a beginning for us and we are not getting carried away. Our next game is Samoa and that is all we must think about. Each player in the squad has to keep focusing on our goals. It was not easy against Ireland, who had huge players and were very strong. Samoa are another physical side and we have to improve.”
Japan provided the shock of all World Cup tournaments when they defeated South Africa in Brighton four years ago and went on to become the first team not to make the knockout stage after winning three of their pool matches. Fukuoka believes they are a better, more rounded squad now.
“It is a changed environment. We prepare differently and we are better equipped to fix problem areas as we go along. We know that what happened on Saturday means nothing on its own: our next game is critical in terms of us getting to the quarter-finals.”
Yu Tamura, whose boot supplied the rest of Japan’s points against Ireland, said the Brave Blossoms had to forget about the weekend heroics and treat Saturday’s game against Samoa as if it were the first in the group. “We have to start from scratch,” the fly-half said.
“We have to make sure we are fully prepared. It is great that we have made such an impact on people here but we have to keep focusing on ourselves. It was a big win over Ireland, but it was not that shocking. Having a longer break between our first and second games than we did four years ago made a difference.”
The hooker Shota Horie, who played the entirety of both matches against South Africa and Ireland, said: “We have definitely got stronger since 2015 and the public response since Saturday has been really great, but we only celebrated for a day before turning our attention to Samoa.”
Ireland face Russia in Kobe on Thursday, still on course to make the quarter-finals after claiming a bonus point on Saturday but as runners-up rather than pool winners.
“The defeat is close to the bottom as far as my career goes,” said the Ireland No 8 CJ Stander, who rated his red card against South Africa in 2016 as his worst moment. “We have had a look at the match again: we started well enough, scored two tries and created other opportunities, but then they just took it away from us. There are things we can fix and we have to get our consistency back.”
