After AJ MacGinty landed an early penalty for the US, Japan responded with their first foray into American territory, switching the ball from one flank to other with swift hands to leave Matsushima free to cross in the corner. The spirit of the England fans means they will move on from the defeat of their team. None of the little rugby nations suffered the 100-point plus scores which been a feature of previous World Cups marring this edition. There is a growing rugby infrastructure in Japan with nearly 125,000 [players] but more professionalism is needed. Hong Kong and Korea the closest to Japan are still much behind and China is in a swing high and low mood with nothing concrete. Meanwhile Wales successfully came through the Pool of Death despite a host of injuries. Before that, he had a long list of coaching appointments, including stints coaching club rugby in Japan, and guiding Australia to the 2003 Rugby World Cup final. The pain for English rugby may no doubt be unbearable but the review for Lancaster may not be immediate. “Players need to know it’s not just good enough to simply turn up at training, or attend a meeting and have no questions or not do any analysis”.
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Italy will start the game hot favourites, but Romania are just a point behind them in the pool and victory will guarantee them qualification for the 2019 World Cup. Indeed France also beat the All Blacks in the semifinals in 1999, while they so almost upset them in the final in Auckland four years ago. The pride will be seriously dented. The Springboks entered the quarter-final with a resounding win which saw the demolition of U.S. by 64 points to 0. Drawn into the toughest of pools, Australia provided full evidence of the momentum they have been building in recent months, outmuscling and outplaying England before a week later accounting for Wales, including putting on a show of great resilience to hold down out when down to 13 men. The importance of winning is that the victor may not have to face South Africa who is expected to top Pool B. Although Japan failed to achieve its target of reaching the quarterfinals, it finished the pool stage with a splendid record of three wins and one defeat. A New Zealand side that has been in questionable form goes toe-to-toe with an unpredictable France. The two matches on hand are New Zealand vs. Tonga and Argentina vs. Namibia. “I am happy we fulfilled that duty”.
“I’ve had the great honour of coaching the Wallabies to a World Cup final, and Japan to three wins from four here”.
After leaving Japan, Jones now takes over the Cape Town Super Rugby side the Stormers. When you have heroes, kids want to emulate heroes.
Instead it was left to England fans, drowning their sorrows, and supporters from around the world to put Vunipola’s “old-school” advice into action. They also presented prizes at an Under-11s Rugby Tournament for local schools.
In the end, none of the tier-two nations were able to make the breakthrough into the knockout rounds, but there are still four high-quality matchups to look forward to next weekend.
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The work ethic and sacrifices made by the players have been incredible, while the coaching and off-field support has been world class and very un-Japanese in a few of its methodology.
