Toyota City (Japan) (AFP)
Japan, driven by the Toyota stadium in merger, moved closer to a historic qualifying for the quarter-finals by beating Samoa (38-19) bonus bonus on Saturday.
After starting in midfielder against Russia (30-10) and then scored a great feat in front of Ireland (19-12), the Cherry Blossoms continue their journey to the quarter with a victory won won in the 85th minute.
There is only one stage left, Scotland on October 13th. If successful, the Japanese will finish first in Group A and face South Africa in the quarterfinals. But beware: the Scots can still qualify, too, in case of victory next Sunday. And Ireland eyeing the first place, which avoids the All Blacks in quarters ...
The Japanese will face this decisive shock in a favorable position: they have a week off, while the XV thistle must also face - and beat, if possible with the bonus - Russia Wednesday.
- "People believe in us" -
Meanwhile, coach Jamie Joseph has fully appreciated the attitude of his players, who snatched a valuable bonus point by winger Kotaro Matsushima in the 85th minute!
"I'm really proud of the team, especially the end of the game, it was like we did not really want to let go," he said with a big smile.
This energy, this desire to overthrow the opponent, which had made Ireland thwart a week earlier, have (a little) been lacking in the first period. The Japanese took advantage of the yellow card of Samoan TJ Ioane (25th) to register their first test by Timothy Lafaele (29th), amid many blunders.
After a second try scored by Himeno, Kenki Fukuoka, the "hero" of the match against Ireland, who scored the third (75th), paving the way for the bonus, ten minutes later, in a mood delirious.
"The bottom line is that people believe in our team, and that's going to be important for us next week," said Jamie Joseph.
Because the Japanese rugby enters perhaps in the most important week of its history on the sporting level. In 2015, she had dropped the qualification for the quarter-finals after defeating South Africa.
Four years later, the story goes over the dishes. Scotland is in sight next Sunday, in Yokohama, in the suburbs of Tokyo. A whole country is waiting for that!
© 2019 AFP