Japan defeats Scotland, reaching Rugby World Cup quarter-final for first time despite Typhoon Hagibis
Posted 56 minutes ago

Japan has produced a scintillating display of attacking rugby then withheld a spirited Scotland fightback to triumph 28-21, reaching the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals for the first time while still reeling from the damage caused by Typhoon Hagibis.
Key points:
The match was only given the go-ahead on Sunday morning
The result means Japan will next play South Africa's Springboks in the quarter-finals
Scotland has only failed to reach the last eight one other time, in 2011

Wing Kenki Fukuoka led the way with two tries, while Kotaro Matsushima and Keita Inagaki also scored as the hosts held off a fierce second-half assault from a team they had lost against in all seven of their previous meetings.

When Japan beat South Africa four years ago — having won only one of their previous 24 World Cup matches — it was considered the greatest shock in rugby history.

This time, having already beaten Ireland three weeks ago, it did not even feel like a real surprise.

They were faster, sharper, more inventive and, roared on by the vast majority of the delirious red-and-white-clad crowd, absolutely relentless in everything they did as they became the first tier-two team to reach the last eight since Fiji in 2007.

Having won all four of their matches to top Pool A with 19 points, they will face South Africa's Springboks again in the quarter-finals and the twice-champions will be taking absolutely nothing for granted.

The result also meant that Ireland, through as runners-up on 16 points, will play New Zealand.

"Tonight we went another level," said Japan coach Jamie Joseph.

"They wanted it as much as the Scots and gave as much as they could. This is what it takes to win big test matches."

The match was given the go-ahead only on Sunday morning after an inspection of the damage caused by Typhoon Hagibis and proved a wonderfully uplifting occasion for the country after the death and destruction wrought by the storm.

"Whilst we are celebrating tonight there are a lot of people who aren't," Joseph said.

Captain Michael Leitch said that the victory owed more to heart than skill and while that might be true of their mighty defensive effort in the final quarter, no team in the tournament so far has come close to matching the pace and directness of Japan's first-half assault.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-14/ ... tion=world

NZ vs Ireland Right now.
Looks like an overwhelming advantage to the All Blacks so far.
Live rugby commentary:

16m ago 11:56
TRY! Beauden Barrett scores ...

32 min New Zealand 22-0 Ireland: A bruising tackle on Sexton from Reece prompts the Irishman to lose the ball. Barrett kicks the ball ahead, gathers and goes over. The TMO is checking to see if Barrett was offside when he kicked the ball.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/ ... final-live

And lest we forget the poor Australians and their match against England earlier today:
40 - 16 for England. Will Australia ever recover from this monumental defeat ?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... tch-report

Congratulations to the poms. Well played. Good luck for the next game.

Close match.
France 19 - Wales 20

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:12 pm Close match.
France 19 - Wales 20

Great game to watch.

Hopefully we are headed for an England v Wales final but if I had to put money down I'd say New Zealand will be champions.

hburns wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:37 pm

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:12 pm Close match.
France 19 - Wales 20

Great game to watch.

Hopefully we are headed for an England v Wales final but if I had to put money down I'd say New Zealand will be champions.

Yes good game. For the score.
A a kiwi i regard Wales as a very worthy traditional foe on the field
and France as a very worthy trditional enemy on and off the field. (remember the rainbow warrior )

In 5 minutess the reeeeally interesting one comes up.
Can Japan's little ninja warriors beat the Springbok boofheads a second time?...

Watching the match. Score is 5-3 for the Saffers at 22 minutes.
But, holy hell. Whatever the final score, the Japanese are putting on a show. Fking brillant. And the crowd is loving it.

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:50 pm Watching the match. Score is 5-3 for the Saffers at 22 minutes.
But, holy hell. Whatever the final score, the Japanese are putting on a show. Fking brillant. And the crowd is loving it.

Keep giving us some colour from the sidelines AM, I'm just watching the scoreline on a stupid newspaper blog.
I bet the crowd are peaking...

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 6:20 pm

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:50 pm Watching the match. Score is 5-3 for the Saffers at 22 minutes.
But, holy hell. Whatever the final score, the Japanese are putting on a show. Fking brillant. And the crowd is loving it.

Keep giving us some colour from the sidelines AM, I'm just watching the scoreline on a stupid newspaper blog.
I bet the crowd are peaking...

If you want to watch it but just haven't found a website try vipbox.live

Japan are looking good when they are running with the ball, they have some nice moves. South Africa are strong on the drive and a big threat down the left with Mapimpi.

All set for a great second half.