This was published 9 years ago
Rugby World Cup 2015: Japan beat two-time winners South Africa in shock 34-32 win
By Chris Dutton
Japan has staked its claim for the biggest upset in World Cup history after a thrilling last-minute try lifted them to a 34-32 win against South Africa in Brighton.
It broke a 24-year World Cup winning drought for Japan, the team coached by former Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones.
Japan delivered a massive shock on the second day of the tournament to throw South Africa's campaign into turmoil with a brilliant display for rugby.
Players and fans broke down in tears when Karne Hesketh dived over in the corner four minutes into injury time to snatch the most unlikely of victories.
Japan players celebrate their surprise victory against South Africa.Credit: Julian Finney
Social media blew up in reaction, praising the Cherry Blossoms for their superb display and many labelled it the biggest upset in the tournament's history.
Japan was just happy to secure a win at a World Cup for the first time since they beat Zimbabwe in October 1991.
"It was a very humbling experience. I had to look at the score at the end of the match to see if it was true or not," Jones said.
"They were more than brave. It took great courage by the captain to go for the try. This result is right up there with my greatest experiences. I had to check whether this was a miracle or reality."
The result will also have rugby-mad South Africa reeling as the two-time World Cup champions attempt to resurrect their campaign.
"It is incredible, Eddie Jones said during the week, 'if we can control the scrum we will beat South Africa'," said South Africa's 1995 World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar.
"I don't think a lot of people believed him. But they controlled the scrum and the set phases ... they weren't afraid in the last few minutes."
South Africa led by three points with time running out before Japan turned up the pressure.
They had a one man advantage after Springboks prop Coenie Oosthuizen was sent to the sin bin.
Rather than settle for a respectable draw, the Japanese turned down multiple opportunities to level the score to instead go for the biggest win in their history.
It paid off and the players will be soaking it up as the stadium erupted and the tears started to flow.
"The Japanese kept on coming the crowd got behind them and they had the belief," said former Wallabies skipper George Gregan.
"They wanted to score and came up with an amazing try. It had [Jones'] paw prints all over it, it had his mentality. He goes into every contest as well prepared as possible."
Jones led Australia into the World Cup final in 2003 before joining Jake White's South African coaching team in the Springboks 2007 triumph.
He now has another slice of history and perhaps the most satisfying of his career.