Blossoms crushed by Bok bulldozer

It would be lovely to report that Japan’s World Cup dreams ended in a blaze of glory. The truth is they were crushed.

South Africa's Faf de Klerk celebrates after scoring a try against Japan in Tokyo. Picture: AFP

It would be lovely to report that Japan’s World Cup dreams ended in a blaze of glory and heroism, but the more prosaic truth is that they were crushed beneath the tracks of a South African bulldozer. Japan have been fantastic hosts of this tournament, and they will carry on being that, but after illuminating the pool stage with wins over Ireland and Scotland, their light faded here.

They tried to play razzle-dazzle rugby, and for 30 minutes in the first half it seemed to be working, but while they bamboozled South Africa in a red-hooped swirl of movement, they did not swirl far enough or fast enough to get over the line. The tries flowed thick and fast against Scotland in Yokohama a week ago; but in Tokyo Japan came up against a rather more obdurate defence.

It is not clear where Japan can go from here. They have played joyful rugby, but with a team that will need fresh blood before the next World Cup and a new five-year residence rule, things are bound to become harder. They can be mesmerising in attack but they let in soft scores, proving that they need more games against top sides. As Sir Bill Beaumont, the chairman of World Rugby, said a few days ago, other nations should be rolling out the red carpets and inviting them in.

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This, though, was a game too far, even if the Springboks’ relief was clear at the finish.

“We’re happy to get in to the semi-finals,” Rassie Erasmus, the South Africa coach, said. “We were very nervous at halftime. After Japan’s wins against Ireland and Scotland we knew it would be a tough match. Going in at halftime when we were only a few points up and we had left a few tries out there, there was definitely a lull in the changing room. But after being together for 17 weeks, the guys knew which buttons to push to get out of the lull and come through in the second half.”

The buttons they pushed were clearly pretty big ones. The contrast between the two halves could scarcely have been more stark. The first was all about Japan’s speed, the second about South Africa’s power. If Japan had managed to build a score in that opening 40 minutes then the balance might have been intriguing, but having failed to do that there was a brutal inevitability about the way it tipped against them later on.

The defining moment came in the 65th minute. South Africa had a lineout a few metres inside their own half, on their right side. With possession secured, they started to drive forward, with Lood de Jager, the mighty lock standing tall in the middle. On and on it went, with Japan powerless to do anything about it. After 40 metres, Malcolm Marx broke off the tail, slipped the ball to Faf de Klerk, and the scrum half sprinted over for a try.

If Japan, and particularly the Japan backline, have reminded the world that you don’t have to be a behemoth to play rugby, South Africa’s victory showed that behemoths still have their uses. The wonder was that they took so long to bring them into play, for in the first half it seemed that the Springboks were almost duped into playing Japan’s way. But while Japan’s offloads and reverse passes all seemed to stick, South Africa’s efforts were risible.

In fairness, South Africa did enjoy one mighty slice of luck in that period. Ten minutes into the game, Tendai Mtawarira, the Springboks loose-head, picked his opposite number, Keita Inagaki, off the ground and thrust him head first into the turf. Wayne Barnes, the referee, produced an instant yellow card without checking any replays, but when the images did appear on the stadium’s giant screens the incident looked worthy of a straight red.

“That’s a yellow sometimes, but sometimes it might be red,” Jamie Joseph, the Japan coach, said. “That would have changed the game for sure.”

As Joseph pointed out, though, South Africa held out well for the ten minutes they were understaffed “Credit to South Africa,” he said. “They did very well with 14 men. We just needed to get a few more points, to get some confidence.”

If Barnes was wrong with the Mtawarira call, at least he balanced things out later in the half with a second questionable decision, this time one that worked in Japan’s favour. It came just before the interval when Damian de Allende burst through some limp tackling to score by the posts. However, Barnes decided that he had been held in one of them and should have released the ball before trying to carry, so the try was disallowed. Again, the replays did the English official no favours.

An early try should have settled South Africa into the game, but after Makazole Mapimpi had gone over in the fourth minute — helped, it has to be said, by Yu Tamura’s meet-and-greet attempt at a tackle — they continued to look edgy. The Springboks’ Christmas bloopers reel will no doubt feature a few moments from this game, for their handling was atrocious at times. If they had been remotely the equal of their opponent in that area they could have had three scores before the interval.

Small wonder that the South Africa forwards decided to keep the ball for long periods of the second half. From the start of that period, energy seemed to have drained from Japanese legs and it was only tenacity and pride that kept them in the game. They had only been 5-3 down at the break, but that soon became 14-3 as South African power delivered three penalties for Handre Pollard, the fly half.

De Klerk’s 65th minute score pretty much ended the competition, with Mapimpi’s second try, four minutes later, putting the matter beyond doubt. Japan fought to the finish but were playing only for pride. Their incredible journey is over, but they have given us some incredible memories to cherish.

THE TIMES