Japan’s momentous win against South Africa a major boost to the progress of Asian rugby

Paul Radley reflects on Japan's remarkable Rugby World Cup victory over South Africa and ponders what impact it will have on the future of Asian rugby.

Asia has long been spoken about as representing the future of rugby, and the South Africa win was a necessary fillip for its leading power. Gareth Fuller / PA

Will Eddie Jones be allowed in to South Africa to take up his new job with the Stormers in Cape Town when he leaves Japan after this World Cup?

It is a serious question. People can get a little bitter when they are on the receiving end of a shock World Cup defeat.

Back in 2002, at football’s version, Ahn Jung-hwan scored the goal which knocked out Italy. The South Korean forward was employed in Italy at the time, and summarily had his contract terminated.

“That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again,” the club’s president, Luciano Gaucci, was quoted as saying at the time. The Italians accused Fifa of fixing that game, too. As strops go, theirs was right up there.

Happily for Jones, rugby tends to be rather more accepting. South Africa might be ashamed of the 34-32 defeat Jones masterminded, on an extraordinary day in Brighton on Saturday. But the recriminations will be inward looking.

Heyneke Meyer, the embattled Springboks coach, has already apologised to the nation. There could still be some bloodletting yet.

How will the face of the sport change because of this result? There is still the rest of the tournament to play, and much will depend on what happens next.

It was just one win. Japan face a tough task to make the knockout rounds, given their unkind draw. They play again on Wednesday, against Scotland, who will be fresh, playing their first game in the competition.

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Any fixture against the Springboks is physically brutal enough, anyway, and no amount of ice-baths will be able to replenish the emotion expended in beating the Boks. The come down from Saturday could conceivably be immediate.

Maybe the shock win will stand on its own, but progress in the tournament would certainly reinforce its value.

Asia has long been spoken about as representing the future of rugby, and the South Africa win was a necessary fillip for its leading power.

Jones said after that “history has changed for Japanese rugby,” suggesting young athletes might now aspire to be Michael Leitch, the rugby captain, or Ayumu Goramaru, the superb fullback. Until now, baseballers like Ichiro Suzuki and footballers like Hidetoshi Nakata have been the most visible sporting role models.

In terms of economics, Japan is already a financial powerhouse in Asian rugby. Presumably, the global attention afforded this win will encourage yet more corporate backing. Success does have a thousand fathers, after all.

Importing the wisdom of coaches such as Jones, Steve Borthwick and John Kirwan, as well as players in the domestic game like George Smith, Sonny Bill Williams and Fourie du Preez, has already had positive effects.

How much that filters down Asian rugby’s food chain is debatable, but the continent has other financial hubs, too.

Hong Kong, for example, has reaped the benefit of substantial cash investment with a rapid ascent up rugby’s rankings in recent years. With a second Asian side due to play in the next World Cup, alongside hosts Japan, they will be well placed to take advantage.

This weekend might have been seminal looking ahead of that competition, too.

Taking the World Cup to Japan in 2019 is regarded as a risk by many. Others think it is eight years later than it should have been.

New Zealand, a heartland for the sport, landed the rights to the 2011 event on the basis it could guarantee full stadiums.

Critics pointed out that more people pass through the busiest train station in Tokyo in one day than live in the whole of New Zealand. Not all are rugby fanatics, though.

The best guarantee for attendance is to have a home team to believe in. They obviously have that now.

For all the effects of the win over South Africa, the lasting impact might be an emotional one. The ending was heroic. It should serve as an inspiration to everyone.

Emiratis playing their first match of XVs. Girls playing tag rugby in Laos. A 57-kilogramme winger tasked with marking someone twice their size. All can invoke the spirit of Michael Leitch.

They can risk defeat to go for the win, when a draw is being offered for free. Take the risk. Go for the try. Become a hero. Rugby, in Asia and beyond, owes Japan a debt of gratitude for that.

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