The Brighton Miracle only hit cinema screens a little over two weeks ago, and yet the sequel has already been written after Japan felled another rugby giant.
Back then, at a football ground near the beach on the UK’s south coast in 2015, the Brave Blossoms beat one of rugby history’s greatest powers, South Africa. It prompted a film starring Temuera Morrison in the lead role of coach Eddie Jones.
This time around? They only went and beat the side who start this tournament as the world’s No 1 ranked side, Ireland. And yet the Irish, like the Springboks before them, four years ago, were unable to halt the Japanese tide.
Whether a film is made about this one, only time will tell. But the Shock of Shizuoka will have lasting reverberations for the sport.
“That [the win over South Africa at the last World Cup] was a great game, but we came into this tournament with a new goal,” Lappies Labuschagne, Japan’s captain for the day, said in his TV interview after the 19-12 win.
“We knew what we wanted to do and we backed ourselves going into this game. We are really happy about this result.”
At which point do we stop considering wins by Japan against rugby’s establishment to be upsets? At which point do we consider them to be outside the elite?
If this World Cup is anything to go by, the sport is booming there.
And, if this World Cup is anything to go by, every World Cup should be played there. Rugby has never known noise like it.
The sound booming from the television screens was like nothing else. Sure, Twickenham, Eden Park, Loftus Versfeld, the Principality Stadium and the rest routinely attract huge, partisan congregations.
But those crowds have certain expectations. They are waiting to be entertained. In Japan, it feels as though supporters of the home sides are hoping for the best, but have few preconceptions or demands.
As in Brighton, there were tears that met the final whistle. Small children who were lucky enough to have match tickets seemed as though they were about to combust as the time ticked down.
And yet it seemed as though some knew to hope for the best – and expect it, too. There were fireworks at the stadium to celebrate the result. Hardly standard operating procedure for a pool match. Clearly, some people believed their was a shock afoot.
Even Jamie Joseph, the coach, admitted that he had to moderate some of his public utterances pre-match, so as not to appear too “cocky”. He was right to be confident.
“We are very proud of the players,” Joseph said. “We had a plan, we have been training for a long time.
“We have been thinking about this game for a while, but obviously Ireland have only been thinking about it for the past six or seven days.
“We had a lot of belief in our gameplan and what we wanted to do. We knew how good Ireland are, and how strong they were.”
Until now, Japanese rugby’s greatest moment had been delivered by a substitute – Karne Hesketh – with a try in the left-hand corner.
History repeated itself as Kenki Fukuoka scored the 59th minute try that put Japan into a lead that they did not give up.
He was the hero twice as Ireland, who had held a 12-3 lead early in the piece through tries from Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney, looked to salvage a draw late on.
In the 78th minute, Fukuoka made a break to within feet of the tryline. He was pulled up short, but Ireland could find no way back from that distance.
“We knew how tough it was going to be,” Rory Best, Ireland’s captain, said.
“We came in with a gameplan, and felt we were prepared but give credit to that team. Japan played really, really well. They posed a lot of questions, and we didn’t have the answers.”
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
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MORE ON INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
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Fuel consumption: L/100km
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On sale: now
