Jones: Japan no longer a joke

The last pool match didn’t have the jaw-dropping thrills of Japan’s win over South Africa on the second day of the tournament, or the smothering domination of the win over Samoa, but it was a slice of history nevertheless.

Gosper on Monday said he was initially concerned the disappointment of local fans “may cause the tournament to stutter”, after England’s back-to-back losses to Wales and Australia meant it could not qualify for the quarterfinals, but the English have been resolute in support a World Cup “which is still tracking to be the best we’ve delivered to date”.

When all is said and done this test match won’t be the one that is remembered in years to come, however England deserve a lot of credit for the manner in which they fronted up this week and finished this competition.

The pool stages may be over but the debate over player eligibility at the Rugby World Cup looks likely to rumble on ahead of the next tournament in 2019.

Gosper said England’s departure has not affected the global reach or commercial success of the event as all of the deals with television as well as ticket sales were completed before the matches began.

“Before this tournament, Japan were one of the joke teams”.

“That’s the whole of the Australian population plus the kangaroos, and New Zealand and all the sheep”.

This win sees them equal South Africa and Scotland’s tally of three victories, and only miss out on a quarter-finals appearance based on bonus points.

Only 800,000 people in Japan tuned into the before-dawn TV broadcast for the South Africa game, but that victory triggered massive audience growth in the next games in Japan, and elsewhere. In almost every game (at the World Cup) we’ve had a team with over 550 caps.

The courageous Blossoms already knew their fate going into the game against the United States and were up against a side desperate for their first win.

Perhaps it’s World Cup organisers who should cry at Japan’s exit. “It’s not flawless – there’s more work to be done”.

Williams, who can play full-back or wing, battled to overcome a foot injury during World Cup preparations in the summer, but he gained a place in head coach Warren Gatland’s 31-man squad.

His 58 points leave him just two short of best at this World Cup, with the lead now held by Scotland’s captain Greig Laidlaw.

So the final eight are confirmed and there are four teams from the northern hemisphere and four from the southern with all the quarter finals being north versus south. More of that is wanted. We are a pretty small nation anyway, but we still had a pretty potent back-line out there on Saturday and I am sure it will be the same again next weekend.

Among the replacements, Shinya Makabe is the only change, as Ives moves into the starting 15 which, with 540 caps, is Japan’s third most experienced ever with an average age of 29 years and 20 days.

“All tournaments would like the hosts to do well enough to keep momentum going in the host country, but my sense is this is a very mature and philosophical sporting market”.