SOUTH AFRICA 32 JAPAN 34

BEFORE this extraordinary game, Japan had won fewer Rugby World Cup matches than South Africa have won Rugby World Cups. By the end, they had set the tournament alight with a result that has to go down as its greatest upset – and turned Pool B, Scotland’s pool, on its head.

Eddie Jones, the coach of Japan, set his team a challenge at their welcome ceremony, when they had to watch a “highlights” package of their prev-ious World Cup achievements.

It amounted to one win, against Zimbabwe in 1991, and a handful of heroic defeats. Let’s keep the heroics, he told his players, and try to cut down on the defeats.

They did that, all right, against opponents who may not have been the best team South Africa could put out, but still had more than enough ball to secure victory. The Springboks’ profligacy was part of the reason for their failure to translate possession into a win, but so was Japan’s inspired defence.

Yet, while there was plenty of heroism in the Japanese display, there was also bravery in their decision, on the cusp of stoppage time, to go for the win rather than a very kickable penalty that would have delivered a draw. After South African substitute Coenie Oosthuizen was sin-binned, Japan kicked to touch, took the line-out, rumbled on but were then held up.

They then had a series of scrums on the five-metre line, and, with the clock deep into the red, one error would have meant defeat. Instead, they spun the ball wide and at last the extra man made the difference, with Karne Hesketh, who had only come off the bench with a minute of normal time, flopping over for the winning score.

That sparked delirium among the Japanese squad, their supporters and the thousands of neutrals at the game who had steadily been won over by the underdogs. The South Africans could only slump in disbelief.

It was back in June that Vern Cotter suggested Japan, conscious of the quick turnaround, would accept defeat in this game and concentrate on Scotland. Perhaps Scotland’s head coach intended his remarks as a self-denying prophecy – one that would provoke Eddie Jones, his opposite number, into ensuring his team threw everything at the Springboks. If so, the ploy worked, although you do suspect the ambitions of Jones’s squad have been heightened over the course of their training camp.

Japan scored first with a penalty from Ayumu Goromaru, then the Springboks took the lead after quarter of an hour with a close-range try from Francois Louw, converted by Patrick Lambie. Japan went ahead again after half an hour when they kicked a penalty to touch close to the five-metre line then drove the lineout home. Michael Leitch, their captain, was awarded the try, converted by Goromaru.

Two minutes later, a similar score by Bismarck du Plessis put the Springboks back in front at 12-10, The score remained that way at half-time, but another Goromaru penalty edged Japan back in front in the first score of the second half.

When Lood de Jager burst through the middle for a converted score, that looked like the sign for South African power to prevail. Instead, Goromaru kept his team in the hunt with three penalties, while Lambie kept the Springboks’ account ticking over with one three-pointer.

Inside the final quarter, Adriaan Strauss bulldozed through just as De Jager had done, Handre Pollard added the two, and the Boks were 29-22 up. But Japan refused to accept defeat. Goromaru grabbed a try from an overlap on the right, and added the conversion to make it 29-29 with 10 minutes left.

Pollard nudged his team back in front with a penalty in front of the posts, and with two minutes left that three-point lead remained. But Japan were not to be denied, and in a frantic finale grabbed that sensational winner.

“I still believe in these players and I still believe we definitely can win the World Cup,” Meyer said. It sounded unconvincing, but there is one potentially vital fact that could play into the South Africans’ hands – the two bonus points they got for scoring four tries and losing narrowly. Pool B could get a lot more complicated yet.

SOUTH AFRICA 32

Scorers: Tries: Louw, B du Plessis, De Jager, Strauss. Cons: Lambie 2, Pollard. Pens: Lambie, Pollard.

JAPAN 34

Scorers: Tries: Leitch, Goromaru, Hesketh. Cons: Goromaru 2. Pens: Goromaru 5.

South Africa: Z Kirchner; B Habana, J Kriel, J de Villiers, L Mvovo (JP Pietersen); P Lambie ( H Pollard 59), R Pienaar (F du Preez 59); T Mtawarira (A Strauss 54), B du Plessis (T Nyakane 54), J du Plessis (C Oosthuizen 54), L de Jager (E Etzebeth 68), V Matfield, F Louw, P-S du Toit (S Kolisi 57), S Burger.

Japan: A Goromaru; A Yamada (K Hesketh 79), M Sa’u, H Tatekawa, K Matsushima; K Ono (Y Tamura 73), F Tanaka (A Hiwasa 68); M Mikami (K Inagaki 59), S Horie (T Kizu 71), K Hatakeyama (H Yamashita 52), L Thompson, H Ono (S Makabe 52), M Leitch, M Broadhurst, H Tui (A Mafi 46).

Referee: J Garces (France). Attendance: 29,290.