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Man of the match - Makazole Mapimpi Makazole Mapimpi took his tally to 13 tries in 12 games for South Africa, no player has scored more in Test rugby since Mapimpi's debut (he's level with Jonny May and Rieko Ioane). Hearts were broken in Tokyo, but Japanese fans found their voice to give their team one last roar before they left the pitch.
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The Japan players formed a circle on the field, tears running down many cheeks, as the Springboks thanked the fans.
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Japan's Kotaro Matsushima gave chase but was too late to stop the South African scoring his second of the match.Ĭhants of "Japan" continued right up until the final whistle, when the players fell to their knees and the crowd got to their feet to show their appreciation for what their team had done. Mapimpi took advantage of an overlap and thundered down the left wing. South Africa's attack was repeatedly frustrated by their own indiscipline in the first 40 minutes, but they were well and truly in their stride by the end of the match. The Sale scrum-half sprung through the hole created in the Japanese defence by a Springbok maul to score and Pollard landed the conversion. Living up to their name, the Brave Blossoms refused to give in and continued to try and run the ball out from their own 22 at every opportunity.īut a high tackle on De Klerk resulted in a third successful Pollard penalty in front of the posts.Īnd it was De Klerk who dealt the killer blow. Pollard soon added another three points after a scrum penalty and the task facing Japan suddenly looked very daunting at 11-3. But that one did not count either because of a forward pass. However, South Africa were quickly on the scoreboard in the second half thanks to Pollard's first penalty and looked to have extended their lead further when Pieter-Steph du Toit cantered across the whitewash. The centre clawed his way through four tackles to make it across the try-line but his effort did not count because of a double movement. Indiscipline was the undoing of South Africa's attack in the first half - the Springboks conceded six penalties to Japan's two in the first 40 minutes.Ī disappointing 40 minutes was capped off by a disallowed try for Damian de Allende. South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus had stacked his side with strength up front, naming six forwards on the bench.Īnd when Japan's now trademark fast hands were met with brute force by South Africa, it left the Brave Blossoms looking far less slick in attack than they had in the group stage.Ī searing run up the left wing for Kenki Fukuoka brought Japan up to the five-metre line, but the attack came to an end when the hosts conceded a penalty at the breakdown. Brave Blossoms overpowered South Africa's pack gave them control of the match Tamura duly landed the kick and cut South Africa's lead to two. No tries came of the numerical advantage, but Japan won a scrum penalty just to the left of the posts and the crowd exploded into cheers. There was a yellow card for prop Mtawarira for a tip tackle on opposite number Keita Inagaki in the 11th minute. Chants of "Japan" were only interrupted when captain Michael Leitch had the ball, at which point prolonged cries of "Leitch" rang out instead. It would take more than that to quieten the Japanese fans, though. The Springboks overpowered Japan in a scrum and De Klerk's pass to Mapimpi found the left wing with plenty of room to run through Tamura and dive over in the corner. The Brave Blossoms started as optimistically as they had played in the pool stages, with fly-half Yu Tamura kicking cross-field to wing Kotaro Matsushima, but it was two-time winners South Africa who scored first. Television audiences and media interest has gradually increased after an impressive group-stage performance which included superb wins against Ireland and Scotland. It was an historic day for Japanese rugby and the fans knew it, posing for photos with South African supporters as proof that they were there for their nations' first World Cup quarter-final. History made in Tokyo Tendai Mtawarira became the third South Africa player to be yellow carded in a World Cup knockout game after Bryan Habana in 2015 and Juan Smith in 2007
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Second-half tries from Faf de Klerk and Mapimpi plus Handre Pollard's 11 points put the Springboks out of reach. Japan could only take a Yu Tamura penalty from the man advantage, making the score 5-3 at half-time in Tokyo.