Before this World Cup began, South Africa were expected to progress with ease through Pool B, as only Scotland, Japan, Samoa and the United States.
However, on the second day of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Japan had other ideas as they beat the Springboks by two points in Brighton to record one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever as they won 34-32.
Two-time champions South Africa, who had never lost an opening game at a World Cup before succumbed to the desire and determination of the Japanese players who had not won a World Cup game for 24 years.
Japan, who were never once showed they were intimidated by their more experienced opponents who in fact named their most capped line up in their history. But South Africa’s experience was no match for Japan’s determination and with the game entering the final stages, Kerne Hesketh went over for Japan to make sure they scored World Cup history.
It was, however, South Africa that were leading at half-time by 12 points to 10 as they looked to put a turbulent year behind them as they finished bottom of the Rugby Championship.
They would also extend their lead as the second-half progressed through Lood De Jager and Adriaan Strauss, with Ayumu Goromaru making sure Japan kept within a reasonable distance of the South Africa score through scoring a try and his incredibly accurate kicking.
However, with Japan three points behind and the clock ticking into the 84th minute, Hesketh received the ball five metres out and dived over the whitewash and secured World Cup history for Japan.
After the game, Japan acknowledged all four sides of the stadium in Brighton and thanked them for their amazing support throughout the game. Whereas for South Africa and their coach Heyneke Mayer quickly retreated to their changing room to work out what went wrong.
For Japan and their coach Eddie Jones, who was a part of the Springboks coaching team when they won the World Cup in 2007, will now want to make sure they qualify from their pool and continue their memorable tournament.
