For them, the battle was all about getting another try and a conversion and a draw. Scotland were not going to get the points they needed now. Their crowd roared and roared and roared again. They owned the ball in the closing minutes, but Japan's defence was unbreakable. Chasing two converted tries and a penalty or drop goal they had to take risks, had to force the issue, had to make sure that every pass stuck, every attack counted. Japan were denied after another turnover by the towering Ritchie, then they asked their own questions again. Ireland to face All Blacks in last eight.Listen: Rugby Union Weekly at the World Cup.Still a mountain to climb, but this was pulsating stuff. Russell banged over the extras this time. Hogg began it, there was a lovely one-two between the immense Jonny Gray and Scott Cummings, Gray running on and feeding Fagerson, who thumped his way through Horie to get the ball down. Six of them came on at once - and Scotland scored again. Scotland were still a mile off their target. When Nel grunted his way over the line to narrow the gap, Laidlaw's conversion made it a 14-point game. Scotland needed the kind of miracle they produced at Twickenham in March. Fukuoka ripped it from Harris and, when the ball went spinning in the air after contact, the wing caught it and sprinted off to score. Three minutes into the second half, Japan scored again. Two more points from Tamura made it 21-7 at half-time. Timothy Lafaele grubbered in behind and Fukuoka seized on it to get Japan's third try. The conversion made it 14-7, then just before the break came the try that looked like sending Scotland heading home. The lock flicked it on to William Tupou, who spun and got it to Inagaki for the last act. Nagare, Tamura and Shota Horie worked it to James Moore. Five sets of hands offloaded at speed as if they were on a training run. Matsushima burst through Grant Gilchrist and Blade Thomson and away he went. Their second try was an epic, a thing of rugby wonder. More Japan heat and more Japan brilliance. Yu Tamura converted and the home crowd erupted. Jamie Ritchie, playing utterly heroically, kept them out on 10 minutes with a terrific turnover near his own line, but that respite was short.īefore the end of the first quarter, Japan got their reward when attacking up the left through the wonderful Fukuoka, who eluded Chris Harris and drew in Stuart Hogg before chucking a one-handed offload to Matsushima to gallop away to the posts. They lorded it over possession, whipped left and right and down the middle. It was probably the only less-than-perfect moment that scrum-half Nagare delivered all night. Russell's cross-kick and Magnus Bradbury's follow-up created the opportunity and Russell, having started it, then finished it with a hand-off of Yutaka Nagare to score. The Scots had a great start, which was played at bewildering pace.
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Their accuracy while playing at full throttle was astounding. In their minutes of total dominance, before Scotland came roaring back, Japan were a full of invention and pace. The visitors had hoped that the sense of occasion might get to the hosts, that the pressure would grind them down as they pushed for a quarter-final against the Springboks next weekend. The home national anthem was haunting and ominous, a moment of foreboding for Scotland. There was a moment's silence for the stricken in a stadium that heaved with emotion and power.