Let’s just get one thing out of the way up front here – as awful as the Boks were (and they were bloody awful), credit should go to Eddie Jones and his mighty Japanese team for playing a brand of rugby that required serious cojones.

As the clock wound down Japan were presented with the chance to snatch a most unlikely of draws, a successful penalty leaving the game all square at 32. Except captain Michael Leitch wasn’t all that keen on a share of the spoils, prompting one of the greatest finishes in Rugby World Cup history. Here’s Eddie Jones quoted on News.com:

But the history books would have read quite differently if not for a chat Japan coach Eddie Jones had with the New Zealand-born Leitch over a coffee on the morning of the game.

“You want the truth? I was screaming in the radio, saying, ‘Take the three [points],” Jones admitted to Sydney’s Sky Sports radio on Monday.

“I went and had coffee with the captain in the morning [before the game], down at the beach at Brighton — it was actually a sunny day, so that was amazing — and I said to him, ‘When we get penalties, if you think you want to give it a go, just give it a go. We’ve got nothing to lose.’ And that’s what he did.”

“It was a great call … a fantastic call by the skipper.”

The wounds are still fresh but we should remember to dish out some praise to our opposition for the humbling defeat. Saturday against Samoa just became very, very important.

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[source:news]