Yeah, for some reason I found it a lot easier to write about the England game
As a Springbok supporter, the South Africa Japan game last night had me in tears. Someone had obviously forgotten to send Japan the memo telling them what a formidable side the Springboks are and that they should probably approach the game as a damage limitation exercise rather than seriously thinking they could win because for the full 80 minutes they obviously had no thoughts whatsoever about being the underdog. Even in the last minute of the game Japan turned down the safe option of kicking for posts and walking away with a draw and went for the all or bust option of attempting to run in a try.
Japan were inspired in every aspect of the game, their tackling oozed commitment as did their scrumming and mauling which was no mean feat considering the physical size and bulk differences between the teams. The Springboks on the other hand just looked flat, sluggish and bewildered and unable to dominate at any time during the entire game. Watching the Japanese rolling maul the Springboks backwards over their try line is a sight I'll never forget. The sheer pace and precision and depth that the Japanese played with was a pleasure to watch.
Obviously as a Springbok fan the game was an enormous disappointment but as a rugby sports fan I couldn't take anything away from Japan and it gave me that same sense of perverse satisfaction you get when you see one of those youtube clips where the geeky looking kid turns the tables on the schoolyard bully.
It wasn't a total loss for the Springboks, they managed to show enough momentary flair to walk away with 4 tries but I can only hope they do some soul searching before their next game against Samoa.
