Japan v Russia – Brave Blossoms ready to tame Bears

Irish eyes are fixed on the crunch fixture of Pool A this weekend, but these two sides will have plenty of say in who makes the Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals.

It's four years to the day since Japan rocked the rugby world with a seismic victory over South Africa. In the end, though, it still wasn't enough to reach the last 8 for the first time in their history. With the backing of a home crowd, they now expect to breach the Quarter Finals. In many ways, that defeat of South Africa was the defining moment of that Rugby World Cup. The fact that it wasn't enough to progress felt apt, Tier Two nations in rugby are expected to know their station. The odds are invariably stacked against them. In that glorious moment when Japan breached the Springboks' tryline, just for a second they believed they had done it. So did we. They'll be raring to prove themselves again on the biggest stage of them all. Japan and Russia kick-off the Rugby World Cup 2019 on Friday at 11:45am Irish time. As the third and fifth ranked side in the pool respectively, you could be forgiven for giving this one a miss, but we could be looking at one of the games of the tournament in the opening fixture. We can at least expect plenty of points on the board. Russia have also shown glimmers of potential in their form in the past couple of years. An 85-15 hammering at the hands of Italy aside, they managed victories in 4 of their 8 European Rugby Championship games… albeit only qualifying for the World Cup itself after Spain, Belgium and Romania were docked points for fielding ineligible players. But, they’re solid. In fact, with a 95% success rate, they technically have the 7^th best scrum in the tournament. They also boast the 6^th highest try rate per game with 3.9. Perhaps the best indicator of just how explosive this game could be is the fixture between the two that took place in November last year. Russia raced into a 16-0 lead after 3 soft penalties and an intercept try under the post in the first 15 minutes. Japan managed to peg it back to 22-10 at half time, before a flurry of tries saw them see off a brave Russian challenge 32-27 in Gloucester. A total of 6 tries and both sides playing an expansive, rapid brand of attacking rugby. Fraught with mistakes, but an incredibly entertaining watch. Let's be honest, who wouldn't love that? Key to Russia’s hopes of an upset will be their captain, Vasily Artemyev. Irish fans may recognise him as the scorer of a superb breakaway try against Ireland in the pool stages of the 2011 World Cup. We might also recognize him as a two-time Senior Cup winner with Blackrock, as well as notching a hat-trick in a victorious Junior Cup decider for the Southisde outfit. Attacking from 15, he’ll need to be at his vibrant best if the Bears are going to trouble Japan. In regards to the hosts, we know what to expect from Jamie Joseph's side. We can expect a high tempo, counter-attacking game from a a Japanese side who are slaves to an offload, sometimes to their own detriment. That being said, they've shown an ability to stick with Tier One sides for large portions of games, before a shallower bench and inferior fitness levels catch up. That was clear in the 35-15 reversal against England last November, or the 69-31 defeat to the All Blacks. Still, they racked up 46 points in two games against arguably the two favourites for this year's tournament. They also have a victory over Italy and a draw against France in other recent results against Tier 1 opponents. They are not to be underestimated. Coach Joseph said after defeating USA earlier this year “Our first goal was to win the PNC. The next goal is to go to the World Cup, play our Japan brand of rugby and make the top eight.” They've set their sights on a Quarter Final and make no bones about that. Considering they lie just 3 places behind Scotland in the World Rankings it’s certainly not beyond them. That’s before you add in the home comforts of a partisan crowd and experience in the humid conditions expected throughout the tournament. To do that, they’ll have to scalp either the Scots or Schmidt’s side. Russia stand in their way first, though.