Japan return to action this afternoon against Scotland looking to build on their win over South Africa on Saturday in Pool B.
Off the Ball's Joe Molloy spoke to Rich Freeman, a rugby reporter for the Kyodo News Agency yesterday to discuss the win and whether Eddie Jones' side can cause more shocks in the coming weeks.
The win in Brighton graced the front pages of Japan's newspapers on Sunday morning. Freeman also told Joe that "there was a lot more increased television coverage" before the World Cup, but he added that much of the coverage was in preparation for Japan's hosting of the tournament in 2019.
Head coach Eddie Jones' impact was labeled as "huge" by Freeman who added that the Australian coach introduced the current systems into Japanese rugby structure. Former Munster coach Rob Penney and former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans are all coaching in Japan and that has helped the players improve along with players such as captain Michael Leitch playing abroad.
Freeman thinks that Japan "are the fittest team in the World Cup" and he told Joe that the team have been in a World Cup preparation camp since April. "They are not the biggest team in the world, but they are quick".
"Confidence is sky high" ahead of today's game and Freeman thinks if Japan can keep Scotland within one score throughout the game their fitness may prevail in the second half.
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