Ireland claimed a big victory over Canada today, but the story of the day was one of the biggest upsets in rugby history.
Day two of the 2015 Rugby World Cup has seen some incredible action with the standout result being Japan's sensational victory over the Springboks in Pool B.
South Africa 32-34 Japan
Japan started brightly and an Ayumu Goromaru penalty put the minnows in front. Towards the end of the first quarter, Francois Louw grounded to get the 'Boks up and running. You would have been forgiven for thinking that the floodgates would open after that but the Brave Blossoms fought back, with captain Michael Leitch grounding from a maul, a tactic that put South Africa under pressure all game.
The 'Boks grabbed their second try of the day through Bismarck Du Plessis and went in at the break 12-10 to the good. It was a poor first half from South Africa with the Japanese intensity causing all types of problems. Many expected them to step things up in the second half after Lood DeJager raced home after finding a hole in the Japanese defence, but Goromaru kept Japan in it and kicked three penalties in a row to level matters again.
Adrienne Strauss grabbed South Africa's fourth and bonus point try as they finally looked to have shaken off Japan with 15 minutes to go, giving them a seven points lead. That could have been a killer blow but incredibly they responded through a try of their own minutes later. From a line-out on the 10m line, a pre-planned move cut open South Africa and Goromaru raced for the corner taking everyone by surprise.
That left the score at 29 apiece before a Pollard penalty seven minutes from time set up an intense finale. Japan pummeled the Boks line and eventually their deserved reward came through Karne Hesketh as he dove over in the corner with 85 minutes gone on the clock. Cue hysteria amongst those in attendance, and those fans who simply wanted to have a party.
Ireland 50-7 Canada
Schmidt's side produced a clinical display to avoid any mishaps against a Canada team looking to cause a major upset. Ireland were in control from start to finish, with tries from Sean O'Brien, Iain Henderson, Jonny Sexton and Dave Kearney hwrapping up the bonus point in the first half. Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney and Jared Payne added gloss to the scoreline in the second half, while Glasgow's DTH Van Der Merwe went over for Canada, leaving the score 50-7 at full time.
Tonga 10-17 Georgia
Were it not for Japan's heroics, today's biggest upset might have been a famous victory for Georgia, as they overcame Pacific Islanders Tonga. A first half try from Mamuka Gorgodze was the difference between the sides at the break, with the Georgians leading 10-3. Tkhilaishvili extended the lead with a try of his own while a powerful performance saw the Georgians withstand a Tongan onslaught, restricting them to a late Vainikolo try.
France 32-10 Italy
France haven't been the best side in the Six Nations in the last few years, but when it comes to the World Cup they are a very different animal indeed, even if they didn't quite show that tonight.
Things were tight early on as three penalties from Frederic Michallak saw the French take a 9-0 lead. Tommaso Allan pulled a score back, again with a penalty, but Scott Spedding hit a huge kick from inside his own half to restore their nine point lead. Micahalk added another before the break, giving France a 15-3 lead.
Rabah Slimani opened the try scoring in the second half, spurring the game into life a bit, as both sides had been contributing to a rather dull affair until that point. That was duly converted by Michalak to give France a commanding lead, but after some patient buildup an unmarked Venditti came off the wing to respond for Italy, leaving the score at 25-10.
Image: Frank Augstein / AP/Press Association Images
Things could have gotten interesting from there, but France once again asserted their dominance as veteran Nicolas Mas went over with what was the final score of the game.
Mathieu Bastareaud also took some time to remind everyone before the final whistle then when it comes to delivering a crunching hit, there are few in the game who can do it better.
That one is likely to hurt in the morning #FRA #ITA #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/TnVrgyLOux
— Newstalk Sport (@NewstalkSport) September 19, 2015
Overall France were worth their win against an Italy side whose lack of discipline cost them, but will surely be disappointed that they didn't secure a bonus point, given Ireland's impressive win over Canada earlier in the day.
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