Japan skipper Michael Leitch says their fairytale run to last year's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals has lessons far beyond the game that the whole ...
TOKYO: Japan skipper Michael Leitch says their fairytale run to last year's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals has lessons far beyond the game that the whole nation would do well to embrace.
"One thing we did well as a team was base our team in Japan and brought different ways of thinking and cultures ... into the team," Leitch told Reuters in an interview last month."There are a lot of things that Japanese society can take out from what we accomplished at the World Cup." "We addressed it, said we weren't going to change anything, it is going to be raining but we are going to be training," Leitch recalled.
At the final whistle, the home fans erupted in a frenzy that would have stirred the most stoic of neutrals. Leitch's first words were, typically, for those suffering from the typhoon.While the victory over Scotland looked nerveless, there had been some jitters in coach Jamie Joseph's squad a few weeks earlier when four years of hard work were put on the line in the tournament opener against Russia.
Japan eventually overcame their opening-night nerves, recovering from conceding the first try of the tournament to beat Russia comfortably. "I had to take it on the chin and prepare the team like I usually do ... One thing I appreciate about Jamie too is that is he not going to beat around the bush and say it nicely. He will say it straight. That is what makes him such a good coach.Leitch did just that, coming on after 30 minutes with Japan trailing 12-3 and inspiring a comeback that left the Irish clinging on to a losing bonus point at the end.
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