Brave Blossoms bloom after Typhoon Hagibis destruction

As I sit on a bullet train bound from Kobe to Yokohama, I feel overwhelmed by emotion as I watch videos and look at images of Japanese fans celebrating their Brave Blossoms' momentous victory on Sunday night. 

Less than 24 hours after one of the worst typhoons in decades slammed into coastline of Shizuoka, Yokohama and Tokyo, tournament organisers and government officials made the decision to allow the Japan-Scotland clash to go ahead.

The match itself would decide which of the two teams progress into the knockout stages. Scotland needed not only a win but to deny Japan two losing bonus points in order to book a quarter final berth. 

Japan could afford to lose the game but had to ensure they got two losing bonus points by scoring four tries while finishing within a 7 point margin of the Scots. Having watched all of their matches in the competition, I believed that the hosts had the mettle to grab a win in Yokohama. 

With that being said, I wasn't expecting to sit down and watch what was, in my opinion, the best game of the tournament so far. The pace at which Japan played the game, the skills their players exhibited and the unrelenting pace of their ball-in-hand attack was too much for Scotland to handle. 

A second-half comeback was not enough for the Scots to turn the game on its head and Japan secured what will go down as one of their most famous victories in history. Japan claimed the scalps of Northern Hemisphere giants Ireland and Scotland in the space of four weeks and the result has seen them move up to 7th on the World Rugby rankings. 

Sunday night's win eclipses their 2015 Rugby World Cup upset over the Springboks, although that result could be seen as the watershed moment that has given the side the belief to take on and beat the best teams in the world playing their own unique brand of fast-paced attacking rugby. 

Kindling the belief of a nation

The week leading up to the finale of the pool stages was overshadowed by building coverage of a monstrous typhoon brewing in the Pacific ocean basin. 

Over three days Typhoon Hagibis morphed from a tropical storm into a category 5 super typhoon spanning more than 1000 km in diameter and packing winds over 250 kilometres per hour. Meteorological agencies reported that the storm had broken records for the fastest intensification ever seen in a typhoon as air pressure in the storm plummeted, fueling vicious winds that churned the maelstrom towards Japan. 

By Friday, World Rugby was forced to cancel two matches scheduled for Saturday given the effect the storm would have on public transport. Matches further afield weren't affected but Sunday night's fixture was in danger of being called off. Authorities were simply unable to say how bad the damage from the storm would be. 

As Hagibis began to make landfall late on Saturday afternoon, widespread flooding had already occurred and reports of deaths and evacuation orders for millions of people in the affected areas told of a dire situation. As darkness fell, the main body of the typhoon began to pass over central Japan and only daylight would reveal the true extent of the devastation. 

Sunday morning headlines were bleak. Extensive flooding, burst river banks, a rising death toll and missing persons confirmed the worst. 

World Rugby and local authorities descended on the International Stadium Yokohama to make a final call on the game. I understand that some officials actually slept at the stadium to begin assessing the situation at first light. What followed can only be described as a miracle of Japanese efficiency as the pitch was cleared of water and debris while infrastructure and transport lines were brought back online to fans to get to the stadium. 

World Rugby finally gave the match the all clear at 10 am.

Whether the two teams were affected by the on-or-off possibility of the game may not be clear but the way in which both teams played suggests that their hearts and minds were firmly ready for the occasion. 

Victory dedicated to the nation

After holding on for an emotional 28-21 win, Japanese skipper Michael Leitch dedicated the performance to the victims of Typhoon Hagibis and the millions left picking up the pieces following the storm. 

Pictures of fans, with tears streaming down their faces, showed that the moment was so much more than just a rugby game. Those moments were packed with emotion and it was a stark reminder of the power that sport has to unify people in times of hardship and despair. 

I may not have been old enough to fully appreciate what the Springboks' Rugby World Cup victory in 1995 did to give South Africa a much-needed sense of unity but Sunday's match must be as close as it gets to that. 

Everything that transpired on Sunday is testament to Japan's resilience as a nation. As a visitor, I have been blown away by the hospitality of the local people and their eagerness to help others. Making sure their national side was able to play that game was as much of a victory as the end result. When faced by adversity, the Japanese face the challenge head-on and look for solutions. 

I truly hope that every critic of the Rugby World Cup in Japan takes a step back to realise what a success this event has been in this country. Japan's World Cup journey continues not only as a result of the Brave Blossoms' courageous victory last night, but every single person that contributed to making sure the match went ahead on Sunday. 

Now the fate of the Springboks' and Nippon's World Cup rest on the outcome of their quarterfinal clash next Sunday in Tokyo.