World Cup Daily - September 19 Review

The rugby World Cup 2015 may only be in its infancy, yet the second day served up some unforgettable moments. Total Sport takes a look back over Saturday’s action with our daily digest:

What happened around the World Cup

Saturday saw shocks and predictability in equal measure. In an interesting tie, Georgia defeated Tonga 17-10, with both sides showing strong flashes of capability.

The most regulatory occurrence of the day saw Ireland put Canada to the sword 50-7. Putting open water between themselves and their opponents, Ireland enjoyed a relaxed day at the office as they eased into their World Cup campaign with aplomb.

Lastly however, came the tie that would send shockwaves reverberating through the world of rugby. Minnows Japan rose to the occasion to defeat none other than two times world champions South Africa, with a score line of 34-32.

The big talking point

It couldn’t be anything else, Japan’s victory prompted the entire sporting world into discussion, not simply just rugby.

Deep into the fourth minute of extra time, Japanese replacement back Karne Hesketh powered towards the left of the corner, to surge over the line and create a moment instantly immortalised in rugby folktale.

At full-time Japan were insuppressible in their celebration, and rightly so. A lot had been spoken about the minnows prior to the World Cup, and many a rugby pundit were curious as to what exactly Eddie Jones could achieve with the team.

It is still early days in the sport’s most illustrious tournament, but Japan are undoubtedly on cloud nine and will be worth watching from here.

Inside the England camp

Having secured their win in the opener on Friday night, Stuart Lancaster’s men were able to sit back and enjoy the second day, knowing the gauntlet had been thrown down to their pool rivals.

Sure to have kept an eye on each game played, there was only score line on the minds of the England players come the end of the second day, as they too struggled to comprehend Japan’s victory over the mighty South Africa.

Taking to social media, centre Mike Brown expressed his shock, writing on Twitter ‘Wow!!! Japan’.

Likewise, England’s last minute try hero against Fiji, Billy Vunipola, simply wrote ‘Jaaaaaaaapaaaaaan!!’ to summarise his disbelief. Danny Care also got in on the action, tweeting about the underdog’s ‘unbelievable spirit’.

Something a little bit different

Staying England, the national team have been receiving visits galore from a number of celebrity personnel.

Following the full-time whistle in Friday’s opener, the red rose outfit were joined in their dressing room by household duo Ant and Dec, who were keen to pass on their congratulations for the winning start.

Saturday also saw a portion of the England lads receive a word from Mary Berry, as the food icon stopped by to serve up a few words of encouragement. The Bake Off personality is well versed in dealing with rugby players however, after recently spending the day at Farleigh House with the players of Bath Rugby, in celebration of the club’s 150th anniversary.

We can only assume Berry’s words of wisdom to the England lads went something along the lines of making sure they play evenly on both sides, only rise when completely ready and ensuring presentation is key throughout…