Rugby | Long wait over as Ives finally gets World Cup chance for Japan

Japan fans celebrate the 34-32 win against South Africa in the Rugby World Cup Pool B match

Wednesday, 9:30pm
Scotland v Japan
H 1.17, D 41, A 6.5

Japan lock Justin Ives is not afraid to admit he “completely lost the plot” after the shock win against South Africa at the Rugby World Cup — and he didn’t even play in it.
Now the 31-year-old Ives, who was born in New Zealand, gets his chance against Scotland today, after watching Saturday’s high drama from the stands. He’s been waiting long enough.
Four years, in fact. He qualified for Japan on residency in 2011, but in his eighth test that year, the last warm-up for the Cup in New Zealand, he tore ligaments, and had to withdraw from the Cup squad because of the second serious knee injury of his career.
“I’ve been waiting longer than most people,” said Ives, who has 30 test caps. “The sacrifices that so many people have made: My wife, family, and friends, the guys who were there for me four years ago when I got injured. They all encouraged me to come back, so I’m super excited.”
Although not quite as excited as he was after Japan’s 34-32 win against the Springboks in Bristol.
“I completely lost the plot at the end of the game. I didn’t know what to do. We were just hugging and shouting, unbelievable … memories for the rest of our lives,” Ives said.
“We sat in the team room and watched a replay of the game and everyone was shaking. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched the last five minutes. Unbelievable. Hopefully, it’s changed the mindset of Japanese rugby and what it’s like in our country.”
The win has brought the World Cup spotlight like never before onto the Brave Blossoms — and helped rugby, a niche sport in Japan, take attention away from football, baseball and sumo.
It’s even impacted in rugby-mad New Zealand, where seven of the Japan squad were raised.
“I was just talking to Hendrik (Tui, teammate). His wife went into a Canterbury store last weekend to buy some jerseys for the kids and she couldn’t find any,” Ives said. “Then she went in there yesterday and half the store was full of Japan jerseys. It’s good to know that Kiwis back home are getting behind us.”
The team has no intention of being one-hit wonders, he said.
“We want to back it up, we don’t want people to just say ‘Oh, well done against South Africa,’” he said.
Unlike South Africa, the Scots know what’s coming at Gloucester’s compact Kingsholm Stadium on Wednesday.
“It’s their first game, so there could be a little bit of rustiness, but I’m sure they’ve had a bit of time to look into it,” Ives said. “We have to be good against the Scotland lineout.”
That’s where Steve Borthwick comes in.
The 35-year-old Englishman knows the Scots well, having played 57 tests for England at lock. He has coached Japan’s forwards since 2012.
“Steve works on the lineouts like no one else I’ve ever come across,” Ives said. “We were running South Africa’s lineouts for the last couple of months against each other, knowing what to look out for and what to call against them. We’re not the tallest team but we know we’re probably the fastest lineout.”
Ives is convinced head coach Eddie Jones will show his tactical nous once again.
“Scotland have a massive height advantage on us, so we’ll just have to be smarter, and I’m pretty sure we’ve got one of the smartest coaches around,” Ives said. Jerome Pugmire, Sports Writer, AP / Oddschecker.com