Two weeks ago on the eve of the Word Cup, a docudrama entitled The Brighton Miracle, starring veteran Kiwi actor Temuera Morrison as Jones, premiered in Tokyo.

Well, it’s time to roll the cameras again. Anyone for the Shizuoka Shocker? As raucous fans lingered well into the evening around Ecopa Stadium, celebrations rolled throughout the capital and most notably in Tokyo’s infamous nightlife area Roppongi. “I like rugby very much,” said a celebratory Tomoko Matsumoto at Legends Sports Bar. “Now after this, all of Japan can like rugby as well.”

However, a few hours after the match ended, the foreigners seemed to outnumber the locals, as they often do in Roppongi, and most were not ready to let go of the big win.

“Everybody is Japanese right now, doesn’t matter where you come from man and I am actually Irish,” said Dubliner Kieran Clarke, who has worked in the Tokyo area for the past four years. “Look, the Japanese were full value for this win and you can’t deny that it has given the tournament a huge jolt. Ireland, we were off a bit, maybe because of the humidity and heat, who knows. You hate to lose, obviously, but hopefully we should be fine after a few tweaks. Still, if you are going to lose a match in this tournament I can’t think of anyone other than the Japanese to lose to.”

Clarke said there is a decent-sized Irish presence in Tokyo, but one would hardly know it as red and white rugby shirt were the order of the day, even in most Irish of pubs. Around the corner in Roppongi at The Shamrock, an overflowing crowd left little doubt where their loyalties lay as Japan scored their late winning try.

Next door in the posher area of Azabu Juban, things were a little more sedate, but no less joyous as diners settled in to yakitori and chicken karaage at Jyuban Ukyo, a popular late night izakaya dining spot. “Huge win, great day for Japan,” said Yoshikazu Yoshida, dutifully wearing his red striped Brave Blossoms jersey. “But now, we should make the quarter-finals so the best is yet to come and that is the game that the whole country will watch.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Japan coach Jamie Joseph, who said before the tournament started that the team’s goals were much bigger than one or two upsets. “In terms of legacy for the tournament, on our goals, as a team we want to do something we’ve never done before and that’s make the top eight,” he said. And while Joseph claimed the team was only halfway there, he also wanted them to enjoy the moment and their biggest win ever on Japanese soil. “It’s phase two now, we got a couple more games to go,” he said. “But we’ll enjoy tonight I reckon.”

And so will most of the country. Still, as much as the Japanese are the most gracious of hosts, having the team in a quarter-final elimination match will energise this event in ways organisers could only dream of. As long as the home team is in the hunt, rugby can realistically vie with the upcoming baseball play-offs for the nation’s hearts.

Back in Roppongi, there was some good news for the Irish. According to one of the legions of Nigerians working the strip, things are not what they seem and he will have none of that fake news. “I didn’t see the final score, but come on man, Ireland won,” said one. When informed that, no, actually Japan truly won and that should mean free beer for all, he definitely wasn’t buying it. “Now I know you’re lying,” he said with a smile. “People will say anything for free beer.”