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Subscribe to RSS FeedKirwan praises his troops
Injured: Japan scrum-half Yuki Yatomi gets helped off the field
Japan coach John Kirwan said his side were determined to prove they could perform at the top level after giving Fiji a fright before losing 35-31 in Toulouse in their Rugby World Cup match on Wednesday.
Japan rebounded from Saturday's 91-3 defeat against Australia to come within a whisker of beating the flamboyant Islanders in their Pool B meeting.
Japan have not won a match at the Rugby World Cup since 1991 - where they thrashed Zimbabwe - but are launching an ambitious bid to stage the 2015 tournament.
"We need to carry on with vision, sometimes you have to have some pain to grow," Kirwan told a news conference.
Kirwan also expressed his disagreement with the Rugby World Cup being reduced to sixteen teams when the next spectacle kicks off in four years' time in New Zealand.
The Cherry Blossoms' coach is hoping his side's courageous performance, which included three well-crafted tries, will hopefully change the organisers minds.
"By standing up and clapping today the Toulouse crowd were saying you need 20 teams and we did everything to show that too.
"It would be a shame for Asia, a continent with a good future, not to be well represented."
Not only did Japan lose, but they picked up a succession of injuries that will have Kirwan wondering how he can pick a full team for the games against Wales and Canada.
Kirwan said that losing both his scrum-halves in a match was a first as a coach.
"It's a situation I've never been in before. It was different, but the guys showed courage."
Scrum-halves Tomoki Yoshida and Yuki Yatomi as well as full-back Go Aruga were all replaced during the second half.
"Our full-back and scrum-half are in hospital. For the second (scrum-half), I think he twisted his ankle, we'll have to wait and see (how he is)," Kirwan added.
Japan were on the verge of scoring again in the final minutes but Fiji held out.
"You've got to give credit to Fiji's defence. They really held tight there," said Kirwan.
Japan ran everything at the Fijians but couldn't quite close the deal with a try.
The standing ovation at the end said it all. Fiji may have won, but Japan had played their hearts out.
