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'Our intention is to win World Cup' - Leitch
Japan captain Michael Leitch says he believes Japan can win the Rugby World Cup and that is aim of his side as they enter the tournament in France.
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Japan shocked the rugby world in 2015 when they overturned South Africa in the pool stages of the tournament and four years later in 2019, on home soil, the Brave Blossoms shocked both Ireland and Scotland before falling against South Africa in the quarterfinals.
Their run into this World Cup has been on the underwhelming side, with losses against Samoa and Fiji in their Rugby World Cup warm-ups, although they did register a win over Tonga.
But Leitch – who was speaking in Toulouse alongside fellow back row Lappies Labuschagné at Japan’s Rugby World Cup 2023 Team Welcome Ceremony on Sunday in Toulouse – remains optimistic about what his side can do at the tournament.
When asked whether Japan can repeat their quarter-final place at Rugby World Cup 2019, Leitch said: “Do the same but better. We’re looking at winning the World Cup. Anything can happen, red cards can happen, so our focus is on playing against Chile, England, Samoa, then Argentina and see who we face after that. Our intention is to win the World Cup.
“The pool stages will be really important for us, we want to do really well. From there, we’ll take it match by match and want to go all the way obviously. But, for now, get through the pool stages and see if we can get some good performances on the field.”
Regardless of how they do, Japan have come a long way since conceding a record 145 points to the All Blacks in 1995, and can go into the tournament with some confidence.
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“Looking back, since 2011 this team has grown so much, it’s scary … we’ve now made history but what’s ahead of us is important. This (a quarter-final) is not the goal. Winning the next game is the goal. Win the next, then the next. What’s important is winning the game in front of us. We want to make even more history for Japan.”
“Since we’ve set foot in France, you can feel the buzz, the excitement. As a team, we’re excited and looking forward to the tournament – there’s a lot to be excited about.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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