This was the weekend from heaven for organisers of this Rugby World Cup. Surprisingly few of the capacity crowd watching this gorgeous classic in the Tokyo Stadium were bothered about the match’s effect on the good of the game. The audience was partisan, dressed in red and gold, even so far from home. On the evidence of the Shizuoka Miracle by Japan and of this spectacular, rugby is going retro, all the old and gold stuff is coming back in and, perhaps, restoring a lost heritage. by both sides today and by the supercharged Japanese on Saturday, characterised the play.…

Source: The Times September 29, 2019 10:18 UTC