• Samoa match must be immediate focus for team, says Fukuoka• ‘Next game is critical in terms of us getting to the quarter-finals’The lives of Japan’s players were transformed after the final whistle sounded on Saturday against
Ireland in Shizuoka. Victory against the team ranked No 1 in the world at the start of the
World Cup turned virtual unknowns in their own country into celebrities, now mobbed when they appear in public.
“It was an historic win and we have received loads of comments and congratulations,” said Kenki Fukuoka, whose second-half try put
Japan ahead and turned the game. “I went into a convenience store and was overwhelmed with support.