The world Cup moves on without hosts, losing the vibrancy of the team and the brilliant technicolour and white noise of its fans brought to an unforgettable run into the quarter-finals.

A new Rugby audience in Japan has met a new villain with a relentlessly brutal approach to the game. The two-time champion Springboks ground down the joyous Japanese in their own ferocious style.

After a helter skelter first half didn’t get them enough rewards on the scoreboard, Rassie Erasmus rolled on his sequence of big men and turned the screw.

They grabbed the life out of their masters and then turned into a sensational buzz mole. He won’t win any friends but he booked his place in the semi-final against Wales and that was all they set out to achieve.

They were ruthless in their physical, relentless in their desire to win clashes, and they ramped things up as he went on to utterly crush Brave Flowers, who remained true to his style of play until the end.

Jamie Joseph’s men simply couldn’t beat Springbok fever and ultimately losing such a physical game cost them.

It started brightly and within 40 minutes it was evenly matched, but as the game wore on the end became increasingly inevitable and, in truth, only the profligacy of the Sprimgboks kept Japan in the game.

Japan looked to move the ball at pace from the start but their haste was their downfall as Yu Tamura threw a forward pass on the edge of the ’22.

South Africa monstered at the scrum, before Faf de Klerk moved the ball wide to Makazole Mapimpi and Tamura didn’t want to now about tackling the winger who crossed with ease.

Handre Pollard missed the conversion and the hosts played their way into the game despite a ferocious physical from the Boks.

They overstepped the mark when Tendai” the Beast ” Mtawarira tipped Keita Inagaki over horizontally and received a yellow card.

South Africa repelled the initial scoring attempt, but the stadium was finally brought to life by some excellent handling in the Japanese midfield that released Kenki Fukuoka up the left. Dwayne Vermeulen returned to snag it and followed it up with a dominant tackle as Japan pounded the line before Damian De Allende won a key turnover penalty under his own posts.

Japan forced South Africa to defend desperately, but Boks were up to the task and Brave Flowers just couldn’t break the stranglehold.

As Ireland learned a few weeks ago, the locals love scrum executions and when eight Japanese forced Springbok executions put in Tokyo stadium erupted before Tamura got his side off the mark shortly before Mtwarira returned.

The pace was relentless and Japan lived dangerously as they explored and explored, forcing Bokke into relentless tackles.

Erasmus ‘ side were waiting for their moment and they thought it happened when Michael Leitch was turned over. Willie Le Roux entered the line and flashed the final ball, but the final pass was nicked by Lukhanyo Am, who found a touch when Mampimpi requested to be delivered.

South Africa turned the lineout back over, but then let another ’22 visit pass without a score as they were penalised for crossing.

Japan struggled but the men in green kept giving them off the hook and Willie Le Roux was guilty of a terrible knock-on as he looked set to open the hosts up.

And they finished the half with one last bit of waste as they worked their way into ’22 again, only for de Allende to be penalised for not releasing the ball on the deck as he made his way to the line.

It was at the half but the Boks extended their lead within minutes of the restart through Pollard after the scrum forced a penalty.

Le Roux threw a forward pass but the pack forced another scrum and Pollard made it 11-3, but he missed his next shot on target after another scrum produced the same result.

He made no mistake when Luke Thompson hit de Klerk high and they followed it up with a Supreme maul that went from the 10m line to ’22 before Malcolm marks got off his back and fed de Klerk to score.

Japan thought they would have a chance to strike back, but Peter Steph du Toit picked off Horie’s shot throw at the front and within a minute Mampimpi was racing clear down the left after good work from Pollard.

Pollard made it 26-3 and it was a game.

Revenge for Brighton secure, they go to Yokohama and a rematch of the 2015 quarter-finals.

They’ll stop.

YAPAN-R Yamanaka (L Lemeki 60); K Matsushima, T Lafaele, R Nakamura; Y Tamura (R Matsuda 47), Y Nagare; K Inagaki (I Nakajima 47-69), S Hori, j Ku (AI Valu 64); L Thompson (W van der Walt 54), J Moore; M Leitch (captain), Labuschagne (Mafi12), K Himeno (Mafia 52).

South AFRICA – W Le Roux; C Kolbe (F Steyn 73), L Am, D de Allende, M Mapipi; Pollard, Clerk f (H Jantjes 74); T Mtawarira (C Kitshoff 54), Mmbonambi (M marks 37), F. Maherbe (V Koch 54); Etzebeth (RG Snyman 63), Jager L (F Mostert 67); S Kolisi (captain) (S Kitschoff 12-22), PS du Toit; d vermelaine (f Louw 68).

Referee: W Barnes (England)

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