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Japan rugby fan: "I started to cry with joy"

Japanese rugby fan Takao admits he started to cry with joy after watching Japan beat S.Africa 34-32 in their opening Pool B match at the Rugby World Cup.

Japanese rugby union fan Takao Arai was among those gathered at Brighton's Amex Stadium on Saturday expecting to see World Cup favourites South Africa roll over underdogs Japan in their opening Pool B match.

The Springboks have twice been World Cup winners, most recently in 2007, and came into the tournament in England among the sides many fancy to lift the trophy.

But a last-gasp try from Karne Hesketh saw Japan clinch an unlikely 34-32 victory, much to the delight of Takao and other Japanese fans.

Speaking to Adrian Goldberg on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 5 live, Takao said he didn't hold out much hope at kick-off - "we were afraid at the beginning of the game of potentially losing by a large margin... South Africa is one of the strongest teams" but said "we were so happy" at the "totally unexpected" victory.

He said he'd taken heart from a neutral Irishman sitting next to him in the crowd, who towards the end of the game "was so enthusiastic at the way the Japanese team was fighting against South Africa" and was "so impressed" at the way Japan were "so disciplined and committed to winning the game"

Admitting he and his friends shed a tear at the final whistle, Takao said "I started to cry with joy - this was the greatest moment of my life"

This clip is originally from Adrian Goldberg on 19th September 2015

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