Japan beat Ireland 19-12 on Saturday at the Rugby World Cup, their first ever victory over the team currently ranked second in the world, remaining on course to make the tournament's last eight for the first time in history.

"We're all very excited about the result. We're very proud of the players. We obviously had a plan. We've been training for a long time, so we've thinking about this game for a long time," said Japan head coach Jamie Joseph.

"We had good belief in our game plan and knew what we wanted to do. We knew how good Ireland were and how strong they were," he said.

Flyhalf Yu Tamura who contributed with 14 points said, "The win was the result of us believing we will win."

"We are aiming for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals so we will enjoy the moment for now but brace ourselves for the next match (against Samoa)."

Japan's Michael Leitch said, "We focused on the things we needed to do, paid attention to each detail one by one."

"The biggest thing was having a winning mentality, the desire to win, and a belief in our process," he said. "We were as one in this."

Before the game at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, the two sides had met in seven full internationals. They also played two matches in Japan in 1985, back when the major rugby unions did not award caps to their players when playing against minor nations.

The most recent meetings came in June 2017 when the visitors were missing a number of players on British and Irish Lions duty. Despite that, Ireland won 50-22 at this same stadium and 35-13 in Tokyo.

The two sides had previously met at a World Cup in 1991 with Ireland winning 32-16 in Dublin.

Japan's victory follows their 1991 RWC win over Zimbabwe, their 2015 triumphs over South Africa, Samoa and the United States, and their Pool A-opening victory over Russia in this tournament.

The Brave Blossoms also have two World Cup draws to their name -- both against Canada, in 2007 and 2011.

Japan's next game is against Samoa on Oct. 5 in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, before they take on Scotland in Yokohama on Oct. 13 in the final pool game of the tournament.

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Rugby: Japan upset Ireland in Shizuoka stunner