(Gary Gold)[Getty/Kyodo]

OSAKA - Japan's Brave Blossoms are carrying the hopes and dreams of all Tier-2 nations as they make a final push for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals, said United States coach Gary Gold.

Speaking Friday after announcing his squad for the United States' final game, against fellow winless team Tonga, Gold said Japan reaching the quarterfinals would be a win not just for them, but for all aspirational rugby nations.

"I think it would be tremendous," Gold said. "For us, they are an unbelievable role model for so many reasons and I'm talking about the USA, particularly."

"This is the reason why I feel so very strongly that if World Rugby genuinely do want to grow the game -- as they claim they want to -- then (the United States) have to be a contender for the 2027 Rugby World Cup."

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The United States was a possible chance to host the 2023 World Cup that was eventually awarded to France, and World Rugby chief Brett Gosper told AFP in 2018 that "America's time will come, probably sooner rather than later."

Gold, who spent the 2014-2015 season in Japan's Top League, coaching Kobe Kobelco Steelers, said the decision was a watershed moment for the sport here.

"There was an entire mind-shift change around the game because they knew they were getting the Rugby World Cup," he said.

"It was that preparation that gave Eddie (Jones) the platform to be able to work with the team for the nine months that he did, to take them to 2015 and for them to do what they did there."

"Four years later, for them to now be quarterfinal contenders is a fairy tale come true. It's something that can be done, but it was largely off the back of them having been awarded a Rugby World Cup."

It would be a dream for World Rugby to replicate in the United States the level of public engagement the World Cup has garnered in Japan, something Gold said has been a great thing to see.

"To see that 48 percent of the entire nation are watching a game of rugby, I mean it's unbelievable what's happening in the growth of the game in this country and how much bigger it's going to go because of that."

"It would be tremendous for them if they get to a quarterfinal and, dare I say it, even further."

And if Japan can grab that much-desired quarterfinals place, there is no reason why another second-tier country cannot do the same in 2023, or 2027.

"The reality is it really would have been an accomplishment if we could have got out of this group and made a quarterfinal," said Gold.

"That's what our short- to medium-term goal was, to try and do that. That's where our standing is."