How time flies. Was it only seven months ago in the tropical heat of Townsville, Australia, that Japan played such scintillating rugby that it scared the living daylights out of both France and Scotland during its adventures down under in the 2003 Rugby World Cup?
One would hardly have known it was the same team after watching the Brave Blossoms -- as they have now been named -- scrape out a 19-19 draw with archrival South Korea at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Sunday.
Admittedly the rain didn't help, with the ball resembling a bar of soap, but Japan's first game under new coach Mitsutake Hagimoto was not what the former Kobe Steel head coach had envisioned.