The South Africans held a 35-0 lead at the break in their final Pool A match, scoring five tries in the first half and adding two more after the break.

The Blitzboks, who had to replace the injured Quewin Nortje with Ronald Brown on the second day, knew they had to win by at least 21 points to make it into the final eight and did just that. They were ruthless in the opening half and scored almost at will, dominating the restarts, possession and territory.

Japan launched a mini-comeback early in the second half, scoring their only try of the match, but that did not stop the Blitzboks from scoring two more tries.

Rosko Specman, who scored one of the tries, said afterwards that they did what was needed and are still in the hunt for a podium finish.

"Coach Philip (Snyman) asked us one thing in the change room and that was to get the joy back of playing for this team, the same joy we displayed in Monaco," said Specman. "We had some ball to play with and it was joy all over. We are still in the tournament and that is a huge boost of confidence."

The Blitzboks will now face New Zealand in Thursday night's quarter-final in Paris, which kicks off at 9pm.

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JOHNNY-WILKINSON

2023 Rugby World Cup by the numbers

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