MILTON KEYNES: Japan rekindled the belief and the fire that helped them stun South Africa to crush rudderless and ragged Samoa 26-5 on Saturday and stay in contention for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.

A dominant performance from Eddie Jones’ side left the Brave Blossoms with hope of reaching the last eight for the first time as they head into their final Pool B match against the United States next Sunday.

Refreshed from a 10-day break after defeat by Scotland, Japan showed that their opening victory over the Springboks was no flash in the pan, with their forward more than a match for the big but disorganized Samoans.

“Our forward were fantastic, they shut Samoa out of game,” Jones said.

“Their set-piece dominance, work around the ruck in attack and defense was first class. Test match rugby is all about scrummaging. Our dominance today set the path for victory.”

Jones, who said his team selection had been wrong against Scotland four days after pulling off the biggest upset in World Cup history, named Japan’s most experienced side ever for their third pool match.

The changes paid off. With quick recycled ball and smooth handling in the backs another feature of their play, Japan deservedly led 20-0 at halftime.

The majority of the points stemmed from Samoan indiscipline, which was routinely punished by referee Craig Joubert and the boot of fullback Ayumu Goromaru.

Joubert’s patience with the Pacific Islanders was already wearing thin — having ordered forward Faifili Levave and Sakaria Taulafo to the sin bin in quick succession — when he awarded Japan a penalty try after 23 minutes for yet another indiscretion in the scrum.

Samoa, who felt the full force of a Springboks backlash in a 46-6 defeat last week, barely got out of their own half in the opening 40 minutes. They had little time with the ball and, one burst from Tim Nanai-Williams apart, offered no real attacking threat.

The pressure from Japan told again just before halftime, when right wing Akihito Yamada spun and launched himself over the line in the corner, with Goromaru kicking a difficult conversion.

Samoa, knowing their quarterfinal hopes would evaporate with a defeat, had to go for broke after the break but there was little change in momentum.

Japan were all over their frustrated opponents in the set piece and used the ball more intelligently. Goromaru, meanwhile, showed why he is the leading scorer in this tournament, slotting over the penalties to put the game out of sight.

The loss of concussed try scorer Yamada was a blow to the red and whites but they never let up and Samoa’s only try, from center Paul Perez, was little consolation for Stephen Betham’s well-beaten side.

Betham was left to rue the indiscpline that he said cost Samoa from the start.

“You can’t play footie with 13 on the pitch,” he lamented. “We could not get on the front foot and Japan played well and took their chances.”

All Blacks first to qualify

In Cardiff, reigning champions New Zealand were far from their brilliant best but overcame an inspired Georgia 43-10 on Friday to become the first team to qualify for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.

Despite the patchy display, the All Blacks scored four tries before halftime to secure the bonus point and another three after the break to seal their third win from three games in Pool C ahead of their final match against Tonga on Oct. 9.

Waisake Naholo took just 73 seconds to notch the opening try on his return just 10 weeks after breaking his leg, his fellow winger Julian Savea grabbed a hat-trick and hooker Dane Coles, number eight Kieran Read and Malakai Fekitoa also crossed.

Georgia, who rested a raft of first choice players with an eye on their final pool match against Namibia, deserved full credit for making life difficult for the world champions and their captain Mamuka Gorgodze was named Man of the Match.

The biggest cheer of the night from the crowd of 69,187 at the Millennium Stadium came in the fifth minute when Georgia fullback Beka Tsiklauri hacked the ball through and touched down for a converted try that tied the scores at 7-7.

Largely, though, New Zealand were responsible for their own shortcomings with inaccuracy of execution leading to a string of handling errors.

Even the great Dan Carter, the leading points scorer of all time in test rugby, had an off night, converting just four of the seven tries and finding the deadball area with a kick for touch in the second half.

“We were trying too hard at times and created a lot of opportunities in the first half but were trying to finish it too quick instead of taking another phase or another tackle,” skipper Richie McCaw said in a touchline interview.

“You can’t underestimate Georgia, though, (and) we are not going to panic.”

There were some high points for New Zealand, most notably when Naholo came off his wing in the second minute and brushed off one tackler before beating the cover defense for pace as he raced 60 meters to score.

Savea showed off his finishing skills with two tries in the corner, McCaw’s intelligent running created space for Coles to cross in the corner and Read barrelled over under the posts in the 52nd minute.

By midway through the second half, however, the chant of “All Blacks! All Blacks!” from New Zealanders in the crowd was one of encouragement rather than the usual triumphalism.

Savea crossed for his third try in the 73rd minute before replacement back Fekitoa put a gloss on the score with a typically powerful run three minutes from time.