Rugby World Cup 2015: Winners and Losers from Saturday's Games

Any script the Rugby World Cup 2015 may have adhered to was torn asunder on Saturday as Japan recorded their first victory over two-time world champions South Africa with a 34-32 win at Brighton Community Stadium, England.

On just the second day of the competition, the underdogs are already emerging to show there's no respect felt for their rugby superiors, as Georgia also got their tournament under way with a 17-10 win over Tonga.

Those two victories stand out as Saturday's most significant as far as pool-stage impact goes, but France and Ireland were also in entertaining moods as they defeated Italy and Canada, respectively.

France built on a Six Nations victory over the Azzurri earlier this year to record a 32-10 beating of Italy at Twickenham, London, after Ireland sealed a dominant 50-7 trouncing of the Maple Leafs earlier in the day.

Saturday's loaded four-match schedule didn't disappoint, and rugby fans will hope to see the competition continue as it's started.

The biggest winners and losers of the Day 2 action are discussed ahead.

Winner: Juggernaut Japan

Any neutral present in Brighton on Saturday will have inevitably felt themselves gravitating toward the Japanese wagon as Eddie Jones' men stunned South Africa 34-32 to clinch a piece of World Cup history.

There was nothing lucky about the landmark triumph, nor will Heyneke Meyer feel his side have any claim to argue against the result, even going so far as to "apologise to the nation [South Africa]," per the Daily Mail's Matt Lawton.

Tries from captain Michael Leitch and Ayumu Goromaru put the Japanese in contention after 68 minutes, but it wasn't until three minutes after the 80th had passed that Karne Hesketh soared over to decide the tie.

The Cherry Blossoms showed supreme heart to turn down two last-gasp penalty kicks and the opportunity of a draw, turning a potential two-point haul into four and climbing to the head of Pool B as a result.

September 19, 2015, will forever be remembered as the day Japan claimed their first win over a Tier 1 nation outside Tokyo, and how sweet it was for any fan of the sport to see rugby turned on its head, even if only momentarily.

Loser: Tick-Tock TMO

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

The eye-watering length of time wasted by the television match official during England's win over Fiji on Friday night was ill-received, and Saturday's slate exposed yet more flaws in this age of technological advancement.

The most lamentable incident of the day occurred when France's Noa Nakaitaci was actually awarded a first-half try against Italy despite the TMO's review, only for a big-screen replay to show a second mistake in the grounding.

Fortunately, referee Craig Joubert was among those to spot the error before checking with his man in the van outside Twickenham and rule out the score in what was a calamitous and long-winded passage of officiating.

Speaking to ITV, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt gave his take on the TMO referral controversy after the system was used to clarify a seemingly routine Johnny Sexton try against Canada on Saturday:

"

I think you want to get the right decision so it's great the TMO is available for that. Someone told me that the first half of the England game lasted 53 minutes and I'm not sure that's what we're looking for. Hopefully that's going to be the exception not the rule. Hopefully we can keep it in context.

For foul play and deciding tries it's proven its worth, but hopefully games will survive on their own merits and it won't need to be used so often. And hopefully the game will keep going as well because there's nothing worse than players having long, disruptive periods.

Those periods mean they tend to slow down a bit, cool down a bit and it makes them more susceptible to soft tissue injuries.

"

We're still seeing the referee (and his two assistants) refer to the TMO in matters that should be ably handled by those on the pitch and perhaps limit the reviews to try-scoring situations.

To avoid rugby falling closer to the stop-start tactics of American football, a more stringent approach needs to be taken for the sake of the sport, but more importantly, its fans.

Winner: Irish Rhythm

Rarely have Ireland been seen playing such flexible and free-flowing rugby as they were in their 50-7 win over Canada, where half-back pairing Conor Murray and Sexton were instrumental in a metronomic win.

Of course, critics may say "it's only Canada," and they'd be right to examine the Tier 2 nation as one of the lesser threats in Pool D, but coach Schmidt will nonetheless have seen major positives among his backs.

Luke Fitzgerald coped brilliantly at inside centre and helped in swinging possession from wing to wing, while Murray was a consistent playmaking force in what almost seemed an exercise in back-line move practice.

Effective though Ireland have been under Schmidt's reign, a reliance on the high ball and other factors mean they haven't always been an attractive team to watch—Saturday's display (especially the first half) was an exception to that trend.

Loser: Ill-Disciplined Captains

Maybe there was a certain sense of fate about the whole affair, but seeing Paul O'Connell and Jamie Cudmore both sent to the sin bin at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Saturday seemed almost too predictable.

The respective captains of Ireland and Canada have met on the battlefield in the past whenever Munster and Clermont Auvergne have clashed in recent years, and again the hot-blooded pair didn't fail to leave their marks.

Neil Treacy of The42.ie detailed his lack of surprise at seeing the two each take temporary leave of play, considering they stand out as two particularly aggressive figures in the mix.

Cudmore's 16th-minute caution was wholly deserved after he was found obstructing the ball at the ruck, but O'Connell's offside sin-binning early in the second period was perhaps more debatable.

It hardly holds any consequence, but captains are nevertheless meant to stand as trendsetters, the figures whose example should always be followed. O'Connell did have his finer moments, but Saturday's desperate duo were perhaps best left to their own devices.

Winner: Mamuka Gorgodze

There was no settling-in period nor acclimation needed for Mamuka Gorgodze on Saturday as the No. 8 extended his lead as Georgia's all-time top tryscorer with his 25th international score against Tonga.

The captain was deservedly nominated Man of the Match following his side's 17-10 victory at Kingsholm, England, an essential result if Milton Haig's men are to advance from Pool B or even clinch a coveted third-place finish.

Gorgodze was every bit the leader Georgia needed in their first outing of the tournament, leaving ex-England prop David Flatman to confess being a "little obsessed" with the tenacious back-rower.

If his crucial, well-taken score under the posts wasn't enough to justify Gorgodze's place as one of Saturday's biggest winners, his gargantuan tally of 27 tackles certainly was.

To put that figure into some context, the entire Tongan squad, including their eight substitutes, made a total of 48 tackles.

All statistics come courtesy of ESPN Scrum.