Japanese Head Coach Jamie Joseph says the team had prepared well for their opening Rugby World Cup match against Russia last night.

Japan began their Rugby World Cup campaign with a boost after they defeated Russia 30-10 in their first pool match.

Kotaro Matsushima scored a hattrick for Japan in the match.

Joseph says Russia was a very strong side.

No one is really talking about how strong Russia were, I told the players that they came into this tournament as underdogs, then this match would be their grand final. That’s exactly what they did, they came and took it to a certain level.

Meanwhile, looking into the matches for today, we will see the Flying Fijians take on Australia at 4.45pm, France faces Argentina at 7.15pm while New Zealand will play South Africa at 9.45pm tonight.