TOKYO • The first Rugby World Cup to be staged in Asia kicked off yesterday with the hosts duly delivering the result the tournament organisers needed.

First impressions are considered very important in Japanese culture and, while their 30-10 win over Russia was not exactly a technicolour dream for their coach Jamie Joseph, the Brave Blossoms' bonus-point victory (for scoring at least four tries) will have focused a few minds among their fellow Pool A teams Ireland and Scotland.

There is still a fair way to go before the former All Black realises his goal of steering Japan into the World Cup knockout stages for the first time, but there were enough positive signs to enthuse a Tokyo Stadium almost full of excited red-and-white clad fans.

Right-winger Kotaro Matsushima claimed three of his side's four tries to earn himself the honour of scoring the first hat-trick by any Japanese player at a World Cup, while captain Michael Leitch ensured enduring popularity in his adopted homeland with an assured display to calm the hosts' nerves.

The New Zealand-born flanker, who moved to Sapporo when he was 15, later admitted that the squad were "100 per cent" nervous over the scale of the pre-match interest, and it showed in the first half, with errors aplenty.

Japan led 12-7 at the interval, despite being seven points down in the first five minutes, thanks to a Matsushima double and a Yu Tamura conversion after Kirill Golosnitskiy had opened with a try for a limited Russia side, who also scored through a conversion and penalty from Yury Kushnarev.

Leitch, though, led by example in the second half as his constant cajoling and the hosts pulled away with a Tamara penalty and a try from Pieter Labuschagne.

A further Tamara penalty and a conversion from Rikiya Matsuda, before Matsushima's final try of the evening - the first player to score three tries in a World Cup opener - ensured Japan are now "in the right spot to take on Ireland".

Looking forward to their game against the top-ranked Irish next Saturday, Leitch said: "I'm happy. We showed great resilience to not go into our shell and keep playing."

While improvements, particularly to their kicking game, will be required to upset Joe Schmidt's players, Joseph also felt they would be able "fix that quickly" as the pressure was now off their backs.

"There was a lot of expectation on the guys," he said.

"I'm proud of the way we came through it in the end."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN