Die Bokke moet bewe vir Japan ahead of their World Cup quarterfinal match on Sunday.
According to the hosts’ New Zealand-born captain, it’s scary how good their team can get after winning all of their matches in Pool A to book a knockout spot for the first time in history.
Leitch says ahead of their match against the Springboks, whom they beat in the pool phase at the last World Cup: “Looking back, even since 2011, this team has grown so much and it is scary to think about how far this team could actually grow.
“The last four games, we are getting better each time, and the confidence is growing.”
After captaining the side in the opener against Russia, Leitch was dropped to the bench for their shock win over Ireland, and coach Jamie Joseph has made several other bold decisions during the tournament, all of which have paid off.
PLANS: Japan coach Jamie Joseph. Picture: Jae Hong/AP.
As well as maintaining their quick, dynamic brand of rugby throughout, Japan have also been detailed in their planning, having a different set of tactics for each of their four pool matches.
The results are plain to see as Japan won all of their pool games.
Leitch says a large part of that was down to Joseph and the leadership team he has assembled, which includes himself, flanker Pieter Labuschagne and flyhalf Yu Tamura.
He adds: “For the Russian match, then against the Irish, he chose the best team.
“I returned to the bench and [he] changed the match captain to Labuschagne.
“The leadership group, Jamie and the coaching staff have put an importance on the word ‘alignment’ and the consistency of that message is important.”
LEADERSHIP: Lappies Labuschagne. Picture:: Jae Hong/AP.
The results have been consistent too, with Japan winning seven of their last eight matches.
However, that one loss came against quarterfinal opponents South Africa, a 41-7 drubbing in their final World Cup warm-up match last month.
Leitch sends out a final warning to SA, saying his team doesn’t want to play their last match at the tournament this weekend.
He concludes: “Honestly, our mentality will be important, but since Japan is hosting the tournament, I have a strong feeling that we will want to show a good game to the Japanese again.
“The players are happy because they have got that chance again now.”