There must have been a feeling of personal redemption for rugby coaching legend Eddie Jones on Saturday.

Twelve years ago, in one of the most memorable Rugby World Cup finals of all time, his Australian side lost in extra time at home to England, or, more specifically, to English star Jonny Wilkinson, whose devastatingly accurate kicking was just too good, too often. His players had left everything on the field and had made their country proud, but still came up agonizingly short.

On Saturday, in England of all places, Jones' current charges, Japan, also left everything on the field, making their country proud and winning the hearts of neutrals the world over.

Except, this time, Jones left with a win.

Somehow, in a result that still beggars belief more than 24 hours later, Japan, who had never previously won a World Cup match, beat South Africa, statistically the best team in tournament history, by 34-32.

Score for score, Japan's motley crew of local players and naturalized citizens matched the professionals from South Africa. Each time Japan caught up, South Africa would respond almost immediately, and it felt only a matter of time before the favorites would pull away and make the scoreline respectable, even if their performance had been anything but.

Deep into added time, however, Japan rolled over for one more try - and South Africa had no time to answer.

Even though it was surely the greatest upset in Rugby World Cup history, it still may not have much of a lasting effect on this World Cup: South Africa could qualify by winning their remaining matches, while Japan are unlikely to make it out of the group stages.

But the lessons learned can be applied on a wider scale.

Just a handful of people in China would have watched the match, but Chinese soccer players, for example, would do well to view a repeat of the game and emulate the discipline, resolve and team spirit showed by the Japanese.

Sport is entertaining in large part because the result is not predetermined. Underdogs do win from time to time, however unlikely, with sports fans of all colors celebrating their success.

Moaning about China's soccer team has become something of a national pastime in recent years. Fans instead should focus their energies on making their team the next celebrated underdogs.

World Cup qualification is the immediate goal, but once there, that elusive World Cup victory could yet lie ahead.