So since we last spoke we have all witnessed England give two magnificent displays of rugby against two of the top teams in the world and quite convincingly come out on top. Well, even when England were ranked no 1 in 2003 their performances were nowhere near as convincing as they have been in this World Cup. But more of that later.

After following the trail of the Samurai and some R & R in Fukuoka, we caught the coach to Oita Stadium for the quarter final against Australia which quite literally is in the middle of nowhere. It is surrounded by fields and mountains and is a 150-minute coach trip from our hotel, with Beppu its nearest small town where hotel rooms were costing a fortune. We were in Asia’s largest Hilton with 1,200 rooms immediately next to the Seahawks baseball dome with its opening roof - quite a marvel. So back to the remoteness of the stadium. You have to walk the last 1.5km and it turns out that the reason it was used is that it is the home town of the chairman of the Japanese RFU. It would be a bit like Bill Beaumont insisting on Chorley Football Club hosting a quarter final in 2015.

Anyway, apart from inaccessibility and a stadium too small for the level of fixture, the lads did good - we expected more Aussies there, but I guess their hopes weren’t too high and Tokyo doesn’t have an Earls court type area. Good craic before the game at the Heineken Bar, but we had to scoot off after the game with the long trip back so we couldn’t watch the New Zealand v Ireland match - not that we missed much. But it was a great atmosphere on the Saturday with the English in fine voice.

We returned the next day to watch the Wales-France game where our nearby friends and partners the Welsh yet again scraped a win against the balance of play, but the erratic French team have only themselves to blame for that. This time we managed to watch on the coach our fine hosts being blasted out of the tournament by the brute force of South Africa. A long standing ovation was given out to them for their amazing efforts.

The next day we went to Okinawa - an island some 1,000 miles south of Tokyo and where the Americans launched their bloody ground offensive at places like Hackshaw Ridge in 1945. We went on the World War II tour and one thing you find out about the Japanese culture is that they believe in renewal, so with the pressure of land almost all of the battlefields have been built over with only small monuments as remembrances. They do go in for alternatively located big memorials and there is a park where all of those that perished in the Okinawa battles are named on marble plinths - an amazing sight. Some 24,000 American servicemen stationed here since the war and in places it felt more like Detroit than Japan with American diners all over the place.

And so back to Tokyo for the big showdown. Could we and would we match up to the Kiwis? There would be no doubt who the Japanese would be routing for with the Kiwis brand awareness in Japan massive. On the day, however, it turned out that the Eddie factor helped us as he is a true legend in this country and there is no doubt we outsang, outsupported and out played the Kiwis. Quite simply those first two minutes of rugby between the two top sides in the world took our breath away, but we went on to retrieve our voice quite quickly when we dared to believe. And the Japanese turned to us as the prospective new kids on the block. We were stunned and came away almost speechless. Whereas after the game on Sunday, we were lost for words for another reason.

And then to Kyoto where there are more temples and shrines than London has Starbucks. An amazing location and to see the Falcon trying to beat the Geisha’s at their equivalent of rock, paper, scissors - quite hilarious

Despite the immersion in this world heritage location, at the back of the whole touring party’s mind was the game - almost unmentionable but the odd snippet coming out almost Tourette like. We adored this city, but time to go back and face up.

The stakes these day’s get ever higher. Will we repeat 2003 and infuse mad affection into our game in England and attract thousands more to come and watch and play? Or will it be a 2007 moment when the Mighty Bocks with their bomb squad win the day? The Falcon, of course, is biased but he senses that there are players and fans throughout the world who are taking to our style of play and feel that for us to win again in the way we have been playing would be good for the game worldwide.

And so to the Chinnor connection. Of course, the joy of the England wins have been tempered by the Chinnor losses later on. But for the reasons above England have an opportunity to enthuse our nation and create a long lasting legacy that will improve the sustainability of clubs like Chinnor and bring large amounts of new players to the game. Chinnor are a work in progress and the Falcon has no doubt their day is coming. In any event, as of tomorrow the Falcon understands that three members of the board will be out here along with many other Chinnor supporters, so between them they should have some useful tips for the team when they return .

This time next Saturday Rodney....

#COYE #COYC