Japan captain Michael Leitch has received nothing but love from an adoring home crowd in his third Rugby World Cup, but the former Chiefs star hasn't always been embraced by the nation whose hopes he now carries.
Leitch moved to Japan from New Zealand when he was 15 with rugby soon becoming his lifeline.
“I remember going to school and everyone looking at me and going: 'Well there's the foreign kid',” Leitch said.
This World Cup is a chance for him to leave a wider legacy.
"Yes, I suppose when I look at my position at the moment and where I am I think there is a massive opportunity to inspire a lot of other people,” Leitch said.
“Being in Japan, where Japan is a really closed off country and to have me as the face and at the front of the national team, I think I can connect with a lot of people that live in Japan and there's a lot of people that struggle here.”
Having led Japan to the unforgettable win over the Springboks, the upset of the World Cup in 2015, Leitch is now hoping his team can go further on home soil and make it out of the pool stage for the first time.
Japan face the toughest challenge of their pool next with Ireland awaiting on Saturday before they face Samoa and Scotland.
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