“Do you know what’s been nice about the tournament?” he asked. “Everybody has been lovely from the start. OK, we’re on the high horse now after that match, but the Kiwis and even the Aussies have been cool and genuine in their support. And I like to think we would be too if they had beaten us.”

He admits they played well, but I tell him he’s soft selling things, they played spectacularly and didn’t miss a tackle all night. “Yeah, and that’s not like us,” he adds.

Manning is from Birmingham and the guy he is travelling with is the nephew of a high ranking J-League referee who has been their host for the last two weeks. “Ah mate, the things we have seen,” he says with a smile. “What a country, what a country, and what a team today. Wow.”

He was supposed to leave on Tuesday this week but is looking to push it back. “Just got the OK from the misses back home,” he says. “Now we need to find tickets for the finals but apparently there will be loads of them hitting the market this week from Kiwis.”

I tell him that I am kind of shocked by the seemingly subdued manner of the England fans, at least around Roppongi. “We’re rugby fans mate,” he says. “We’ll get after it, but I think people expect us to tear it up like English footy fans. That’s the game, though, not the country. Italian football fans, Dutch, no matter, they look for trouble too. Just different with rugby.”

Almost to prove the point, there are a number of different coloured jerseys scattered throughout the bar. All Black fans chat amicably with English fans while three Aussies in canary yellow suit jackets are unreserved in their praise. “Full value for England, what else can you say,” says Martin from Sydney with two other mates. They had already bought tickets for the semi-finals hoping that Australia would be in it. But after England unceremoniously sent the Wallabies home with a shellacking in the quarter-finals, they decided to go to the match today anyway.

Must have been tough for them, though. England versus New Zealand, who do you root for? “You root for the game, mate,” says one. “Pretty hard not to enjoy that one today, was a thorough beat down top to bottom. A real clinic in high-end rugby.”

I ask them if maybe having an Australian coaching England would help sway their allegiances. “Wish we still had Eddie,” says Martin. “Best part about him coaching England is he doesn’t care what anybody thinks. He’s going to do what he wants regardless and that’s the Aussie in him.”

It almost seemed like the foreign fans around Roppongi were going much crazier a few weeks back when Japan beat Ireland, all of them having adopted the host country. “I think we are more stunned than anything else,” says Keith, also wearing a white England jersey and returning from the match. He tells me he is originally from Derby but lives in Dubai. This is the second trip he has made to Japan during the World Cup. “I can’t remember seeing a more disciplined and spirited performance from our lot, maybe ever.”

But I have to ask the obvious. Does it all mean nothing without a victory in the finals next week? “No, not at all,” he claims. “I really am just enjoying this right now. Living in the moment, mate.” So is his buddy, another expat living in Dubai who has a largely indecipherable Midlands accent. “Got to enjoy this,” he yelps. “Of course, if Wales slip up in the finals … ah, I don’t want to think about it.”