Fresh from the heroics of their 15-man team at the Rugby World Cup, Japan’s rugby sevens team has qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by winning the Asian qualifying tournament in Hong Kong, World Rugby has confirmed.

Japan produced a dramatic fightback to beat the hosts in the final on Sunday (8 November). Hong Kong led 10-0 at half-time but Japan rallied to win 24-10 and become the ninth side to confirm their place in the 12-team Olympic tournament.

It is good news for rugby in Japan, where the sport has been experiencing an explosive growth in interest. The nation will host the next World Cup, in 2019, and its team, known as the ‘Brave Blossoms’, produced one of the most memorable performances of this year’s tournament in England – and arguably the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history – when they beat heavyweights South Africa 34-32 in their opening group match.

Japan were imperious in the Olympic qualifier in Hong Kong, winning all four of their pool games without conceding a single point (38-0 v Chinese Taipei, 66-0 v Singapore, 47-0 v the Republic of Korea and 34-0 v China), before steamrolling Sri Lanka 43-0 in the semi-finals.

They join South Africa, Brazil, Great Britain, Fiji, New Zealand, Argentina, the USA and France on the list of teams confirmed for the Rio 2016 Games.

Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka – who finished second, third and fourth in Hong Kong – still have a chance of qualifying for Rio as they will take part in a 16-team global repechage tournament that will decide the 12th and final place.