No quarter given: World Cup comes to life as the knockout stage begins | Andy Bull

The tournament has won millions of new fans in Japan and the onus is on the sport to keep them interested by providing a worthy spectacle in the quarter-finalsA storm blew into the sleepy little city of Oita on Friday morning. It brought thunder, lightning and tens of thousands of rugby fans from England, Australia, France and Wales. They found each other under the awnings around the central station, where they sang songs about Delilah and Matilda and all the unseemly things that went on in a Chicago department store, while the locals scurried by and sheltered inside. The World Cup has been ru…