Six months on, Leitch reflects on Japan's historic World Cup

FILE PHOTO: Michael Leitch waves as he and other members of Japan's Rugby World Cup team parade through the Marunouchi business district in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo December 11, 2019. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan skipper Michael Leitch says their fairytale run to last year's Rugby World Cup quarter-finals has lessons far beyond the game that the whole nation would do well to embrace.

Born in New Zealand but a resident of Japan since he was 15, Leitch captained a multicultural squad that represented a nation often perceived, by the Japanese as much as anyone, as monocultural.