Play of the day: 1 match, 3 viewpoints at Rugby World Cup 2019™

Rugby World Cup 2019™ was an exciting international event that focused the eyes of the world's sports fans on Japan. Enthusiasm for rugby in the host nation reached fever pitch for the Japan v South Africa quarter-final, and photographers from around the world trained their lenses on the action.

How much of the action each photographer captures is determined by a number of factors, particularly their shooting position and the speed of their reactions. Here, three photographers from the Getty Images team – Hannah Peters, Cameron Spencer and Richard Heathcote – give their individual views of the Japan v South Africa match. They talk about the challenges, joys and frustrations on the day, reveal the Canon kit they used, and tell the story behind two of their best images from the match.

"During the match itself, the yellow card for South Africa's Tendai Mtawarira in the first half was a fairly big moment. Unfortunately, my view of it was blocked. However, that's the best thing about working in such a great team: we're able to spread the talent across the field, so we have all angles covered.

"Overall, the game didn't really go my way, but that can happen, and you take the good with the bad. The highlight was probably the crowd, and the way they showed their support. Ahead of the game, I went outside the stadium where the Japanese started singing the South African national anthem with a group of South African fans – that was a special moment to experience."

Cameron Spencer – behind the boards

Australia-based Cameron has covered many major international sporting events during his 15 years working for Getty Images. They include Rugby World Cup™ and FIFA World Cup tournaments and the summer Olympics.

"As the score at half-time was Japan 3, South Africa 5, I was hoping for a closer second half, but South Africa gained momentum, scoring numerous tries at the opposite end of the pitch from where I was shooting.

"The second half was probably the most frustrating thing about the match for me – you want to be where the action is. Often in tight matches it's about big passages of play and line breaks. The defensive efforts from both teams were very strong and impressive, which meant there were few of these to record, so when they occur you need to be ready to capture them.

"Some games, everything unfolds in front of you; other games, nothing does – sometimes you can be very unlucky. That is why photographing sport is so exciting!"

Richard Heathcote – roaming the touchline

Richard has been a sports photographer for Getty Images for 13 years and has covered four FIFA World Cups, five Olympic Games and four golf majors. This was his second Rugby World Cup™ finals tournament.

"During this quarter-final I had a 'roaming' role, working the touchline up and down the bench side," he says. "The home nation had been amazing throughout, and the fans didn't disappoint for this tense match. Whatever the outcome, the players were always going to be heroes, and they stuck in there for a good period of the game.

"The lenses I was using on my Canon EOS-1D X Mark II were the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM, the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. You can end up shooting a long way back from the action at rugby internationals, so I prefer to use the extra length of the 600mm when shooting in bigger stadiums with more run-off areas.

"One of the key moments of the match was the spear tackle by South Africa's Tendai Mtawarira on Keita Inagaki of Japan [above]. I was down on the 22m line keeping an eye on the Japan attack when Mtawarira smashed through and flipped Inagaki. The spear tackle marked a tense turning point in the game – the resulting yellow card kept the scoreline tight right up until half-time."