The UNOFFICIAL
JAPANESE RUGBY SITE
maintained since 19 August 1996 by The
Laird of Kitakyushu
(Everything
is here!)
“Lang may yer lum reek!”
(May Your Chimney Smoke for a
Long Time... and may you be responsible for many conversions, both to and in
the great game of Rugby! ;-)
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Web Counter says you are visitor number since August 19, 1996.
Click on the cover!
Available
as an iBook since June 15, 2011
Rugby Weekly (BS Asahi, Mondays,
11.15pm – 12.00, in Japanese only)
The
JRFU announced the schedule for the coming Top League season this week on May
14, 2013. The first game will be on August 30th between Suntory who
are aiming for their third consecutive league title, and NTT Communications at
Chichibunomiya stadium in Tokyo. This year the number of teams has increased
from 14 to 16, and will be divided initially into two pools of 8. Each team
will play the other pool members once in a round-robin system. The second stage
starting on November 30th will see the pools reshuffled into a higher
group and lower group of eight teams each. Again each team will then play all the
other members once in a round-robin. At the end the 16th team will
be automatically relegated and the 14th and 15th teams will
have to win playoffs to stay in the Top League. The top four teams of the
higher group will enter a playoff tournament, as in previous years. Schedule and further details (Japanese).
Pool
A: Suntory, Kobe, Toyota, NEC, NTT Comms, Kyuden, NTT Docomo, Toyota Shuttles.
Pool
B: Toshiba, Panasonic, Yamaha, Kintetsu, Ricoh, Canon, Coca Cola, Kubota.
Jones
names 35-man squad for PNC.
The
squad is here.
Upcoming
Japan games:
Pacific
Nations Cup:
Japan v Tonga (May 25, Kanagawa); Japan v Fiji (June 1, Fiji); Japan v Canada
(June 19, Mizuho); Japan v USA (June 23, Tokyo, Chichibu).
Japan
will also play reigning Six Nations champions Wales on June 8th
(Osaka, Hanazono) and 15th (Tokyo, Chichibu), though many Welsh
players will be touring with the Lions in Australia.
Eddie
Jones happy with tough win over Hong Kong – For what it’s worth this viewer
thought the referee Aaron Littlewood had a good international debut: he
consulted well with his assistants and blew twice for crooked scrum feeds which
is still one of the laws, much neglected by most so-called top international
referees... (In a Heineken Cup semi-final last weekend Nigel Owens once
instructed a scrum half to “get the ball in” while the scrum was wheeling!
Can’t refs just explain to both front rows at the start that they want the
scrum square and stationary on the mark before the ball is put in?)
Eddie
Jones was happy with Japan’s performance against the Philippines, but also said
there was plenty of room for improvement. (April 20, 2013)
Asian
5 Nations:
Japan
121 Philippines 0 (April 20, Fukuoka, Level 5); Japan
38 Hong Kong 0 (April 27, Hong Kong); Japan
64 Korea 5 (May 4, Tokyo, Chichibu); Japan
93 UAE 3 (May 10, UAE).
In
the May 6th Rugby Weekly programme it was mentioned that Akihito Yamada (wing, aged 27)
of Panasonic Wild Knights has not yet earned a Japan cap. Yamada
scored the most Top League tries of any player last season (a new record 20
tries in 2012-13). The Laird hopes he will get his chance soon, one way or the
other. If not with Japan, maybe with a professional team overseas? He is on a
pro contract already. And as he himself said when asked what rugby meant to
him, it is about chances, and taking them.
Rugby
concussion rule causes alarm (March 31) Brian O’Driscoll’s uncle, a
respected doctor, resigns over the 5 minute rule (Pitch Side Concussion
Assessment or PSCA). In fact he resigned last summer, but the issue is very
much a current one as BOD’s recent concussion shows.
Allan
Massie on the scrum (March 30) – He is very clear and sensible, a great
writer on rugby and other matters.
BBC
Radio 5 discussion on the scrum (March 28). In the Laird’s view the scrum
has declined in recent years because referees don’t make sure that the ball is
put in straight, and because of the emphasis on the hit, which takes place
before the ball is even in play! Rugby Union without scrums is
unthinkable. The way to restore the
scrum to its former importance and yes, glory is to eliminate the hit
altogether. It is dangerous and causes too many collapses. All we want and need
is a fair contest for the ball. Hooking has become a lost art, and
strikes against the head as rare as hens’ teeth...
No
early shove, the scrum to be square and stationary at the referee’s mark, and a
straight put-in. Problem sorted!
Tokyo Sevens
(March 30-31, 2013). Well done, South Africa!
Japan
has been training at Global Arena in Fukuoka in preparation for the Asian 5
nations. The squad
has been reduced to 35 members.
Eddie
Jones named a 41-man Japan squad at the end of February 2013 for a busy
summer of ten games. He wants to create a unique Japanese style that others
want to imitate, something like the iPhone of world rugby, he says.
50th
Japan Championships:
Feb 2nd: Kobe 20 Toyota 5; Panasonic 56 Yamaha 14; Coca Cola
47 Tsukuba Uni 15; Teikyo Uni 115 Rokko Fighting Bull 5 (Chichibu 2pm); Feb
10: Coca Cola 29 Kobe 45; Panasonic 54 Teikyo 21; Feb 16: Suntory 26
Panasonic 13; Kobe 31 Toshiba 29: Feb 24: Suntory 36 Kobe 20 (Final)
Highlanders
v Blues pre-season (featuring Fumiaki Tanaka in the second half)
Top
Japanese rugby players are increasingly heading south to play in the Super 15.
There are more contacts with the Southern hemisphere, and so it is probably
easier to find contracts there than in Europe. Michael Leach (Toshiba) will be
with the Waikato Chiefs for six months, Shota Horie (hooker) is with the
Melbourne Rebels and Japan scrum half Fumiaki
Tanaka is with the Highlanders. This is being hailed in Japan as a result
of ten years of the Top League, and certainly it could not have happened
without the TL. It will be interesting to see how these players get on and the
effect it will have on Japanese rugby longer term. It must be a positive step.
Top League (Second Half)
Play-off
Tournament:
Suntory
Sungoliath 38 Kobelco Steelers 19 (Jan 19, 14.00, Chichibunomiya); Panasonic
Wild Knights 8 Toshiba Brave Lupus 20 (Jan 20, 14.00, Chichibunomiya);
Final: Suntory 19 Toshiba 3 (Jan 27, 14.00,
Chichibunomiya) Great defensive effort by Suntory which survived wave after
wave of Toshiba attack. Suntory is now the first ever team to achieve an
unbeaten League run and Playoff to become champions!
Meanwhile
Coca Cola and Kubota have bounced back up into the TL for next season,
replacing Sanix and NTT Docomo. And match-ups for
the 50th Japan Championship have been decided.
TL attendance figures
indicate 362,068 people watched all the games this 2012-13 season (including
play off tournament and promotion matches). The all time record after ten
seasons is the 2008-9 season with 384,954 attending. This season’s figure is
second after that.
Top
League Round 13 (last round, all games on January 6th): Panasonic 44 Canon 14; Sanix 36
NEC 55; Ricoh 21 Yamaha 46; Kobelco 29 Suntory 43; Toyota 31 NTT Docomo 24;
Kyuden 27 NTT Com 28; Toshiba 50 Kintetsu 30
Top
League Round 12: NTT Com 13 Kintetsu 10; NEC 34 Canon 0
(Saturday, December 22nd); Sanix 13 NTT Docomo 42; Toyota 52 Ricoh
7; Yamaha 29 Suntory 35; Kobelco 24 Panasonic 25; Kyuden 5 Toshiba 101 (Sunday,
December 23rd)
Top
League Round 11:
Kyuden 35 Panasonic 76; NTT Docomo 14 Ricoh 44; Suntory 38 NTT Com 7; Kintetsu
44 Canon 39 (Saturday, December 15th); Sanix 25 Toyota 35; Kobelco
27 Toshiba 29; NEC 35 Yamaha 49 (Sunday, December 16th)
Top
League Round 10:
Yamaha 28 Kintetsu 35; Suntory 15 Toshiba 14; NEC 29 NTT Com 6 (Saturday, Dec 8th);
Kyuden 29 Ricoh 28; Panasonic 65 NTT Docomo 7; Canon 26 Toyota 34; Kobelco 52
Sanix 7 (Sunday, Dec 9th)
Top
League Round 9:
Suntory 48 NTT Docomo 14; Toshiba 17 Yamaha 14 (Dec 1st); NTT Com 5
Kobe 48; Panasonic 40 Toyota 17; Sanix 10 Canon 23; Kintetsu 19 Ricoh 17;
Kyuden 18 NEC 55 (Dec 2nd).
For
highlights see the Flash Player video on
the Top League page.
High School Rugby – 92nd
National Tournament (Dec. 27 – Jan. 7, 2013)
49th
University Rugby Championship Semi-finals – January 2nd;
Final January 13, 2013
Kitakyushu Genwaku RFC – the Laird’s
club!
The
Laird has just bought a book newly published by NHK in November 2012, written
by Kensuke Iwabuchi, General Manager of the national team at the JRFU since
January 2012. The book is titled Sekai de
katanakereba imi ga nai – Nihon Ragubi- sainetsu no shinario (Roughly translatable as “If we
don’t win in the world there is no point – Reinjecting passion into Japanese
Rugby”). Of course this is highlighting Japan’s poor World Cup record so far (just one win, two
draws and 21 losses since 1987) and the declared aim of the Union to get
Japan into the Best Eight. (This will
make interesting reading over the Christmas break! ;-)
In
the foreword the author mentions an experience he had at the annual KOBELCO CUP 2009
in Sugadaira which is
in the mountains of Honshu and cool in summer, so an ideal and traditional
place for summer rugby practice games. (Sugadaira tends to be used by
universities, while Top League teams go to Hokkaido in the summer which is also
cool.) The Kobelco Cup is played by 17 and 18 year old high school students.
Players who were that age in 2009 will be 27 or 28 years old when the RWC comes
to Japan in 2019. At the opening ceremony on July 28th as requested
Ken Iwabuchi gave a short speech before about 400 elite schoolboy players. He
asked for a show of hands for those hoping to play in the World Cup in the
future. Only five hands went up out of 400! He concludes that for these
students it means much more to play for the famous Waseda or Meiji University
than for Japan!! (Clearly there is much
work to be done to change things!)
Japan’s European
Tour (November 2012)
Japan
XV 41 French Barbarians 65 (15.00, Le Havre, Sunday November 25th)
It is an improvement on the scoreline when the teams last met anyway. And the
two test matches have been won which makes this a good tour with many lessons
learned.
Japan
XV 3 Basque Select 19 (19.00, Biarritz, Wednesday November 21st)
Two steps forward, one step back? But as Eddie Jones says there is still time
to fix inexperience and other problems before RWC 2015.
Japan
25 Georgia 22 (15.00, Locomotiv Stadium, Treblisi, Saturday November 17th)
– A wonderful last-gasp drop goal by Kosei Ono of Suntory (formerly of Sanix
and Christchurch Boys High School) sealed this victory after Georgia had
squandered their chance to do the same at the other end after 80 minutes was
up. Michael Leach’s hands raised in frustration turned to instant joy as the
score was awarded, to the amazement of all. Fantastic stuff!! The fragility and
mental frailty still seen even last year seems to be a thing of the past....
Japan
34 Rumania 23 (15.00, National Rugby Stadium, Bucharest, Saturday November
10th) – This is Japan’s first ever victory over a European team in
Europe! It is also Japan’s first ever test match win in Europe. (Of course
Japan beat Zimbabwe in the 1991 World Cup in Belfast, which is Europe,
methinks.) Well Done Everyone!
The
19th
Golden Oldies 2012 was held in Fukuoka from October 28th to
November 4th. Website (Japanese only) is here.
The
Laird has enquired at the Golden Oldies office and discovered that it is not a
tournament, so there is no final. Games are being played at three venues
which are close together: Umi no Naka Michi Koen/Park, Gan no Su Recreation
Center and Sawayaka Hiroba (Coca Cola ground). The main venue is Umi no Naka
Michi. (Change at JR Kashii for Umi no Naka Michi station). The third and final
day of games is Friday, November 2nd. They will be played from 10am
to 3pm. (The Laird has taken the day off and is going to watch tomorrow.)
HSBC Asian 5 Nations 2012
(April 27-May 26); Facebook page
Download and test
yourself on the Laws of the Game, in seven different languages!
The IRB also provide Video Live and On
Demand for various competitions held under their auspices which is one of
the best things on their website.
Total Rugby （IRB TV and radio）
Hooray! NHK’s
English service (NHK World) reports on SBW (Sonny Bill Williams), the All
Black and champion boxer, and his humble approach to the pinnacle of two
sports! (Thank you, NHK and more English reports, please.)
JRFU English website – jrfu.org – includes
Japan and Top League game reports
Rich
Freeman now works for Kyodo News
which is a subscription service, though his reports are sometimes carried in
the Mainichi.
That’s
about it…except for this page and the very detailed RiJ e-mail newsletter (all.4.one[at]hotmail.com).
Top
League Round 9:
Suntory v NTT Docomo; Toshiba v Yamaha (Dec 1st); NTT Comm v Kobe;
Panasonic v Toyota; Sanix v Canon; Kintetsu v Ricoh; Kyuden v NEC (Dec 2nd).
Break
until December. The national team is touring Europe in November.
Top
League Round 8:
Canon 25 Yamaha 36; Kyuden 19 NTT Docomo 17; Panasonic 23 Kintetsu 20; Toshiba
26 Ricoh 28; Kobelco 48 NEC 14; Sanix 19 Suntory 42; NTT Com 23 Toyota 24 (All
games played on October 27th.)
Top
League Round 7:
NTT Docomo 29 Kobelco 37; NEC 33 Toshiba 48; Yamaha 52 Kyuden 8; NTT Com 30
Sanix 23; Kintetsu 10 Toyota 18; Suntory 34 Panasonic 20 (Oct 20); Canon 17
Ricoh 35 (Oct 21).
Top
League Round 6:
Panasonic 35 Yamaha 18; Kobelco 70 Kyuden 24; NTT Docomo 7 Kintetsu 59; Toyota
22 Suntory 25; Ricoh 36 NEC 19 (October 13); Canon 17 NTT Com 31; Sanix 20
Toshiba 29 (October 14)
Top
League Round 5:
NEC 21 Panasonic 38 (Oct 5); Yamaha 13 Kobelco Steelers 33; Ricoh 50 Sanix 17;
Canon 34 Kyuden 5; Toshiba 21 Toyota 29;
NTT Docomo 15 NTT Com 23; Kintetsu 24 Suntory 49 (Oct 6)
Break
September 28-30, no games
Top
League Round 4:
NTT Com 14 Ricoh 9 (Sept 21); Kintetsu 48 Kyuden 11; Suntory 42 Canon 17;
Toshiba 32 Panasonic 22; Toyota 23 Kobelco Steelers 23 (Sept 22); Yamaha 53
Sanix 27; NEC 42 NTT Docomo 13 (Sept 23).
September
17. Top League Results (Round 3): Ricoh 19 Suntory 37; Canon 22 Kobelco Steelers
32; Yamaha 25 NTT Com 19; Toshiba 64 NTT Docomo 12; Panasonic 55 Sanix 15;
Kintetsu 17 NEC 21; Toyota 19 Kyuden 15.
September
13th. The Top
League Round Three Preview is provided by the JRFU English website. It is
rumoured this official website is to be discontinued soon. I really hope not!
September
7th. The Top League Round Two is
starting on Friday (tomorrow) with Canon v Toshiba at Chichibunomiya. This year
Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is the highest profile new boy, but he didn’t play
for Panasonic Wild Knights last week. Currently there are 13 Kiwis, 6 South
Africans and other nations are represented in the TL in ones and twos.
September
3rd. Top Rugby writer in Japan Rich Freeman has recently changed
jobs and is now working for Kyodo News. But it seems his stories are being
carried in the Mainichi. Here he is on the
first Top League game of the new season.
August
28. At the hospital today I was told I can’t play rugby for two months while
the cracked rib heals. It was clear enough on the X-ray, and I don’t ignore
advice from doctors! So there will be no club summer camp (gasshuku) for me
this weekend. Jogging and light training only.
August
26, 2012. Top League starts in Japan
next weekend. Can’t wait! Also the new Rugby Championship
is very good. Since the Rugby Championship covers virtually all the Southern
hemisphere now with huge distances travelled by teams, why can’t Japan be
included in a Northern hemisphere competition? The Pacific Nations (Fiji,
Tonga, Samoa) could be included in an expanded Rugby Championship couldn’t they
– maybe as a combined team?
The
Laird has been ridiculously busy of late, with a family bereavement, a rugby
injury (cracked rib) and of course his work which has prevented him from
touching this page. Anyway, he has found something positive which he’d like to
share with you: the JRFU’s Asian Scrum outreach program for Asian Rugby.
Specifically here is an example
of how the JRFU is helping Lao Rugby. And the Laird is presuming that Katie
Wurst was sent by the IRB – she obviously has done great ‘missionary’ work
for Rugby Union in Laos. Well Done All!
March
21
The
Eddie Jones era of Japan Rugby has got off to a great start. Not only has
Suntory won the Top League and All-Japan
Championships as he planned, but he has announced an
exciting new squad with many young players for the upcoming HSBC Asian 5 Nations,
with great potential for RWC 2015. Well done especially to young Yoshikazu Fujita.
It is great that Eddie is prepared to use 18 year olds and many uncapped
players, as they are exciting talents for the future.
February
6, 2012: The
Top League league games finished at the weekend with the 13th
round. The four play-off teams, four wild card teams and two teams to be
automatically relegated are now known.
December
22
It
is looking very likely that Eddie
Jones will be the next coach of Japan. The JRFU have said
publicly this week that they want him from April, and surely Suntory will
not stand in the way. If he gets a decent Japanese assistant (and Kunda-san is
rumoured to be the man) then things may begin to look up.
November
21
Eddie
Jones is interested in both the Japan and England coaching jobs. This is public
knowledge. In other words, he wants to coach a team at the next Rugby World
Cup. Either post would (presumably) mean quitting his present coaching slot at
Suntory... How will Suntory and the JRFU react? John Kirwan is officially the
Japan coach till the end of December.
Meanwhile
Yamaha have lost two Top League games on the trot. Now only Toshiba
and Suntory remain unbeaten. The Kyushu teams are not going too well...
Japan
Rugby Top League after two rounds (as at November 9th)
|
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
1 |
Yamaha |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
35 |
65 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
2 |
Toshiba |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
70 |
29 |
41 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
3 |
Suntory |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
77 |
41 |
36 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
|
4 |
Kintetsu |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
53 |
30 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
5 |
Kobe |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
52 |
38 |
14 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
6 |
Panasonic |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
64 |
57 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
7 |
Toyota |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
60 |
43 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
8 |
Ricoh |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
53 |
71 |
-18 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
9 |
NTT Com |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
45 |
65 |
-20 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
10 |
NTT Docomo |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
34 |
65 |
-31 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
11 |
Honda |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
26 |
64 |
-38 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
12 |
Sanix |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
36 |
63 |
-27 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
13 |
NEC |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
43 |
76 |
-33 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
30 |
66 |
-36 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Yamaha have started well with two wins. Of course it
is early days, but if they can keep their momentum they will make the play-offs
(Top Four) which would be very good for them after a poor season last year when
they finished 11th. Suntory have many star players, so they should
also be in the play-offs together with Panasonic and Toshiba. The two Kyushu
teams, Sanix and Coca-Cola, are struggling at this stage. The top point scorers
are below:
|
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
|
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
11 |
6 |
- |
45 |
|
|
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
- |
3 |
8 |
- |
30 |
|
|
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
- |
6 |
5 |
- |
27 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
2 |
6 |
1 |
- |
25 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
1 |
7 |
2 |
- |
25 |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
|
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
5 |
- |
- |
20 |
|
|
Atsushi Tanabe |
Sanyo |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Masakazu Shima |
Honda |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
1 |
5 |
- |
- |
15 |
|
|
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
- |
2 |
3 |
- |
13 |
October 24
Eddie Jones says he is ready
and willing to take over as national coach but he has heard nothing from the
JRFU yet. He takes a less radical approach to reform than others, suggesting
that Japan run a junior test side in the Asian Five Nations and a mentoring
system, especially for positions 9, 10 and 15. He also thinks the top 30-40
students should receive intensive fitness and skills programs, and attend
regular camps. These are interesting ideas. Certainly Japan’s full national
team is too strong for the Asian Five Nations at present. He is also dead right
that the national team desperately needs real success so that the profile of
the game in Japan can be raised back to the level it once was, and beyond. To
do this Japan needs a more challenging fixture list. Amen to that! Jones also
names four players good enough to play overseas: Hiwasa, Tanaka, Leitch and
Horie.
Well done France for stretching the All
Blacks to the limit in the final and Congratulations to the latter for winning
RWC 2011. Thanks and praise are also due to the whole country of New Zealand
for staging a marvellous Rugby World Cup.
Here’s an interesting tidbit about one
Gareth Holgate currently playing at Kyuden Voltex and in the Philippines.
October 21
Can the Welsh
beat Australia today? We’ll know soon. Both teams seem well motivated for
the clash, despite recent disappointments. Meanwhile Keith Davies tells
Rich Freeman what he thinks is wrong with Japanese rugby. Is university rugby
in Japan “a complete waste of time”? Maybe academies would be a good idea, but
who is going to invest the money in them? Presumably it will have to come from
the companies who own the Top League teams now. As for Meiji University, they
are very proud of their forwards. Is that a “poor tradition”? The Laird rather
likes seeing the big forwards rumble up to the line, although 20 minutes
nonstop of it may seem a bit too much of a good thing. It’s the sort of thing
Ingerlund used to do in their heyday before the flash harries in the backs took
over. Grunt and grind...do it to me one more time etc. Foreign development
officers in the universities might be feasible...
October 18
It has taken a while to get over the
disappointment of Japan’s World Cup, but I am back now. JK was very sensible to
resign, there was no mileage in attempting to stay under the circumstances and
as he rightly judged it was better to go than be pushed. He has had success
with Japan and good times, just not quite enough. Thanks for the good memories
and Good Luck anyway.
Meanwhile the Welsh were unlucky to fall foul
of Alain Rolland. One somehow doubts that Steve Walsh (for example) would have
given more than a yellow card for Sam Warburton’s indiscretion. It is all
discussed in some detail by the experts here.
So, can the French bestir themselves and
create the biggest upset of all time? They have sleepwalked for much of the
tournament and yet still got to the final. It would be nice if they could get
their act together at last, and the Laird always backs the underdog on
principle...Allez
les Bleus! ;-)
September 7
Rich Freeman
highlights the fact that many teams now have players not born in their country,
Anyway, Japan is abiding by the IRB rules. (People who think otherwise need to
go and have a lie down!) Meanwhile Japan is warming up
nicely for France.
Match
Schedule (pdf) Match
schedule by date, pool and venue (pdf, 3 pages)
August 18
Unusual to see the Japan Rugby team getting a
two minute spot on BBC World sports news by Sean
Fletcher this morning. Probably the tsunami helped get the extra attention,
but anyway JK spoke much as he usually does, and Japan training at Chichibunomiya
was shown also. (The Laird will be away and not able to update this page at all
from now until about September 5th at the earliest.)
August 16
Italian test gives
Japan plenty to think about. (Daily
Yomiuri) Well yes, I suppose you always learn more from losses than wins if
you analyze your deficiencies accurately, as John Kirwan usually does. Such is
life! Hopefully the Italians won’t reflect too deeply on any of their deficiencies,
though I guess Nick Mallett
is too good a coach not to. (They play
Scotland next!) It is also
hoped that Japan will have too much firepower for the USA next Sunday evening
in Tokyo... (The Canadians will no doubt
be watching with interest after they won both their warm-ups with the USA and
share Pool A with Japan...Actually everyone is watching each other now!)
August 14
Japan played well yesterday against Italy and
gave their hosts plenty to think about, but eventually
lost 31-24, a converted try’s worth. Italy was very strong in mauls from
line-outs near Japan’s line, but Japan also produced one good maul near the
Italian line which could only be stopped by conceding a penalty try. Half time
saw Japan leading 17-14 in fact, after going 14-0 down and spurning an easy
penalty to open their account. A tactic which worked well for Japan on what
appeared to be a narrow pitch with very small in goal areas at Cesena stadium (a football ground
capacity c. 23,000) was short grubbers and chip kicks. Japan’s first try came
from that, though the grounding by wing Takehisa Usuzuki (Toshiba and Doshisha)
was only just enough...
August 13
JK says his players are itching to go to
the RWC as they face Italy today, then return to Japan for the final
warm-up game against the USA at Chichibunomiya (Tokyo) on August 21st.
The mood in the camp seems cheerful, as well it might be after a good PNC and
training in Italy. Good Luck Japan, ganbatte
kudasai!!
August 12
Yamanaka slapped
with 2 year ban – and all to grow a moustache for heaven’s sake – ouch!
Meanwhile Shaun
Webb is a safe bet at No.15 for Japan v Italy. The game will kick off at
27.35 tomorrow, i.e. 3.35 am on Sunday in Japan, Live on J Sports for the
matchsticks in pupils brigade... The Japan team is given here.
August 9
George Smith joins Suntory: detailed report.
It was news to the Laird that George Gregan had ever lost his love for rugby,
but that happens to the best players if they play too much, and also it is good
to know that – according to Eddie Jones – he regained it at Suntory. (Though to be frank the Laird never felt
that GG was quite the really great player he had been in the past when he was
playing in Japan...)
August 7
So the ABs defended Eden Park successfully
from the Aussies, England narrowly beat Wales and Scotland squeezed past
Ireland yesterday. Japanese rugby will be pleased to welcome James Haskell
after he scored a decent no 8 try from a scrum going forward near the line.
Good also that Eddie Butler gave a name check to his new club Ricoh Black Rams!
July 26
Two big name signings for Suntory... George Smith and
Danie Rossouw. This reflects the pulling power of coach Eddie Jones, and
maybe also increased interest in Japan as the 2019 World Cup draws nearer...
What with young James
Haskell joining Ricoh Black Rams the place is getting quite full, and an
exciting Top League season is in prospect!
July 23
Japan continues the World
Cup build-up in Italy. Now Japan is 12th in the IRB world
rankings for the first time ever! And Rich Freeman of the
Daily Yomiuri speaks to the recently appointed JRFU Chairman.
July 14
Japan are PNC
champions for the first time! Congratulations on withstanding a very strong
first half onslaught from Fiji. As for the cards, maybe one or two in the world
record issued by Mr. Fitzgibbon were a bit harsh, but big men have to make the
extra effort to tackle safely (i.e. lower) on small men, or take the
consequences! Murray
Williams of Toyota Shuttles (Toyota
Jidou Shokki) looked especially good at no 10 where he started for the
first time (an extra option for JK) and he also performed a memorable
try-saving tackle on a man about twice his size... In the end Japan win the PNC
by virtue of beating the other 10-point team Tonga narrowly last Saturday.
Note that if the cup winners had been decided
on points difference it would have gone to the Tongan Sea
Eagles (Ikale Tahi)
and not the Brave Blossoms... See the standings.
Japan finished with -13, Tonga with +33! This will certainly make the RWC pool
game between Japan and Tonga a humdinger!
Anyway, take nothing away from the Brave
Blossoms who were worthy champions for the first time since they started
playing the Pacific Nations in (I believe) 1999... It is also 17 years since
Japan last beat Fiji.
July 10
Important
win for Japan over Tonga yesterday, 28-27. After dropping from 13th
to 15th in the IRB world rankings as a result of last week’s loss to
Samoa, it was vital for morale to get straight back on the horse. Arlidge was
back at fly half and Webb at full back. Now the PNC is wide open!
July 3
A bit of a disappointing start to the PNC for
Japan: it seemed, as JK said after the game, that Japan started too slowly and
the man-on-man tackles were not made. They took a while to adjust to the
physicality of the Samoans who were really up for the game. By the time they
did so (and the second half was much better) the game was out of sight. Clearly
the Asian Five Nations was not sufficient preparation for this higher level
tournament. Hopefully the rude awakening will bring the best out of the team
later. Thanks are due anyway to Manu Samoa for being the only team willing to
play in Japan as originally scheduled before the events of the March 11
earthquake and tsunami. (Also well done to Tonga for a convincing away win at
Churchill Park in Fiji!)
Round One: Sat 2 July: Tonga
45 Fiji 21; Japan 15 Samoa 34; Round Two: Sat
9 July: Fiji 36 Samoa 18; Tonga 27 Japan 28 ; Round Three: Weds 13 July: Samoa
19 Tonga 29; Japan 21 Fiji 13
June 17
The Laird doesn’t like to moan (bad form, you
know!) but he was disappointed that his recording of the Bulls v Stormers last Sunday
was almost unwatchable because heavy rain here in Kyushu interfered with the CS
reception. Boo... boo... It seems High Definition broadcasts are especially
vulnerable to bad weather as they push out so much data. The Laird would swap
for a lower grade but more reliable picture.
June 14
John Kirwan
announces squad for Pacific Nations Cup including flanker Tadasuke
Nishihara and fly half Murray Williams after Ryohei Yamanaka
became... er... unavailable.
HSBC Asian Five
Nations (Official page ; news)
Round One: Sat 23 April: Sri
Lanka 13 UAE 13 (Sri Lanka); Kazakhstan 10 Hong Kong 23 (Kazakhstan); Round
Two: Fri 29 April: UAE 23 Kazakhstan 10 (UAE); Sat 30 April: Hong Kong 22 Japan
45 (Hong Kong); Round Three: Sat 7 May: Kazakhstan 0 Japan 61
(Bangkok); Sri Lanka 3 Hong Kong 48 (Sri Lanka); Round Four: Fri 13 May:
UAE 0 Japan 111 (Dubai); Kazakhstan
34 Sri Lanka 18 (Kazakhstan); Round Five: Sat 21 May: Japan 90 Sri
Lanka 13 (Tokyo Colombo, Sri Lanka); Hong Kong 62 UAE 3 (Hong Kong) Final table
May 21
A pleasant enough romp in the sun for Japan
to finish the A5N as champions in
Colombo. Well done to the home team for an early intercept try (converted), a
drop goal and a penalty, which makes a full flush doesn’t it? Lots of good
drumming and background music throughout the match added local colour... next
stop the PNC for Japan!
May 14
Japan scored 57
points in the first half and 54 in the second against the amateurs of UAE
yesterday... Presumably JK will be unhappy at the reduced scoring rate in the
second half!! ;-) (He’s a hard man to please, we know...)
It was good to see James Arlidge back and playing with authority at 10 and Sean
Webb played much better when he came on at centre than he has done recently at
fly half... Ryan Nicholas was very good indeed except for a couple of
elementary errors which he would never normally make... fatigue? Good debut cap
appearance for the Japanese winger Takehisa Usuzuki with four tries, and No. 7
Michael Leitch was Frank Hadden’s Man of the Match. Anyway well done to the
team for scoring 111, (one one one) and so far three games have been won won
won!! ;-)
Oh dear, did Mr. Mori actually say that Japan
would host RWC 2019 on its own or was he misreported? I hope the latter, but he
does sometimes put his foot in things with strange statements. Anyway, the venues haven’t
been decided yet (and indeed the Kitakyushu stadium hasn’t been started yet
and won’t be complete till 2015 earliest! ;-)... and why not include one or two
in other Asian countries?
May 11
Rich Freeman writes that Asia has plenty to
offer rugby. The Laird agrees 100% with this. The old racial stereotyping
which said that Asians are too small to play rugby was a convenient myth and is
no longer true (if indeed it ever was...?).
Meanwhile it is nice and reassuring that the
IRB’s commitment to holding the RWC 2019 in Japan is unwavering...!! But
the Laird feels that the talk of messages of solidarity and support by RWCL
Chairman and IRB President Bernard Lapasset at the end of this article is
merely lip service... Real solidarity and support would have been the IRB
honouring the commitment to have the whole PNC (and the upcoming Sri Lankan
game in the A5N tournament) played in Japan as originally scheduled!!
May 8
John Kirwan writes in the Daily Yomiuri today
about how the oval
ball offers hope. Meanwhile
Japan held Kazakhstan to nil in Bangkok
yesterday. Of course JK wanted more tries as usual, but he couldn’t want
less points for the opposition!! ;-) But there could be no better man to be
HSBC Asian ambassador for Rugby: on a recent IRB Rugby programme he explained
that he is targeting two wins for Japan in the RWC 2011 not only because it
will guarantee Japan a place in RWC 2015, but also because that will open up
another place for an Asian country to qualify for that tournament. (A far-sighted and generous man!)
May 6
The Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational
Tournament (what a mouthful!) is over. It was great again this year!! The final
order is here,
with details
here (pdf). My photos are here
(May 4th) and here
(May 5th, Finals day). Also my videos from the final day are here: Try
by Paarl Boys’ High School (3rd-4th place playoff)
; Hamilton
v Ivybridge (Final); Haka
and Pipe band (After the final)
The Brave Blossoms were not happy after the
Hong Kong game. Indeed things must improve against Kazakhstan
tomorrow with a new captain.
April 30
The Laird had a very good time at the Sanix World Rugby Youth
tournament in Munakata, Fukuoka prefecture yesterday. He met old friends
and made new ones. Here is his Facebook
photo album of the day. Meanwhile the Japan Rugby community has made a website appealing for Solidarity
with Tohoku. And the Japan
Rugby Team has made a video of support for Tohoku. (That’s more like it!! Are you reading this Monsieur Lapasset??)
The Japan team is saying “Ganbarou Tohoku!”
(“Let’s fight together, Tohoku!”)...This is the most meaningful rugby slogan to
be devised in Japan since ULTIMATE CRUSH, in the Laird’s opinion...The game
against Hong Kong later today should be a cracker!! ;-)
April 27
IRB pulls 5 PNC
matches from Japan Oh Well Done,
chaps!! Let’s hope there are no tsunamis or typhoons in Fiji in early July this
year, eh? Nor any tsunamis or terrorist attacks in Colombo (Sri Lanka) on or
around May 21st... (The world
is a pretty dangerous place folks, once a few years back the Laird had to
cancel a trip from Japan to Sri Lanka because Tamil Eelam terrorists were
targeting airlines...)... Presumably Monsieur
Bernard Lapasset the IRB chairman being French is especially sensitive to
radiation... almost all the Froggies (some 6,000 people) cleared out of Tokyo
on advice and with assistance from their government after the March 11th
nuclear disaster... But the ironic thing is that Kyushu and Kansai (i.e.
Southwest Japan) are probably safer than either Fiji or Sri Lanka... Anyway, it is great that the Sanix World Rugby Youth
tournament is going ahead this year here in Kyushu, though with only four
overseas teams this time (from NZ, SA, England and Korea) rather than the usual
eight. France usually is represented, but I guess all of Japan is too dangerous
for them this year... 12 Japanese teams will also play, four more than usual.
The tournament starts on April 28th (tomorrow) and ends on May 5th.
See here for the outline and
format (pdfs).
April 26
Aren’t the Highlanders going well under Jamie
Joseph?! ;-)
April 21
Blues beef up with
All Black lock Thorn ; A5N set to kick off
with two new teams
April 18
Three uncapped
players make Japan squad for A5N (Daily Yomiuri, April 17) Good Luck to them!
But what will happen about the venues for the
Pacific Nations games scheduled for Japan above? The Laird feels that they
should certainly be played somewhere in Japan, otherwise when will Japan Rugby
fans see their team play before the RWC?? It is an ideal opportunity in fact to
bring the Japan team to Kyushu and Kansai... and even Hokkaido or Okinawa...why
not? These are all safe at the moment. No need to move any games to Fiji,
anyway!!
April 15
The Laird wonders if an alternative venue in
Western Japan (Kansai or Kyushu) was considered for the game against Sri Lanka.
Fukuoka is about 1,000 km from Fukushima...see the map below:
April 14
Japan forced into
long A5N road trip (Rich Freeman, Daily Yomiuri). What a piece of nonsense,
sorry “shame”, that Sri Lanka has refused to travel to Tokyo!! No wonder their
union has recently been downgraded by the IRB...!! (Not to put too fine a point on it, the Laird hopes that Japan hammers
these impudent and unfriendly people at home with a world record score...just
as they did to Taiwan some years ago. ;-) Anyway a month on the road will
be good for the Japan team bonding!!
April 8
All four Heineken Cup quarter-finals will be
Live on J Sports this weekend. Great!! Perpignan v Toulon; Leinster v
Leicester; Northampton v Ulster; Biarritz v Toulouse... Plus Brumbies v ‘Canes
live... can’t ask for much more, eh?
April 4
Congratulations to the Japan Sevens squad for
winning the Shield at the Adelaide
Sevens, beating Tonga 22-5 in the final yesterday.
|
|
Name |
Club |
Age |
Hgt. |
Wgt. |
|
1 |
Siliva
AHIO |
Sanix |
24 |
176 |
94 |
|
2 |
Takayuki
YAMAUCHI (c) |
Toyota Verblitz |
24 |
180 |
85 |
|
3 |
Rotoahea
POHIVA |
Saitama IoT |
22 |
192 |
113 |
|
4 |
Lepuha
LATUILA |
Kintetsu Liners |
26 |
187 |
103 |
|
5 |
Takaaki
NAKAZURU |
Waseda Uni. |
20 |
177 |
76 |
|
6 |
Shuetsu
NARITA |
Suntory Sungoliath |
26 |
169 |
68 |
|
7 |
Kanzo NAKAHAMA |
Waseda Uni. |
22 |
176 |
85 |
|
8 |
Sione
TEAUPA |
Daito Bunka Uni. |
23 |
186 |
100 |
|
9 |
Tomohiro
SHOKAI |
Doshisha Uni. |
21 |
186 |
88 |
|
10 |
Katsuyuki
SAKAI |
Waseda Uni. |
22 |
172 |
88 |
|
11 |
Lote
TUQIRI |
Hakuo Uni. |
23 |
178 |
88 |
|
12 |
Kensuke
IWABUCHI |
JRFU |
|
|
|
Japan Sevens Staff: Wataru Murata (head coach, Yamaha); Kensuke Iwabuchi (team manager, JRFU); Shinichi Minamikawa (physiotherapist); Hirohisa Shimono (strength and conditioning coach); Yu Iwai (technical)
Other news: Tokyo likely to
host Sevens World Series; Anesi to join
Shining Arcs
March 30
Scotland lock
Macleod confirms move to Kobe Steelers; Top League charity
match to help in relief;
March 28
Seems like losing narrowly to Japan Schools last Sunday was a really good wake-up call for Scotland Under 18s
who yesterday defeated England U-18s 26-21. Well Done, Boys!! ; Japan reaches bowl
final
March 27
Scott
MacLeod is off to Japan (Scotsman.com)
He is the first Scot who is not a kilted Kiwi
to play in Japan... but in which team??
March 25
Withdrawals forced
on 7s squad
March 21
Japan High Schools march on! After enjoying
the atmosphere of the Scotland
Six Nations win over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday, yesterday they won
20-13 over Scotland Under 18 at Braidholm. The match report is here.
March 18
In these difficult times for Japan the Laird
is pleased to report a 22-5
victory by Japan Schools over a Glasgow Hawks development side. They play Scotland
U-18 at Braidholm, the home of GHA
Rugby Club on Sunday, KO at 2 pm Scottish Time... ;-) They are on tour from
March 14th to 29th and will play games in Scotland and
Wales. The official tour blog on the JRFU website (in Japanese but with photos)
is here.
March 10
The
IRB has suspended Sri Lanka from full IRB membership status. Not good news!
The Laird hopes the Sri Lankan RFU can sort itself out very soon...
Meanwhile, if HIH Prince Tomohito of Mikasa
is not well, as appears to be the case, why not ask HIH Princess
Takamado if she would be the JRFU’s patron? She’s clearly a very busy
person(!) but was educated at a very good English university, two of whose
alumni introduced Rugby to Keio University in 1899, and she seems to like being
the Patron of various sports... (The Laird has met her a few times at the Asiatic Society of Japan
and thinks she would do an excellent job, if she were willing and able!)
SCRUM DOWN: 'One for all, all
for one' spirit shown (March 9, 2011)
March 3
Kirwan names 41 to
Japan squad ; Sanyo’s
Brown to join up with Highlanders (Daily
Yomiuri); Kirwan
names 41-man squad (jrfu.org)
February 28
Marvelous rugby
yesterday at the AJC Final. Congratulations
to Suntory and George Gregan (playing his last ever pro game) for beating Sanyo
37-20.
February 25
The JRFU has decided
that a collection will be taken for Christchurch Earthquake relief efforts
at the All Japan Championship (AJC) final between Sanyo Wild Knights and
Suntory Sungoliath on Sunday, February 27th which kicks off at 2 pm
at Prince Chichibu stadium, Tokyo. There will be a minute’s silence before the
game, and Japan coach John Kirwan will address the spectators at half time. The
JRFU will also present a cheque to the New Zealand ambassador, Mr. Ian Kennedy.
This decision is a recognition of how close New Zealand and Japan have become
through Rugby, and is made in the full knowledge on the Japanese side of how
terrible the power of earthquakes can be. As JRFU Chairman Mr. Mashimo says: “While it appears there may be several
Japanese people among the victims, our hearts go out to all involved and they
are very much in our thoughts.”
Comment: The Laird heartily applauds this
decision by the JRFU. It is a very generous and appropriate gesture, and shows
how the JRFU has become much more professional and better managed in recent
years. (It’s a small world, after all!! ;-)
February 23
Terrible news from Christchurch, NZ. The
Laird’s cousins at West Melton are fine, so are Adam Parker, Matt Mustchin and
their families. Japan knows all about earthquakes, will the government send
support as it should? Maybe the
AMI stadium will be unusable for the RWC? Not certain yet.
Paterson
set for a last hurrah for Scotland (Go,
Laddie! ;-)
February 21
One of the key Japanese words which explain
their culture is ‘gaman’ (patience 我慢). It indicates the high value placed in this
culture on endurance of hardship. This word is quite often heard in rugby
commentaries. Another key word is ‘meiwaku’ (trouble or nuisance 迷惑). Everyone should make efforts
not to cause a meiwaku to others. Well, I’m afraid Loamanu did cause quite a
bit of meiwaku when he was here. (Ask Mr. Segawa,
now restored as coach of Toshiba Brave Lupus, who was made to carry the can and
do other work in the company for a year!!) The Laird wonders what Japanese rugby
writers such as Koichi
Murakami, Dai ‘I’m
not Welsh!’ Fujishima, Shinrokuro Kobayashi, Kenji Saitoh and Manabu
Matsuse make of this. Or the JRFU High Performance Manager Ken Iwabuchi? Or the
new Yamaha coach Katsuyuki
Kiyomiya? Or Toshiba forwards coach Nick Holten? There are no doubt people
who feel that the punishment of a lifetime ban doesn’t fit the crime. This is
to impose Western standards and thinking on the Japanese context. (Does anybody – even a distinguished former
All Black - have a right to do this?)
On the other hand there is another key word
which may apply in this case: ‘hansei’ (soul-searching, reflection,
reconsideration 反省).
How much remorse has the perpetrator shown? Does he/she sincerely regret
his/her actions? That may be what in English is called the saving grace (or
exit strategy) in this situation. In other words, if the people who matter can
be convinced that the wrongdoer is truly sorry for the meiwaku caused, there is
(maybe) a chance that they may reduce the punishment – a Japanese style redemption!
That is the Laird’s reading of the situation anyway...
February 20
Reports on the AJC semi-finals are provided
by the JRFU and Daily Yomiuri.
Great second half comeback by Sanyo to beat Toshiba, and a very close game at
Hanazono between Kobe Steelers and Suntory Sungoliath. (Why did the Steelers no. 14 kick the ball away at the end?? That
finished their chances.) Dave
Walder is to play for Mitsubishi DynaBoars
in Top East, says the DY.
Regarding Loamanu’s possible return, the
Laird is lukewarm at best. Japan has been pretty successful so far (more successful than many Western countries!)
in keeping drug abuse to the minimum in this country, and a low-to-zero
tolerance of it may be one reason for this. It is a most unlikely scenario(!),
but if the Laird were to be caught smoking ‘wacky baccy’ just once he would
very probably lose his job and visa and be kicked out of the country without
the chance of return – so why should Mr. Loamanu get special treatment? And if
he does come back how will the Japanese fans take to him? Would he be tailed or
marked by the police or immigration office? Is this really worth the risk? Is
Loamanu such a great player, and Japan so weak, that Japan can’t win games
without him? (The Laird really hopes
not!!) No, he’s apparently getting on fine in France, leave him where he is
I say. (Toulon is hardly Botany Bay is
it? ;-) I suppose JK and others will argue that he is getting lots of top
level rugby experience in France. Well, good for him and the Laird hopes he has
a splendid pro rugby career from now on.
On happier matters: Super 15 has started this
weekend and there have already been some great games, four of which have been
shown on J Sports. And isn’t it nice to see Nikki Walker back to great form
for his Welsh(!) club? (But I would still
drop him from the Scotland team after his last performance and put Simon
Danielli in instead!!)
February 14
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Yesterday
the Laird watched Ireland v France,
oh dear that will make Ireland very hungry for a win against Scotland!! He also
saw NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes v Kobe Steelers and Teikyo University v Toshiba
Brave Lupus, and tweeted a commentary for both All Japan Championships (AJC)
games at “rucknmaul”. Matt Mustchin the former
Scotland and Edinburgh lock has played his last game for NTT Docomo (coached by
Andrew McCormick)
and will now head back to Christchurch. (Otsukaresama
deshita! ;-) The Laird also watched England v Italy and admits between
gritted teeth to watching Scotland
v Wales also live until 4am (nine hours time difference). NTT Communications
Shining Arcs and Yamaha Jubilo will be staying in the Top League next
season.
February 11
Enough is Enough
says JK with regard to Christian Loamanu’s punishment. (Luckily he is not prepared to make this a
resigning issue and apparently will accept the JRFU’s decision!) The Laird
has a degree of sympathy with JK’s view, based as it appears to be on the
Western or Christian (no pun intended!)
doctrines of redemption and forgiveness. However, as stated yesterday, if
recalling Loamanu denies other people a chance is that fair on them? And how
good is Loamanu anyway (i.e. is he really a gamebreaker?) and is he himself
really keen to play for Japan again? Etc etc. Too many questions are posed
really. And let’s not forget this is a Japanese team at the end of the day, and
the foreign passport holders are really only in the team to shore it up. (Though at least one foreigner has become a
Japanese national – Kintetsu’s Luke Thompson.)
A similar question was posed recently by John
Beattie in his blog about the
possibility of including Dean Richards in the Lions management for the next
tour. (Again the Laird found himself
asking – is there really nobody else who could do the same job as well or
better?)
February 10
Today’s DY (Daily Yomiuri) reports that JK wants Christian Loamanu (now 24)
back in his Japan team. (Is that really
such a good idea, JK? While he may/may not be a reformed character, surely
there are other guys who deserve the chance to represent Japan? After all, he’s
now living and playing in France which suggests he has put Japan behind him...)
February 9
In what is undoubtedly his best piece yet
for the Daily Yomiuri (good job, Rich! ;-) Rich Freeman,
quoting Australian referee Ian McDonnell (who
has a rather Scottish-sounding name ;-) argues that the Top League Final
should be the end and climax of the season and that the AJC simply confuses
matters. The Laird agrees wholeheartedly with this, and the idea that the TL
should be on a home-and-away basis. It is really important that muddled
thinking and harmful so-called ‘traditions’ are swept away before the run-up to
RWC 2019 begins in earnest. (Oh JRFU, in
Thy mercy, hear our prayer! And maybe one or two of the Japanese rugby
journalists who read this page might consider starting to talk or write in
Japanese about this important issue also?!? Probably the key
decision-makers at the JRFU would prefer to read the arguments in Japanese than
English. ;-)
Meanwhile Scotland’s Captain Al Kellock has
given an
excellent interview to BBC Scotland ahead of the Scotland v Wales encounter
this weekend. (The Laird likes the cut of
this man’s jib!! ;-)
February 7
Round One of the All-Japan
Championships happened yesterday. The Laird did twitter commentary (a
twittery?) on two games: Waseda University v
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and NEC Green Rockets v Toshiba Brave Lupus. My
twitter name is “rucknmaul” by the way.
If wikipedia is right, Prince Tomohito has
not been well for a number of years, which would explain his absence from rugby
games. Maybe it is time for the JRFU to find a new patron from the imperial family?
February 4
Today is a special day – the Chinese New Year, and risshun,
the start of spring in Japan. But for rugby men there is only one show in town:
the RBS Six Nations!! John
Beattie’s podcast is here. It
will all be shown live (at ungodly hours mostly!) in Japan by J Sports – see
the schedule above.
And here’s a weebit song from the man no lesser person than
Winston Churchill called “Scotland’s greatest ever ambassador” to encourage
the Scottish team: The
Laddies Who Fought and Won !!
May the flags wave free and joyfully at Murrayfield this year. Amen.
February 3
Oops, the Laird has made a bloomer! The JRFU does
(apparently) have an Honorary President who is Prince Tomohito
of Mikasa!! I do beg your pardon, Sir! It’s
just that I haven’t seen you on the TV too often at games...I did see you once,
come to think of it, but don’t remember when that was.
Open letter
to Japan coach Mr. John Kirwan,
ONZM, MBE:
Dear JK (if I may),
May I first say how much I appreciate and admire your
work with the Japan team? I have seen quite a few coaches come and go since I
arrived in Japan in April 1988 and I can say that you are most probably the
pick of the bunch, though as yet you have not achieved a win at the Rugby World
Cup, so I suppose that puts the late Hiroaki Shukuzawa
still slightly ahead of you at this stage. Good Luck anyway for this year’s World Cup in your
homeland, New Zealand!
What I wanted to ask you was this: do you think there is
anything that can and should be done about the singing of the Japanese national
anthem (Kimi Ga Yo) before
international games? It is a beautiful
and haunting melody, but on its own it will not motivate the players to do
their best for their country, will it? On the other hand, since it is a song addressed
to the Emperor/Empress expressing hope for the
longevity of the imperial family’s reign (a kind of “Lang may yer lum
reek!” as we Scots would say ;-) don’t you think the regular presence of a
member of the Japanese
imperial family – at least for home games – would help give meaning to the
song? It is my view that a member of the imperial family should be patron of
the JRFU and that this would help the team focus before games.
Naturally you don’t have to reply to this directly and
you are no doubt a very busy man, but if you agree with my idea please tell
your bosses at the JRFU.
Yours in Rugby,
Ian Ruxton (“The Laird of Kitakyushu”)
February 2
Does the JRFU
have a patron? Many unions worldwide do, for example the Scottish Rugby Union’s
patron is HRH
Princess Anne (The Princess Royal) who has served in that role graciously, faithfully
and loyally (through thick and thin, one might say! ;-) for many years, and
indeed her daughter Zara Phillips recently – last December – became engaged to rugby player
Mike Tindall, the
current England captain no less! (They live in the Laird’s hometown in the UK.)
Anyway, the Laird believes that the JRFU should have a patron also, and
apparently it does not at present – or at least not a very visible one. As RWC
2019 approaches this will be increasingly important, and the Japanese
themselves as a people are sticklers for ceremony!
So, in view of the fact that Prince Chichibu (after
whom Chichibunomiya
rugby ground in Tokyo was named because he loved rugby, and whose statue is at the ground) was a member of the Imperial family
of Japan, is there anybody from that family who would be suitable and might
be willing to take on that role? The Laird believes there may indeed be such a
person, but as the JRFU so far is showing no interest in the matter it is all
rather up in the air at the moment...!! (Is anyone going to catch this high
punt from the Laird?? ;-)
2010
August
4
Thoughtful article
by Peter Bills in yesterday’s Independent
about the possible root cause of current Aussie woes. Meanwhile Peter
de Villiers is in hot water again, nothing new there. And the Japanese TL
clubs are in Hokkaido, the coolest part of Japan, on summer camps preparing for
the new season.
July
5
JK says there are always lessons
to be learned. He’s right of course, especially about over-preparation for
World Cups.
June
24
All the hard work, especially on contact play, is beginning to bear impressive
fruit for JK and his team. They are now 12th in the IRB rankings
after that excellent win over Samoa in Apia last weekend. This puts them within
striking distance of the top ten, and if they carry on as they are doing they
may make it sooner rather than later. Good Luck! (And by the way Scotland have
gone up to seventh, so it’s been a good weekend for the Laird all round! ;-)
April
14
A Heineken
Cup for the Pacific Rim? Great idea! And the Laird agrees with JK that
Japan doesn’t need or want a team in Super rugby. Jones sees Hewat
as future coach.
April
3 JK
says Horses
for courses is the order of the day. He says his selection policy changes
according to current interpretation of the laws. Complex stuff!
April
1st More than trophy
at stake in Asian 5 Nations (Daily Yomiuri) Korea will play Japan –
effectively for ‘top dog’ status – on May 1st! Japan is aiming again
to be Asian representative in the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.
March
17 Always look on
the bright side of life – The credit for Japan’s rise in the IRB rankings
to 13th is not simply down to improvements in the standard of the Top
League, but also due to the enlightened
coaching and selection policies of the Japan coach John Kirwan and his
assistants. (In fact the Laird feels it
is more thanks to JK & Co. than the Top League, though they have clearly
both been factors, and they can feed off each other.)
March
16 Ellison signs
with Ricoh ; and a 19-year old first year
student of Saga University rugby club has died of alcoholic poisoning after
excessive drinking at a club farewell party for graduating students. The
infamous practice of ikkinomi (‘drinking
all in one go’) is to blame for this tragic and unnecessary loss.
March 6 In his latest article in the
Yomiuri John Kirwan argues that the universities need to play “at least ten
hard games a season.” In an ideal world this would be great for Japanese rugby,
and a national league might even help universities in Kyushu, but speaking as
an educator the Laird is against this on practical grounds. As the recent case
of Ai Fukuhara (Ai-chan)
the top table tennis star who has had to leave Waseda University before
graduating clearly shows, it really isn’t possible to operate at the top of a
sport and do a full-time course of study at the same time, not even a sports
science course. The only way to make real progress is for the young high school
graduates to become full-time professional rugby players as many do in the
strongest rugby countries (e.g. Australia), but for that to happen the whole
system needs to change. In other words the Top League teams have to be removed
from their companies and become fully professional entities with academies and
a strong local fan base... (That’s a
whole new can of worms, but until it happens Japan will remain a semi-pro and
underperforming rugby country!! ;-)
March 2 Kirwan: No
holding back in Asian Five Nations (An
excellent training programme like the one described as upcoming – including
contact fitness and decision-making under pressure – is exactly what a lot of
other teams need also! ;-)
March 1, 2010 Kirwan
names expanded squad for HSBC Asian Five Nations (JRFU official English
page)
The
2010 HSBC
Asian 5 Nations doubles as the final Asian qualification round for the 2011
RWC in New Zealand.
Japan’s
Schedule
*Saturday,
01 May 2010, Kick-off 14:00, Korea v Japan, Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu. (AWAY)
*Saturday,
08 May 2010, Kick-off 14:00, Japan v Arabian Gulf, Prince Chichibu, Tokyo.
(HOME)
*Saturday,
15 May 2010, Kick-off 16:00, Japan v Kazakhstan, Prince Chichibu, Tokyo. (HOME)
*Saturday,
22 May 2010, Kick-off 14:00, Japan v Hong Kong, Prince Chichibu, Tokyo. (HOME)
Sanix World
Rugby Youth Tournament 2010
This year there will be eight teams from overseas and
eight from within Japan.
The British School from Uruguay is the first ever
participant from South America.
Tournaments
(Games in red are
live on J
Sports...)
47th
National Championship (Nihon
Senshuken) Preview
Round 1: February 7 (Sun) (1) Suntory Sungoliath 10 NEC Green Rockets 10 (14.00,
Hanazono, Osaka) (The game was eventually
decided by lottery – the Laird would prefer ‘sudden death.’) ; (2) Teikyo University 76 Rokko Fighting Bull 7 (14.00,
Prince Chichibu, Tokyo) (Clearly a
mismatch!) ; (3) Tokai
University 7 NTT
Communications 11 (12.00,
Prince Chichibu) (Tokai would have scored
another try but for some strange antics by their full back in the in-goal
area...he tried to get nearer the posts, passed the ball and it was taken by a
NTT player!) ; (4) Kobe Seiko Kobelco Steelers 19
Toyota Verblitz 36 (12.00, Hanazono) ;
Round 2 February 14 (Sun) (5) NEC 38 Teikyo 5; (6) NTT 17 Toyota 50 (Prince
Chichibu);
(The Teikyo game
was on NHK also, soon after the game but not live.)
Semi-finals February 20 (Sat) (7) Sanyo Wild
Knights 25 NEC 16 (14.00, Chichibu); (8) Toyota 23 Toshiba Brave Lupus 10 (14.00, Hanazono)
Final February 28 (Sun) Sanyo
22 Toyota 17 (14.00, Prince Chichibu)
Congratulations
to Sanyo for their third championship in a row! They certainly deserved to win,
though Toyota also played well and gave us a final worthy of the name. Well
Done to both teams!!
Wild afternoon (Daily
Yomiuri report)
The JRFU official
report in Japanese includes clickable thumbnails.
(A rather
complicated competition, which is fairly predictable except for the occasional
major upset: Waseda v Toyota February 12, 2006 anyone?? ;-)
Total
Rugby （IRB
radio）
(At
least two Top League games were shown each round.)
JRFU
Top League 2009-10
JRFU
Top League 2009-10 Preview ; Changes
to Top League 2009-10
Top League schedule
2009-10 season (Japanese) ; Express Results
(Japanese, for mobile phones)
1. Previews: Round
One; Round
Two; Round
Three; Round
Four; Round
Five; Round
Six; Round
Seven; Round
Eight; Round
Nine; Round
Ten; Round
11; Round
12; Round
13 (Final round, January 9, 2010)
2. Wrap-ups:
Round
One; Round
Two; Round
Three; Round
Four; Round
Five; Round
Six; Round
Seven; Round
Eight; Round
Nine; Round
Ten; Round
11; Round
12; Round
13
3. Statistics:
Round
One; Round
Two; Round
Three; Round
Four; Round
Five; Round
Six; Round
Seven; Round
Eight; Round
Nine; Round
Ten; Round
11; Round
12; Round 13
4. Team
Profiles: TOSHIBA
Brave Lupus; SANYO
Wild Knights; SUNTORY
Sungoliath; Kobe
KOBELCO Steelers; NEC
Green Rockets;
5. Man of
the Match: Rounds
1 through 11
6. Fixtures
and Results: After
12 rounds
Online Top League
tickets from the JRFU website
(Note:
Chichibunomiya and Hanazono
games only)
Top
League 2009-10 after the 13th (i.e. final) round
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Sanyo |
13 |
12 |
1 |
0 |
534 |
175 |
359 |
9 |
- |
59 |
|
2 |
Suntory |
13 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
571 |
196 |
375 |
10 |
- |
58 |
|
3 |
Toshiba |
13 |
10 |
0 |
3 |
436 |
276 |
160 |
10 |
2 |
52 |
|
4 |
Toyota |
13 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
394 |
219 |
175 |
6 |
- |
48 |
|
5 |
Kobe |
13 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
344 |
304 |
40 |
6 |
2 |
38 |
|
6 |
Kubota |
13 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
313 |
339 |
-26 |
4 |
3 |
31 |
|
7 |
Sanix |
13 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
311 |
371 |
-60 |
5 |
2 |
31 |
|
8 |
Coca-Cola |
13 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
299 |
448 |
-149 |
3 |
- |
31 |
|
9 |
Yamaha |
13 |
5 |
2 |
6 |
311 |
327 |
-16 |
3 |
2 |
30 |
|
10 |
NEC |
13 |
4 |
0 |
9 |
224 |
280 |
-56 |
4 |
5 |
25 |
|
11 |
Kintetsu |
13 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
218 |
348 |
-130 |
3 |
2 |
23 |
|
12 |
Ricoh |
13 |
4 |
0 |
9 |
262 |
422 |
-160 |
1 |
2 |
19 |
|
13 |
Honda |
13 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
255 |
464 |
-209 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
|
14 |
Kyuden |
13 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
199 |
502 |
-303 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
Four points for win, two for
draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for
losing by seven or less (BP2).
The top four finishers qualify
for the Playoff Tournament, the
finals series for the 2009-10 Top League season.
The top four finishers
automatically qualify for the 47th National Championship
2010 with the teams that finish 5th to 10th playing
off to determine the final 2 Top League teams.
The bottom two finishers are automatically
relegated to regional leagues for the 2010-11 season.
The teams that finish 11th
and 12th go through the promotion and relegation play-offs
against regional challengers to retain their places in Top League for 2010-11.
Leading Points Scorers
(final)
|
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
1 |
Atsushi Tanabe |
Sanyo |
4 |
48 |
25 |
- |
191 |
|
2 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
6 |
46 |
17 |
- |
173 |
|
3 |
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
8 |
25 |
20 |
- |
150 |
|
4 |
Shane Drahm |
Kubota |
2 |
28 |
16 |
7 |
135 |
|
5 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
4 |
39 |
8 |
- |
122 |
|
6 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
- |
27 |
19 |
- |
111 |
|
7 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
1 |
23 |
15 |
2 |
102 |
|
8 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
4 |
21 |
5 |
1 |
80 |
|
9 |
Hirotoki Onozawa |
Suntory |
14 |
- |
- |
- |
70 |
|
10 |
Tomoki Kitagawa |
Sanyo |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
65 |
|
11 |
Daisuke Yamamoto |
Kobe |
1 |
15 |
8 |
- |
59 |
|
12 |
Thinus Delport |
Kobe |
3 |
15 |
4 |
- |
57 |
|
13 |
Tadanobu Ko |
Kintetsu |
3 |
8 |
7 |
- |
52 |
Leading Try Scorers (final)
|
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
1 |
Hirotoki Onozawa |
Suntory |
14 |
|
2 |
Tomoki Kitagawa |
Sanyo |
13 |
|
3 |
Go Aruga |
Suntory |
10 |
|
3 |
Toshiaki Hirose |
Toshiba |
10 |
|
3 |
Yasunori Nagatomo |
Suntory |
10 |
|
3 |
Steven Bates |
Toshiba |
10 |
|
7 |
Steven Yates |
Toyota |
9 |
|
7 |
Shinji Nakazono |
Yamaha |
9 |
|
9 |
Akihito Yamada |
Honda |
8 |
|
9 |
Shota Horie |
Sanyo |
8 |
|
9 |
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
8 |
|
12 |
Takashi Miyake |
Sanyo |
7 |
|
12 |
Hideki Namba |
Toyota |
7 |
|
12 |
Neil Brew |
Toshiba |
7 |
Top
League awards 2009-10 (MVP, Best XV etc.)
Top League proposal
Why not reduce the number of teams from 14 to 12, and
have them each play 22 games on a home
and away basis like the Guinness Premiership?
The first season of the Top
League (2003-4) and also the second and third seasons had 12 teams, so why
not go back to that (though I think there were only 11 rounds played at that
time). It would surely ease the revenue problems experienced by some clubs
(e.g. Yamaha Jubilo, where the company owning the team has recently pulled the
plug), and the season would be longer. 14 teams which play each other once only
(i.e. 13 rounds) doesn’t seem to work as well as possible in terms of boosting
the popularity of the Top League.
The Guinness Premiership
season runs from the beginning of September (exactly the same as the Top
League) to the beginning of May, with the final at the end of May. Is that too
long for Japanese Rugby? The Top League playoff tournament currently finishes
at end of January, with the final league round played on January 9th.
Maybe it is time to cut the Top League out of the national championships
altogether, and treat it as a separate and fully professional entity. (However, this proposal would probably spell
the end of the national championship, now in its 47th year, and
there might be some reluctance on the part of the authorities to do this!)
February 22nd
Maybe the Laird was a “bit harsh” in suggesting (see Feb 17th
below) that two SA journos should do time on Robben Island... how about Groot
Drakenstein (Victor Verster prison) near Paarl instead? It is no doubt
more comfortable and was recently
named a world heritage site to commemorate Mandela’s release 20 years
ago... ;-)
February 21st
Yahoo
reported yesterday that 15 players are leaving Suntory at the same time as
coach Kiyomiya. The idea is to slim down and so strengthen the team. Watch this
space...
February 17th
Mixed view of
Japan justified (Daily Yomiuri)
It seems like a couple of South African writers have got the wrong idea and tried to make a
funny headline. But if they are hurling insults it is a ‘long toss’, so to
speak, all the way from SA to Japan and so naturally they didn’t quite hit the
target. (Maybe they could be retired from
journalism and take up jobs as quarrymen on Robben Island? There would appear
to be vacant positions and accommodation there... ;-)
As for deciding drawn games, the Laird strongly dislikes
soccer-style penalty shoot-outs. (Martin Williams
forced into taking penalties? Poor chap! That is ridiculous.) However, it
is really for the IRB to state how the results of drawn games should be decided
and make a worldwide rule, and in the absence of such a rule the Japanese are
entirely justified in doing it their way, odd as it may appear to some people!
February 10th
Suntory coach
Kiyomiya quits in wake of loss...as does the Waseda University coach Ryuji
Nakatake. As the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) once promised, it seems
likely “they’ll be baaack!!” (at least
Kiyomiya will!)
February 9th
Schoolboy
mistake costs Tokai University – The Laird thinks the blushes of the Tokai
full back might have been spared by not naming him in this Daily Yomiuri article, but anyway he will surely learn from his
mistake and be a better player for it in the long term. (Best of Luck, Shohei Toyoshima, and hope to see you in the national
side a couple of years from now, together with Michael Leitch –
already capped – who kindly consoled you after the game!! ;-) As for
deciding winners by drawing lots, straws etc. the Laird would prefer the teams
to play till the next score, a ‘sayonara’ win!
Good that Albert van den Berg and Andre Pretorius are
apparently coming to Japan...And finally the idea of Eddie Jones taking over at
Suntory – if the rumours are correct – has an element of the cuckoo’s nest
about it!! (One can’t blame Kiyomiya, who
was originally the sole head coach of Suntory, for wanting to fly off to
another perch in such circumstances. And maybe Suntory will also perform better
with one head coach rather than two. Presumably also the head coach’s office at
Suntory’s ground will be restored to its original size? It was partitioned into
two rooms to make a separate office for EJ when he became Director of Rugby.)
Kiyomiya-san thanks everyone and explains his decision on
his website in Japanese. He says he is proud to have coached Suntory
Sungoliath for four years, and that as a professional he always had the feeling
that if the results were not good he would resign (mi wo hiku), and that his contract was a one year renewable
one. He feels anyway that Suntory
is going in the right direction. He again thanks all the players and fans for
their warm support, and hopes to meet everyone again in the ‘coach’s room’ (kantokushitsu, i.e. his official blog)
soon... (The message is dated February 8th. It is a most dignified
exit, especially by modern standards. He is the master
of his fate. He is the captain of his soul... ;-)
February 8th
I am the master of my fate. I am
the captain of my soul...
‘Invictus’
is a great movie, well worth seeing. The Laird saw it in a Warner Mycal cinema
last night near his home. The healing power of Rugby and its ability to unite a
nation was wonderfully exploited by Nelson Mandela as the film makes clear.
After all those years when rugby games against South African teams were
disrupted by anti-apartheid protesters (and indeed apartheid was an evil and
vast mechanism for repression) it seems that Rugby had the last laugh!!
Meanwhile the Six Nations 2010 Round One
yielded more or less the expected results... And Coach Kiyomiya has
declared his intention to resign after Suntory Sungoliath was knocked out
of the National Championship yesterday...
February 6th
Rebels set to
tour Japan (Daily Yomiuri)
February 4th
Dawson, Damon
and Pienaar discuss Invictus, RWC 1995, Robben Island, Capetown barbecues...
Mutual backslapping taken to new heights...with a few kind words for Nelson as
well!!
In an important article in the Times of January 10th Stephen Jones says “Rugby
must return to the painful days of jolly ruckers”! As the owner of the Ruckingham
Ruckers club in Blackout Rugby
the Laird is 100% behind this idea. (By the way, the club is currently second
in Japan Division II, League 4, with a home stadium named ‘Global Rucking’. Our
club song is – you guessed it - Ruckin’
all over the world!!...;-)
Supplementary Foot Note: The Laird’s support for
reclaiming the ruck has nothing to do with the fact that Scotland
has always been traditionally and by reputation rather good at rucking...
well, almost nothing I should say!
;-)
January 25th
It was very good to see Robbie Deans sitting next
to Tony Brown at Hanazono for Sanyo v Toyota yesterday. What a privilege for
the young(er) man!! (So there was an
upside of the match ban for TB after all... ;-) And as Bill McLaren might
have said, “they’ll be dancing in the streets at Cheviot to the
north of Christchurch after the
opening of the Deans
memorial stand at AMI stadium... [and
in the streets
of Balclutha for that matter...]”.
But Japan is suddenly becoming very popular with top
coaches, isn’t it? Eddie Jones, Jake White, Robbie Deans... who’s left? It must
be partly to do with getting RWC 2019 which has sparked interest. Deans will be
with Sanyo till tomorrow (Tuesday, January 26th) according to the J
Sports commentary team who spoke with Sanyo coach Iijima about his visit.
January 24th
After a disappointing 17-27 away loss yesterday in the
last league game of Blackout Rugby Season 7, Ruckingham Ruckers (alias Ruckers
of Kyushu, or Kyushu Ruck’n’Rollers) are looking forward to a rematch at Global
Rucking on Friday evening at 7.35 pm in the playoffs!!
Okinawa RFC (1st in League) v Shirakawa-go
Ducks (4th) ; Ruckingham Ruckers (2nd) v Niigata Next 21
(3rd)
Final: January 30th (Sat) 2.35 pm Japan Time
January 21st
R.I.P. Bill
McLaren – like so many others around the world the Laird grew up listening
to his wonderful
commentaries. He made the game so much more enjoyable, and was a true
gentleman. A truly
irreplaceable man: Thank you, Sir, for all the Memories!!
Andy Robinson has some very well-chosen
words about the Legend from Hawick, before commenting on the Scottish team,
Edinburgh and Glasgow. And so
does John Beattie! And this
from Brian Moore: “Among all the many memories I have
of him one thought stays with me; Bill absolutely loved rugby and rugby
absolutely loved him. He will be missed and he is an impossible act to follow.
How many men leave that sort of mark on the world?” And let’s not forget Sir
Ian McGeechan's tribute either! (Hopefully
Murrayfield will be renamed the Bill McLaren stadium in his honour, and a posthumous
knighthood is surely appropriate too?)
Top League playoff
tournament – for what used to be called the Microsoft Cup (until
Microsoft ended sponsorship last year)
Live
on J
Sports
January 24th (Sun) Sanyo （Top League 1) 25 Toyota (Top League 4) 21 (14.00,
Hanazono) (Obviously a close game – Sanyo
without Tony Brown may be less formidable?) ; Toshiba （Top
League 3) 35 Suntory (Top League 2) 24 (14.00, Prince Chichibu) (Toshiba wanted this game more, after a
fairly humiliating heavy defeat at the hands of Suntory in the ‘Fuchu Derby’
league game...) ;
January 31st Final (14.00,
Prince Chichibu) Sanyo Wild
Knights 0 Toshiba Brave Lupus 6 (Clash
– or maybe that should be Ultimate Crash? - of the Electro-Titans!! Hugely
physical, as Tony Brown told the Daily Yomiuri reporter...)
Top League Wild Card
Tournament – for places in the National Championship
Jan. 16:
(1) Coca
Cola 31 Yamaha 17 (12.00, Hanazono); (2) Sanix 5 NEC 33
(14.00, Hanazono); Jan. 23: Kubota 21 NEC 22
(12.00, Chichibunomiya); Kobe 40 Coca Cola 28 (14.00, Chichibunomiya)
TL
Promotion/Relegation games Feb. 13: Ricoh 59 Mazda 12 (Top Challenge
1 3rd placed team); Kintetsu 28 Yokogawa 8 (Top Challenge 2 1st
placed team)
So Ricoh and
Kintetsu will stay in the TL next season.
Top Challenge Series
(1 and 2) Preview
– for the right to be automatically promoted in place of the 13th
and 14th placed teams (Honda and Kyuden) in the case of the top two
teams in Top Challenge Series 1; or to challenge the 12th placed
team (Ricoh) in the case of the 3rd placed team of Top Challenge 1,
and the 11th placed team (Kintetsu) in the case of the top team of
Top Challenge 2. (Make sense?!?)
Jan. 16: Top Challenge 2: Chugoku Denryoku 17
Yokogawa Musashino 81 (12.30, Hiroshima); Top Challenge 1: Matsuda Blue
Zoomers 0 NTT Communications 43 (14.30, Hiroshima)
Jan. 23: TC 2: NTT Docomo 137 Chugoku
Denryoku 0 (12.00, Hanazono); TC 1: Toyota Jido Shokki 55 Matsuda Blue
Zoomers 0 (14.00, Hanazono)
Jan. 30 (Preview): TC 2:
Yokogawa Musashino 29 NTT Docomo 23(12.00, Chichibunomiya); TC 1: NTT
Communications 38 Toyota Jido Shokki 35 (14.00, Chichibunomiya)
NTT
Communications, Toyota Jido Shokki promoted to Top League (Jan. 23) –
Congratulations to these two teams!! Neither have been in the Top League
before.
“The following have been selected to represent the
glorious Ruckingham Ruckers v Niigata Next 21 this Saturday at Rockin Rods Tribute
stadium, Kanto area, kick off 2.35 pm. (Bring clean boots & kit!! The plane
leaves at 7pm sharp on Friday evening from Kitakyushu airport, latecomers to
make their own travel arrangements.)
1. Daniel ‘Beefy’ Baron; 2. Ryan ‘The Boot’ Howell; 3. Wyatt
‘Earp’ Bekker; 4. Reijiro ‘Stingray’ Serizawa; 5. Azelio ‘Giraffe’ Maiale; 6.
Masato ‘O-tobai’ Suzuki; 7. Hisato ‘Lightning’ Torisei; 8. Arana ‘Tank’ Tago;
9. Umberto ‘The Artist’ Vitozzi; 10. Ronan ‘Hornet’ Shannon; 11. Teresio
‘Terry’ DiGuglilemo (capt.); 12. Chase ‘The Egg’ Stern; 13. Rano ‘Rabbit’
Babitu; 14. Claudio ‘Caesar’ Tudorache; 15. Jimbo ‘Grocer’ Blakey. Subs: TBA
Signed: Tsugahara Tomika (Coach)”
January 20th Playoff’s
nothing but dog’s brekkie. The Laird yesterday removed a comment he had
made above about the 47th National Championship being a “dog’s
breakfast” because he thought it was “a bit harsh”. Then blow me down, a
similar phrase appears as part of a Yomiuri headline!! ;-) Actually the Laird
feels the current situation is not so much a dog’s breakfast, more like a
wonderfully complex kanji character. The character for depression (‘utsu’ 鬱) has 29 strokes, and the Laird
certainly gets depressed, or rather exhausted and confused, when trying to work
out all these tournaments! Ah well, maybe it’s ‘different strokes for different
folks’ after all... (Dog’s breakfast?
More like a dog’s... dinner!! ;-)
January 19th Last night the Laird’s Blackout Rugby team,
Ruckingham Ruckers, beat the “jammy” Doughnuts of Grampian region in Scotland
in an international friendly, 24-14 at home. After going 24-0 up it was
disappointing to concede two tries near the end of the game, but we’ll take the
win!! Next up is the final Japan league game of Season 7 on Saturday against
Niigata Next 21, followed probably by the playoff tournament. (The Laird has apologised to the owner of
Doughnuts for giving wrong directions from the UK to Kyushu... turn right at
Inchon, not left, or you’ll end up in North Korea!! ;-)
Blackout Rugby, Japan Div II.4
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Club |
Played |
W |
L |
D |
For |
Against |
Margin |
BT |
BL |
Total |
|
1. |
13 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
822 |
39 |
+783 |
11 |
0 |
63 |
|
|
2. |
13 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
779 |
97 |
+682 |
10 |
1 |
51 |
|
|
3. |
13 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
399 |
243 |
+156 |
6 |
1 |
35 |
|
|
4. |
13 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
262 |
395 |
-133 |
2 |
1 |
35 |
|
|
5. |
13 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
370 |
372 |
-2 |
5 |
2 |
31 |
|
|
6. |
13 |
5 |
8 |
0 |
210 |
450 |
-240 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
|
|
7. |
13 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
166 |
747 |
-581 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
|
|
8. |
13 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
73 |
738 |
-665 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
January 14th The Laird may be an old fogey on
disciplinary matters (see previous entry for January 12th) and he’s
even older than Eddie Jones (but not as
old as Graham Henry! ;-). Anyway, he still doesn’t understand why rucking is
so frowned on these days. Isn’t it a dumbing down of the game to gain wider
appeal for the ‘product’ and avoid frightening off the mothers?? Be this as it
may, a ‘tickle with the sprigs’ is entirely different to downward stamping
which is both dangerous and highly undesirable, as is raking studs down
someone’s back, putting them near a person’s face deliberately or recklessly
etc. (The Laird once many years ago got
stud marks on his forehead during a game at K.R. & A.C., thanks for that
Simon!)
Then again, is rucking banned merely because some people
can’t tell the difference between rucking and stamping or other dangerous uses
of the boot? Whatever the reason(s) for the ban, skilful rucking – in which the
studs do not point vertically downwards but are at an angle with or parallel to
the ground – is a form of art, and in danger of becoming a lost one. It would
clean up so many of these wretched multiple pile-ups euphemistically referred
to as ‘breakdowns’ which plague the modern game, and sort out the ‘beached
whales’ lying all over the place as well... The knock-on effects (excuse the pun! ;-) for other areas of
the game would also be spectacularly positive!!
January 12th Wild Knights’
Brown handed 1-game ban Tony Brown of Sanyo can have no complaint whatever
about this. He should remember that he is not hired as a bantam weight boxer,
nor as a wrestler (there was a separate head lock incident before the ‘boxing’)
but as a professional rugby player!! Likewise Justin Ives’ sinbinning for a
dangerous tackle seemed fair enough to the Laird. (If you take a man into the air in a tackle you have a responsibility to
set him down safely!)
46th
University Championship 2009-10
(16 teams): Dec. 20: Keio Gijuku 41 Fukuoka 15 (Level 5, Fukuoka); Hosei
51 Ryutsu Keizai 22 (Mizuho, Aichi); Tenri 50 Setsunan 19 (Hanazono); Tsukuba
22 Tokai 29 (Prince Chichibu, Tokyo); Kwansei Gakuin 38 Doshisha 24 (Hanazono);
Meiji 19 Takushoku 12 (Kumagaya, Saitama); Teikyo 17 Kanto Gakuin 17 (Chichibu,
Teikyo win on no. of tries scored); Ritsumeikan 0 Waseda 38 (Mizuho)
Round
2 – December 27: Keio 33 Hosei
24 (12.00, Chichibunomiya, Hope Eddie
Jones enjoyed that one, he’s advising Keio and was spotted on the TV ;-);
Teikyo 31 Waseda 20 (14.00, Chichibunomiya, former
Waseda coach Kiyomiya-san will not have enjoyed that one, also spotted
by the TV cameras...but Teikyo were clearly the better-prepared team on the day)
Kwansei
Gakuin 29 Meiji 62 (12.00, Mizuho, Welcome
back, Meiji! ;-); Tenri 12 Tokai 53 (14.00, Mizuho)
Semi-finals
(2 January 2010): Keio
14 Tokai 19 (12.15, National Stadium – Though
2010 is the Year of the Tiger, it was not to be Keio’s year, even though they
wear yellow and black tiger jerseys!); Meiji
12 Teikyo 43 (14.00, National Stadium – The
two coaches were sat almost next to each other – unusual! Anyway, an easy win
for Teikyo this time...)
FINAL – Jan. 10 (Sun), 14.00, National Stadium. Tokai 13 Teikyo
14
Whichever
side won it was going to be their first championship, which is a welcome shot
in the arm for this competition after so many Meiji, Waseda and Kanto Gakuin wins...
and the Doshisha triple in the far past! Congratulations
to Teikyo for avenging their loss to Waseda in the same final last year,
and to both teams for producing as good a spectacle as the current rules allow,
with the ‘breakdown’ (a rather negative word, and not one you will find in the Laws of Rugby!)
providing more or less the usual shambles.
(Bring
back the jolly ruckers!!)
A Japanese newspaper (Sankei Sports) reports that South
African Jake
White, the former World Cup-winning
coach - and mate of Eddie Jones - watched the game from the stands and said
that both sides played well... as indeed they did!! White is
now with Suntory in Kagoshima, assisting with preparations for the upcoming
Microsoft Cup starting on January 24th.
All these
games were on J Sports.
The semi-finals were live on NHK, and the final was also, and on NHK’s Dai-ichi
Radio.
Top League
Schedule (Schedule in
Japanese)
(Notes: 1.
Games live on J Sports
are shown in red. 2. Attendance figures are quoted from the official Top League
website, so they must be completely accurate, right? ;-)
Round 13 (Last round, all games live on J Sports) January 9, 2010 NEC Green Rockets 29 Yamaha Jubilo 17
(12.00, Chichibunomiya, Tokyo. Attendance: 9,693.); Coca Cola West Red Sparks
43 Honda Heat 40 (12.00, Level 5, Fukuoka. 3,036.); Toyota Verblitz 52 Ricoh
Black Rams 0 (12.00, Hanazono, Osaka. 3,271.); Suntory
Sungoliath 16 Sanyo Wild Knights 16 (14.00, Chichibunomiya. 12,587 – a suitably exciting game for the biggest
crowd of the season!); Kintetsu Liners 17 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 44 (14.00,
Hanazono. 4,772.); Kyuden Voltex 24 Kubota Spears 40 (14.00, Level 5, Fukuoka.
4,114.); Kobe Kobelco Steelers 33 Toshiba Brave Lupus 52 (14.00, Homes, Kobe.
5,729.).
Round 12 Dec. 26: Sanyo
Wild Knights 42 Yamaha Jubilo 15 (13.00, Ota, Gunma pref.
Attendance: 2,772); Toshiba Brave
Lupus 22 Suntory Sungoliath 59 (13.00, Ajinomoto stadium, Tokyo.
7,096 – The Fuchu local derby with quite
a big crowd!); Honda Heat 17 NEC Green Rockets 27 (13.00，Mizuho, Aichi. 1,265); Dec. 27: Kubota Spears 23 Kintetsu Liners 18 (12.00, Homes stadium, Kobe.
5,105); Fukuoka Sanix Blues 43 Ricoh Black Rams 21 (12.00, Level 5 stadium,
Fukuoka. 2,454); Kyuden
Voltex 14 Toyota Verblitz 55 (14.00, Level 5.
2,974); Kobelco Steelers 70 Coca Cola West Red Sparks 10 (14.00, Homes, Kobe.
6,501)
Round 11 Dec. 19: NEC Green Rockets 33 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 14 (12.00,
Chichibu, Attendance: 3,534); Yamaha Jubilo 13 Suntory
Sungoliath 51 (13.00, Yamaha stadium, Shizuoka, 5,505); Toyota Verblitz 47 Coca Cola West Red Sparks 21 (13.00, Shiga
pref. 2,331); Kyuden Voltex 12 Toshiba Brave Lupus 33 (13.00, Level 5, Fukuoka.
1,667); Kubota Spears 24 Ricoh Black Rams 20
(14.00, Chichibu. 5,047); Kintetsu Liners 8 Sanyo Wild Knights 41 (14.00,
Hanazono. 2,992); Dec. 20: Honda Heat 22
Kobelco Steelers 28 (13.00, Takamatsu, Kagawa pref., 3,050)
Round 10 Dec. 12: Yamaha Jubilo 22 Sanix Blues 29 (12.00, Hanazono, Osaka.
Attendance: 2,329); Kintetsu Liners 15 Honda Heat 14
(14.00, Hanazono. 3,658); Toshiba Brave
Lupus 37 Kubota Spears 19 (14.00, Prince Chichibu, Tokyo. 4,272); Suntory Sungoliath 38 Ricoh Black Rams 22 (14.00, Kose
Sports Park, Yamanashi pref. 4,863); Dec. 13: NEC Green
Rockets 5 Sanyo Wild Knights 22 (13.00, Mito Municipal Stadium, Ibaraki
pref., 2,948); Kobelco Steelers 17 Toyota Verblitz 23 (13.00, Homes Stadium,
Kobe. 6,371); Coca Cola West Red Sparks 35 Kyuden Voltex 24 (13.00, Best
Amenity, Tosu, Saga pref. 3,295)
Round 9 Dec. 5: Toyota 6 NEC 3 (13.00,
Mizuho, Aichi. Attendance: 3,263); Coca
Cola 29 Ricoh 22 (13.00, Honjo, Fukuoka. 2,213); Dec. 6: Honda 19 Toshiba 45 (12.00, Hanazono, Osaka. 4,878);
Kyuden 19 Yamaha 21 (12.00, KK Wing, Kumamoto. 3,829); Kubota
28 Sanyo 55 (13.00, Ehime. 2,070); Kintetsu 13 Kobe
26 (14.00, Hanazono. 6,438); Sanix 17 Suntory 46 (14.00, KK Wing.
4,082)
Round 8 Nov. 28: Sanyo 50 Kobe 5
(14.00, Chichibunomiya. Attendance: 7,822); Nov. 29: Toyota 26 Kubota 0 (12.00,
Hanazono. 5,091); Sanix 22 Toshiba 33 (12.00,
Kagoshima. 1,802); NEC 15 Suntory
41 (13.00, Chiba. 3,735); Yamaha 32 Coca Cola 13 (13.00, Okayama. 1,953);
Kintetsu 19 Ricoh 25 (14.00, Hanazono. 6,512); Kyuden
25 Honda 39 (14.00, Kagoshima. 4,019)
January
7th Venter vents
his spleen... and gets
into hot water for it!
All games in
the 89th High School rugby
tournament were shown live on J Sports starting December 27th.
(This is a fair indication of how much interest there is and continues to be in
this tournament in Japan!!) 51 teams represented all the 47 prefectures of
Japan with one or two extras thrown in (Osaka prefecture has three teams in
total, Tokyo two, and Hokkaido two).
The Laird
watched the opening ceremony live yesterday (Sunday Dec. 27) from the ‘sacred
rugby ground’ (ragubi- no seichi) of
Hanazono, the usual venue. There was a special feeling this year, because as
both JRFU High Performance Unit Manager Ken Iwabuchi (ex-Japan and
Saracens) in the commentary team
and JRFU President Mori observed, the current high school players have a good
chance of playing for Japan in RWC 2019 here in Japan, if not RWC 2015 in
England or even (at a pinch!) RWC 2011 in New Zealand. A girls sevens game
(East v West) was played before the tournament began, and they also looked as
if they knew very well how to play Rugby...well done!! One of the Ida high
school players (according to Mori-san) has only one eye after a baseball
accident, and sees four balls at once!
January 3rd: Quarter-finals
day: Ryutsu Keizai 5 Osaka Chosen 12; Tokai Gyosei 7 Higashi Fukuoka 23 (This is the first time Higashi Fukuoka has
beaten the Kansai team. It was front-page news in the Nishispo newspaper here
in Kyushu!) ; Josho Gakuen (formerly Osaka Kodai) 10 Toin Gakuen 31; Gosei
Jitsugyo 5 Kyoto Seisho 17
January 5th – Semi-finals from 13.00. Higashi Fukuoka (Fukuoka pref.) 67
Kyoto Seisho (Kyoto) 12; Osaka Chosen (Osaka 3, a Korean school) 7 Toin Gakuen
(Kanagawa) 33
January 7th – Final. Higashi Fukuoka 31 Toin 5. 14.00. Half-time score: 17-5.
(Good to see John Kirwan watching, with Mori-san just behind him! In his
farewell speech Mori-san told the players that JK had been taking a lot of
notes... ;-) He also said that Hanazono, which he called the Mecca of Japanese
rugby, will have to be improved to international standard before RWC 2019. He
spoke very well, and as a true Rugby man, even offering some pertinent comments
on the way the teams had played in the final. Not bad for a keen rugby player
in the wonderfully named Japanese
Diet Rugby Club, golfer
– of which the less said the better - and former Prime Minister of Japan! ;-)
January
3, 2010
Shock, horror! Yet more
revelations... Brian
Moore was subject to sexual abuse in his youth. Does that mean we should
disregard all he says and writes? I think not. (But can we get back to Rugby now, please?!)
Well
done to Glasgow for winning the 1872 Cup!! (Phil Godman clearly had a bad game until subbed, but thumbs down to
Edinburgh chairman Gavin Hastings for failing to support his player in the
half-time interview with the BBC...as chairman he should be more supportive.)
New Year Reflections on the way to strengthen Kyushu
University Rugby - to the benefit of Japanese Rugby as a whole
A recent comment made by one of the Japanese commentators
(Koichi Murakami) on J Sports during the Keio v Fukuoka University game in
Fukuoka on December 20th (Championship first round) about the drain
of the best Kyushu high school players away to the Kanto (Tokyo) and Kansai （Osaka） areas, to the effect that “they
can’t be prevented from going” has set the Laird thinking. While this statement
is of course true, there must be ways to encourage more of the best players to
stay in Kyushu, or even for some of the best to be attracted from the Kanto or
Kansai areas to Kyushu!!
In short, the Laird feels that the best way forward is
for some really good (and preferably famous) coaches to get involved in Kyushu
university rugby, maybe as consultants, exactly as Eddie Jones is now doing for
Keio University up in Tokyo. It is the model already followed in the Top
League, with ex-Japan coach Mukai-san moving down to Fukuoka a few years ago to
coach Coca Cola, now arguably Kyushu’s strongest Top League team (though Sanix
is on equal points at present!). Japanese Rugby as a whole needs Kyushu - and Kansai
- to be stronger, not only in high schools and the Top League, but also at the
University level. (It’s a missing piece
or two in the jigsaw puzzle...! ;-)
December
30th
Brian
Moore looks back on a curate’s egg of a year, in which the IRB succeeded in
getting Rugby sevens into the Olympics, for which they deserve praise, but
“blunders were made” over the ELVs. Also the ERC needs to be managed better
after their mismanagement of Bloodgate... yet another job for the IRB, which
bears ultimate responsibility for overseeing everything that happens in the
game! (Mind you, this should not be too difficult as the IRB and ERC seem to
inhabit the same building in Dublin! The address: Huguenot House, 35-38 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.)
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year from East Asia (the not-so-Far East in this day and age!)
Christmas rugby jokes – every one’s a cracker, and original from the
Laird:
1) IRB (= International Rule Bodgers?!)
International Player of the Year Richie McCaw has decided to buy a new house which he will live
in for the rest of his days. It is called “Offside”. (Some people think he has
been living there for a while already... ;-)
2) Q: Why do so many rugby players wear
contact lenses? A: Because it’s a contact sport!! (Note: Referees don’t wear
contact lenses, but some of them might need glasses...)
3) Q. How many backs would a full back
back if a full back could back backs?
Choose your answer from the following
options: a) half a back is better than no back b) first five eighths divided by
three-quarters c) back to the future d) mind your backs, Alfie’s at No. 15 ;-) e) six f) back to the drawing board
December
23rd Shiver me
timbers!! The Laird always thought that Gareth
Thomas was a cheerful and jolly chap, but now it turns out he is gay!! Does
this startling fact influence the way he plays his rugby on the field? No. Does
it matter at all? No. Did the world need to know? Maybe not, but Thomas himself
argues that his example might stop a young person in the future from giving up
the game, and if there is even one such case then perhaps it will have been
worth the intrusion on his and his family’s privacy. Gutsy anyway... Maybe we
can all move on now, and just enjoy the remainder of Alfie’s wonderful career
wherever he chooses to play.
December 21st The Laird enjoyed his rugby yesterday,
and scored a try for the first time in ages. This was mainly because his
request to play at No. 8 (rather than his usual position as prop or lock) which
he made at training was granted, at least for the first 20-minute game. He was
not so knackered at No. 8 and was able to keep up with play better. (In the
Laird’s experience, by the time the front row union are released from their
herculean labours at the scrum, the ball is usually several miles away! ;-)
December 16th The Laird is looking forward to
seeing the
new movie ‘Invictus,’
although as
Paul Ackford says it may be wrong in some details, e.g. Mandela was not
himself a rugby coach or strategist of any kind! That is Hollywood embroidering
what is already a great story...
SCRUM DOWN The Laird doesn’t mind about
players taking the penalty 30 cm from the mark, but sometimes the quick
tap-and-go is dubious. Stephen Jones scored a try against Argentina in Cardiff
the other day when, apparently, the Argentine captain had been told to talk to
his men by the ref!! If true, as
related by Allan Massie, that is poor officiating...
“Two final thoughts from the autumn internationals. First, despite
everything, the France-New Zealand match showed there is nothing much wrong
with the laws if both teams set out to play rugby. Second, if a referee tells a
captain to go and talk to his team, he must not allow a tap penalty to be taken
till he has done so and they are ready to play again.
In the Wales-Argentina match, Fernandez Lobbe was instructed to do this. While
he was obeying the referee, Stephen Jones took a tap penalty and ran unopposed
to score. I call that cheating, but the referee was also at fault. He should
have called Jones back.”
December
14th
The Kyushu Derby game Cola v
Kyuden was of course shown on TV in Kyushu. Kyuden fought mightily to the end
and actually scored two tries when they only had 14 men on the field.（Presumably they ran out of
replacements?! Hats off anyway for the effort.） Meanwhile Suntory
have closed the gap on Sanyo to one point thanks to NEC’s defence refusing
a 4-try bonus point to Sanyo while Suntory managed that against Ricoh...
Suntory meets Sanyo in a showdown in the final round!!
December
13th
There were some very good games
yesterday in the Top League. Liners v Heat was very close on the scoreboard,
though the Laird hasn’t seen the game yet on video. Sungoliath showed why they
are second in the League in defeating a spirited Black Rams with Stephen
Larkham at No. 10 before a crowd of almost 5,000 spectators, while his former
partner-in-crime George Gregan was at No. 9 for Sungoliath. (This game was
apparently televised live by Sky New Zealand, hope you all liked it! ;-) Brave Lupus woke
up in the second half to beat Spears, and Blues downed Jubilo at Hanazono
in a close game. Can the Green Rockets trouble the Wild Knights today??
The Laird attended his rugby
club’s annual dinner last night and heard some unsolicited feedback from senior
members which was very positive about stars Stephen Larkham and Shaun Webb
after the game on December 5th: they both cheerfully and willingly
signed a lot of autographs for enthusiastic kids from the rugby schools and
high schools of Kitakyushu. Of course this is part of a professional player’s
normal work, but anyway it was noticed and appreciated. (Keep up the good work, Gentlemen!!)
December
7th The more articles I read by Brian Ashton, the more I
respect him. Here
he is on fly halves like Matt Giteau and players like Austin Healey. But
Brian Moore is also interesting on the
failings of the IRB and the excessive kicking in the modern game. (They
might both be right, i.e. Giteau is a brilliant player and can shine regardless
of the laws, but for most teams who don’t have brilliant fly halves the current
laws are unsatisfactory at best. Bring back rucking!!)
December 6,
2009 – The
traditional Waseda v Meiji University game (So-Mei
sen) was broadcast on NHK General live from 13.50.
Top League
games don’t get this level of prime time coverage on terrestrial channels...
not yet at least... though J Sports does a decent job with at least two TL
games covered per round. But anyway the So-Mei
sen is a once-a-year phenomenon, and many of the 40-50,000 spectators at
the National Stadium are of course students. And to be fair NHK does usually
broadcast the finals at the end of the year: the Microsoft Cup final (for the
top TL teams) and the All-Japan Championship final.
The Top
League should not be seeking to displace university rugby in the affections of
the traditionally-minded Japanese public which would be pretty hard to do
anyway, but rather to build a loyal following of its own. It’s not a zero sum
game as between university and TL rugby, there is room “for all” – to borrow
the TL’s slogan – and everyone can benefit. There is a chance to build up the
popularity of the TL with the World Cup coming to Japan in less than (!) 10 years
from now, and though the crowd was not large at the recent game in Kitakyushu
the Laird was pleased to see that there were a lot of teenagers and younger
children at the ground, and they were waving flags, chanting in chorus and
generally getting behind their teams!! (There had also been a curtain raiser
between Saga Kougyou and Kokura High Schools.)
December 6th The So-Mei sen ended with a narrow win for Waseda University, 16-14. Many thanks
to Coach Yoshida for making
Meiji competitive once more and restoring meaning to the fixture. It made for
exciting viewing! (In ULTIMATE
CRUSH Kiyomiya-san stated that the drama of the So-Mei sen game had been
lost because of poor Meiji coaching, but it’s apparently back with a vengeance
now!)
Coca Cola v Ricoh: Shaun Webb (“Webby,” or maybe
“Webbmaster”? ;-) lines up a penalty kick in the first half. He kicked five
penalty goals, two conversions and scored one try. Total 24 points out of 29!!
December 5th Coca Cola West Red Sparks beat Ricoh Black Rams 29-22 in the first
ever Top League game played in Kitakyushu city today, after a warm welcome from
Mayor Kitahashi and the enthusiastic spectators. Coke’s defence was good
throughout, and Japan full back Shaun Webb (the Laird’s Man of the Match)
kicked most of his penalties and conversions and timed his passes and
interventions in the line very well. There was a charge down at the end and two
near-tries for Ricoh which had the 2,213-strong crowd in uproar such that the
final hooter could not be clearly heard... Great entertainment from both teams
for which many thanks!! (But the Laird wondered why the unusually anonymous
ex-Wallaby Stephen Larkham was at full back for Ricoh and not fly half - “if
you’ve got it, flaunt it!” they say... ;-) The Laird was also glad to shake the
hand of ex-NEC and now Red Sparks player Brendan Nielson before the game.
Mascot Sparky and friends, Honjo stadium, Kitakyushu (5
December 2009)
December 1 The Laird, Mrs. Laird and his father-in-law
(a recent convert to Rugby, age 90, it’s never too late to repent you know! ;-)
will be going to see Coca Cola v Ricoh at Honjo stadium this
weekend. We have our tickets, 1000 yen each (1,300 yen on the door).
Hope we can park near the stadium, which is due for an upgrade now that
Kitakyushu has its first ever pro sports team (the soccer boys got
promoted to J2 this year).
(By the way, at rugby training on Wednesday
this week the Laird learned that of 30 tickets allocated to his club only five
have been bought so far, and he bought three of those!!)
November
30 Eddie Jones comments that
Suntory and Japan wing Hirotoki Onozawa has “something about him”. Indeed
he does have a fantastic ability to step so as to avoid tackles. This is called
‘unagi steppu’ in Japanese (i.e. eel step) and is the main reason, together
with his speed, why he scores so many tries. The Laird has never seen anyone
quite so elastic and hard to tackle! Here
is a photo of ace Hirotoki slip slidin’ away from defenders... Notice he is
mildly airborne... ;-)
November
26 The Laird has always admired Welsh fly half
Stephen Jones ever since he toured Japan early in his career, and his
battle with Matt Giteau this weekend will be intriguing. Jones speaks very well
too. They are both great players in fact!!
November
22 A good win by
Japan to keep 13th place in the IRB rankings, and a rare
and precious win by Scotland over the Wallabies!! A pretty good weekend for
the Laird really...
November
18
Yamaha move
bursts bubble – surely the Top League will have to change to a home and
away format from next season?
Revenue from home games is vital for clubs to stay afloat. (This is true
even in Blackout Rugby as the Laird has discovered!)
Japan hits new
height earlier than expected – whatever, as JK says Saturday is a must-win
game for Japan.
November
17
Jubilo forced to
cut all 17 professionals – let’s hope that they fall on their feet soon! Never a
nice thing to be made redundant...
November
16
Congratulations to Japan on a very good win
yesterday (46-8) against Canada. If they repeat that result on Saturday
Japan will move one ahead of Canada in the IRB rankings to 13th –
Japan’s highest ever position.
Meanwhile Yamaha Jubilo has announced
today that from next April the team will only be made up of company workers.
There are currently 17 players on pro contracts including Goromaru (FB, Japan)
and Yatomi (SH, Japan) not to mention foreigners such as Reuben Thorne or coach
Kevin Schuler. This is an economic cutback, and no reflection on the players
themselves.