RiJ Vol.6 No.23

June 9, 2009

Contact Ian McDonnell at all.4.one@hotmail.com

Contents:

¡ IRB Junior World Championship Japan 2009

s Day 1: England 43 d Japan 0

¡ The Grubber Kick:

s IRB Ranking: 16 (1 June 2009)

s Backchat: Men Against Boys!

¡ The Draw:

s IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2009

s RWCs 2015 and 2019

s Etc

The Cherry Blossoms are in between the Asian Five Nations and the Pacific Nations Cup at the moment and so that allows RiJ to focus on the opening day of the U20 Junior World Championship being played here in Japan. Japan were thumped 43-0 by England in the rain in Tokyo on Friday night but it does not get any easier as they still have to face Samoa and Scotland in their remaining Pool B games. In The Grubber Kick, RiJ takes a quick look at the differing rugby career pathways of young players in Japan compared with leading rugby playing nations. The full Japan national side is in Australia at the moment and will play the Reds at Ballymore on Wednesday before moving on to Fiji for the PNC. Japan has the bye in the opening round of the PNC and will face Samoa in their first match midweek on Thursday, 18 June 2009. Enjoy the read.

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IRB Toshiba Junior World Championship Japan 2009

5-21 June 2009

25-man U20 Japan Squad

	Position	Name	School	Age	Height	Weight
1	Prop	Keita INAGAKI	Kanto Gakuin Uni.	18	183	117
2	Prop	Shinsuke ONO	Meiji Uni.	19	180	114
3	Prop	Hidetatsu TSUBOI	Teikyo Uni.	19	181	111
4	Loose/Hooker	Kohei YOSHIDA	Teikyo Uni.	19	183	109
5	Hooker	Ryuhei ARITA (c)	Waseda Uni.	19	177	98
6	Hooker	Ryotaro SUZUKI	Meiji Uni.	19	175	104
7	Lock	Kodai MATSUHASHI	Rissho Uni.	20	192	105
8	Lock	Takumi MIKAMI	Waseda Uni.	19	192	98
9	Lock	Yoshiki NIIZEKI	Nippon Sport Science Uni.	19	192	112
10	Lock	Yuta ONODERA	Ryutsu Keizai Uni.	19	186	110
11	Flanker	Michiro TAKAI	Nippon Sport Science Uni.	19	187	88
12	Flanker	Kota YAMASHITA (v-c)	Waseda Uni.	19	180	92
13	Flanker	Ryuta YASUI	Tokai Uni.	19	186	101
14	Halfback	Hayata YOKOYAMA	Chubu Uni.	19	181	91
15	Halfback	Takehito NAMEKAWA	Teikyo Uni.	19	163	66
16	Five-eighth	Yoshikazu MORITA	Teikyo Uni.	20	172	83
17	Five-eighth	Harumichi TATEKAWA	Tenri Uni.	19	181	88
18	Centre	Aisea HAVEA	Tenri Uni.	20	176	98
19	Centre	Naoya MINAMIHASHI	Teikyo Uni.	19	175	83
20	Centre	Kenta NAKASONE (v-c)	Keio Uni.	19	180	89
21	Wing	Tomohiro SHOKAI	Doshisha Uni.	19	186	82
22	Wing	Shohei TAKESHITA	Hosei Uni.	19	177	79
23	Wing	Shohei TOYOSHIMA	Tokai Uni.	20	173	78
24	Wing	Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI	Tokai Uni.	19	185	97
25	Fullback	Tsuyoshi IGUCHI	Waseda Uni.	19	180	84
	Flanker	Kohei SAITA	Daito Bunka Uni.	19	185	79
	Wing	Naoki CHONO	Kwansei Gakuin Uni.	20	174	79
	Wing	Opeti FEAMANI	Ryutsu Keizai Uni.	20	182	99

Head coach: Masahiro Kunda (42, Toshiba).

NB: the IRB home page lists 25 players for Japan. However, the JRFU home page lists a 28-man squad. RiJ lists these three extra players at the bottom of the above list.

Pools

Numbers in brackets in the pool tables indicate rankings for this tournament based on the order teams finished in the inaugural 2008 IRB Junior World Championship held in Wales. The USA finished in last place in 2008 and was replaced by Uruguay for 2009 as the winner of the 2008 IRB Junior World Trophy. Romania has won the 2009 IRB Junior World Trophy and so they will replace the team that finishes last in this tournament for the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship.

Pool A: NZ, Argentina, Ireland, Uruguay.

At the Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya.

	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts.
New Zealand (1)	1	1	-	75	0	75	1	-	5
Ireland (9)	1	1	-	16	9	7	-	-	4
Argentina (8)	1	-	1	9	16	-7	-	1	1
Uruguay (new)	1	-	1	0	75	-75	-	-	0

Day 1: Friday, 5 June 2009.

Ireland 16 (1T) d Argentina 9, 5:00 PM.

NZ 75 (13) d Uruguay 0, 7:00 PM.

Day 2: Tuesday, 9 June 2009.

Argentina v Uruguay, 5:00 PM.

Ireland v NZ, 7:00 PM.

Day 3: Saturday 13 June 2009.

Ireland v Uruguay, 1:00 PM.

Argentina v NZ, 3:00 PM.

Pool B: England, Samoa, Scotland, Japan.

At the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo.

	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts.
England (2)	1	1	-	43	0	43	1	-	5
Samoa (7)	1	1	-	17	14	3	-	-	4
Scotland (10)	1	-	1	14	17	-3	1	-	1
Japan (15)	1	-	1	0	43	-43	-	-	0

Day 1: Friday, 5 June 2009.

Samoa 17 (2Ts) d Scotland 14 (1T), 5:00 PM.

England 43 (6Ts) d Japan 0, 7:00 PM.

England 43 – Tries: Josh Owens, Chris York, Luke Eves, George Lowe, Carl Fearns and Courtney Lawes; Conversions: Thomas Homer 5; Penalty: Homer d.

Japan 0.

Referee: Peter Allan (Scotland).

Attendance: 9,120.

Halftime: England 24 – Japan 0.

Red Card: Joseph Marler (England No.1, 0 min 2H, dangerous play).

Yellow Card: Robert Baker (England No.3, 18 min 2H, foul play).

England: 1- Joseph Marler, 2- Jamie George, 3- Robert Baker, 4- Daniel Williams, 5- James Gaskell, 6- Chris York, 7- Joshua Owens, 8- Carl Fearns, 9- Ben Young, 10- Rory Clegg, 11- Jack Cobden, 12- Greig Tonks, 13- Luke Eves (c), 14- George Lowe, 15- Thomas Homer.

Reserves: 16- James Clark (subbed 2, 9 min 2H), 17- Ben Moon, 18- Graham Kitchener, 19- Courtney Lawes, 20- David Lewis, 21- Robert Miller and 22- Henry Trinder.

Japan: 1- Kohei Yoshida, 2- Ryohei Arita (c), 3- Shinsuke Ono, 4- Ryuta Yasui, 5- Yoshiki Niizeki, 6- Yuta Onodera, 7- Kota Yamashita, 8- Michiro Takai, 9- Hayata Yokoyama, 10- Yoshikazu Morita, 11- Shohei Toyoshima, 12- Aisea Havea, 13- Kenta Nakasone, 14- Tomohiro Shokai, 15- Tsuyoshi Iguchi.

Reserves: 16- Ryotaro Suzuki (subbed 6, 0 min 2H), 17- Keita Inagaki (subbed 1, 21 min 2H), 18- Hidetatsu Tsuboi (subbed 3, 11 min 2H), 19- Kodai Matsuhashi (subbed 5, 35 min 2H), 20- Takehito Namekawa (subbed 9, 11 min 2H), 21- Harumichi Tatekawa (subbed 10, 16 min 2H) and 22- Naoya Minamihashi (subbed 15, 11 min 1H).

As much as Japan toiled in the persistent rain it really was a case of men against boys regardless of the under twenty age limits. England played nearly all of the second half with 14 players after loosehead prop Joseph Marler was red-carded for dangerous play and they were later reduced to 13 men for ten minutes when tighthead prop Robert Baker was sinbinned. Even so, the young Japanese still could not match it with the skill and level of experience of the English. Many of the English boys are already playing professional open age rugby whereas their Japanese counterparts are locked into playing university rugby, denying them the necessary growth required to compete at this level of international age group rugby.

England scored three tries in each half after leading 24-0 at halftime. However, the rain and loss of players upset the rhythm of the second half keeping the final score to 43-0. Unfortunately for Japan, they never really looked like threatening the England try line. Slow ball from the breakdown played into the hands of England given the conditions and the low risk approach meant Japan were never going to back themselves out wide where they could have challenged the English backs. Consequently, Japan failed to trouble the scorekeeper with the English taking maximum points from the game with a 43-0 whitewash. Poor decision making around the halves and a high rate of unforced errors contributed to the loss.

Day 2: Tuesday, 9 June 2009.

England v Scotland, 5:00 PM.

Japan v Samoa, 7:00 PM.

Day 3: Saturday 13 June 2009.

England v Samoa, 1:00 PM.

Japan v Scotland, 3:00 PM.

Pool C: SA, France, Italy, Fiji.

At the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka.

	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts.
South Africa (3)	1	1	-	36	10	26	1	-	5
France (6)	1	1	-	43	13	30	1	-	2*
Italy (11)	1	-	1	13	43	-30	-	-	0
Fiji (14)	1	-	1	10	36	-26	-	-	0

NB: France started the 2009 tournament on -3 competition points as a result of disciplinary action following the match against Wales in the 2008 JWC.

Day 1: Friday, 5 June 2009.

France 43 (7Ts) d Italy 13 (1T), 1:00 PM.

SA 36 (4Ts) d Fiji 10 (1T), 3:00 PM.

Day 2: Tuesday, 9 June 2009.

Fiji v France, 1:00 PM.

Italy v SA, 3:00 PM.

Day 3: Saturday 13 June 2009.

Fiji v Italy, 1:00 PM.

France v SA, 3:00 PM.

Pool D: Wales, Australia, Canada, Tonga.

At the Best Amenity Stadium in Saga.

	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts.
Australia (5)	1	1	-	86	0	86	1	-	5
Wales (4)	1	1	-	51	5	46	1	-	2*
Canada (12)	1	-	1	0	86	-86	-	-	0
Tonga (13)	1	-	1	5	51	46	-	-	0

NB: Wales started the 2009 tournament on -3 competition points as a result of disciplinary action following the match against France in the 2008 JWC.

Day 1: Friday, 5 June 2009.

Australia 86 (14Ts) d Canada 0, 5:00 PM.

Wales 51 (6Ts) d Tonga 5 (1T), 7:00 PM.

Day 2: Tuesday, 9 June 2009.

Australia v Tonga, 5:00 PM.

Canada v Wales, 7:00 PM.

Day 3: Saturday 13 June 2009.

Canada v Tonga, 1:00 PM.

Australia v Wales, 3:00 PM.

Knockout Stages

Group 1: involves the top 4 finishers in each pool to decide positions 1 to 4, at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo.

Group 2: involves the 4 teams that finish second in each pool to decide positions 5 to 8, at the Level 5 Stadium in Fukuoka.

Group 3: involves the 4 teams that finish third in each pool to decide positions 9 to 12, at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka.

Group 4: involves the 4 teams that finish last in each pool to decide positions 13 to 16, at the Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya.

NB: all knockout games held on Wednesday 17 and Sunday 21 June 2009.

Referee Panel

On 8 April 2009, the IRB released the list of panel referees to officiate the forty games at the IRB Junior World Championship Japan 2009. The 16-man list includes 13 referees and 3 assistant referees from across 10 different Unions. There are four officials from Japan including referee Taizo Hirabayashi and assistant referees Tetsuhiko Kawano, Akihisa Aso and Taku Otsuki.

Referees

Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)

Ian Smith (Australia)

James Jones (Wales)

Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Keith Brown (New Zealand)

Pascal Gauzere (France)

Andrew Small (England)

James Bolabiu (Fiji)

James Leckie (Australia)

Peter Allan (Scotland)

Javier Mancuso (Argentina)

Chris Pollock (New Zealand)

Jerome Garces (France)

Assistant Referees

Kyosuke Toda (Japan)

Akihisa Aso (Japan)

Taku Otsuki (Japan)

Tetsuhiko Kawano (Japan)

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The Grubber Kick

The Grubber Kick brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

IRB ranking on 1 June 2009 - Japan was 16 (68.05).

Backchat: Men Against Boys! The 2009 IRB Junior World Championship has brought the best of the next generation of world rugby talent to the shores of Japan. However, from a Japan perspective it has also shown up some glaring disparities in the development pathways young rugby players take in this country compared with other leading countries participating in the tournament. For young players with the right talent in tier one nations like the southern hemisphere powerhouses of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa some are already playing Super 14 level rugby or are being seriously looked at by their respective Unions. Likewise for northern hemisphere powers like England and France, the same philosophy of: ‘if you are good enough you are old enough’ applies. In other words, young rugby players still in their teens are mixing it with the best players in modern rugby in such high profile competitions as Super 14, the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup. Such youthful talent is fast-tracked to the front of the queue where they have to mix it with the best in order to prove themselves and hopefully survive and grow. It really is Darwinian in that it is the survival of the fittest, but the bar is continually being raised.

So what happens in Japan? If you are a budding 18, 19 or 20-year-old rugby talent you may well be somewhere in limbo between high school rugby and senior level open age company rugby. A quick glance at the Japan squad list shows that all of the Japanese boys are playing at this or that university and this is what the limbo is all about. Players in Japan are locked into a highly structured and a very rigid institutionalised elevator system of hierarchical rugby that sees rugby talent move from high school to university and finally to company rugby. Unfortunately, there is little flexibility and no fast-tracking for the gifted and talented Japanese rugby stars of tomorrow where they can play with the best local and international players in Japan on a week in week out basis. Yes, there are always one or two university players that get picked for the national side but once that commitment is over it is back to the humdrum of mediocre standard college rugby. For many in this U20 squad, as first or second year students they may well be sitting down the pecking order behind their third and fourth year ‘sempai’ meaning they may not even be regular starters in the first XV at their universities. Top League is a step in the right direction for Japanese rugby but it still does not bring the best of the best of Japanese rugby talent into the one competition. There is a lot of talent on offer in the 18 to 23-year-old age bracket that is not getting the exposure that it should. There is also a lot of talent within the Top League system itself, not to mention other company leagues outside Top League that is being left to wither on the vine. Yes, Japan has started an elite academy programme to address some of the needs of this limbo age group but surely the best method is to roll up the sleeves and play with the best. How can playing with Tenri University, or even Waseda University be compared to playing for the Waratahs or one of the top English or French sides? The simple answer is that it cannot be compared. The young talent is out there in Japan but unfortunately there is no appropriate stage for these players to adequately show their wares.

A solution? Pink Floyd fans knew all along that it is a matter of tearing down the wall, deconstructing Japanese rugby and creating a truly national competition. Kurtley Beale and Rob Horne as fulltime professional rugby players will go back to the Waratahs and press for Wallaby spots as the season progresses, while their Japanese counterparts will blend back into the void of university rugby. No wonder these talented young Japanese rugby players are out of their depth, suffering stage fright and cannot compete with the likes of England!

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The Draw

The Draw gives the reader future dates for the diary and other great things to look forward to in rugby.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2009:

June and July 2009.

Now in its fourth year, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2009 involves the Junior All Blacks (JAB) from New Zealand, the three island nations Fiji, Samoa and Tonga along with Japan. The JAB replace the Maori for 2009, while Australia A will not participate in 2009 due to cost constraints.

In 2006 this tournament kicked off as the IRB Pacific Five Nations and involved the same teams as 2009. Australia A joined the competition in 2007 and the tournament name changed to its present moniker of IRB Pacific Nations Cup. The same format was maintained for 2008 with the exception being the Maori were the New Zealand representative side rather than the Junior All Blacks.

In the 2006 IRB Pacific Five Nations there was the need for a bye each round due to the fact that only five teams participated. The inclusion of Australia A for 2007 and 2008 gave a far better balance to the format of the tournament with three full games each round played on a home and away round robin basis. The Australian side also heightened the competitive level of the Cup. Unfortunately, the Australian Rugby Union has made the decision not to include a side for 2009 despite the fact the IRB is paying most of the bills. Consequently, there is once again the regrettable requirement for one team to have a bye each round. One can only hope that the ARU will reverse this decision for 2010.

The tournament this year is further abbreviated with the majority of the games to be played in Fiji rather than the home and away format of the three previous years. As a result, there will obviously be no home games for Japanese fans this year. One again, one can only hope that the IRB will reverse this decision for 2010.

Perhaps the fact that Japan is hosting the IRB Junior World Championship over the same time window as the 2009 edition of the PNC is having an effect, but this should not be used as an escape.

Previous Winners

The New Zealand representative sides have won all three titles to date and in fact are still to taste defeat.

2008: The New Zealand Maori. The Maori took the title undefeated with 21 points when they beat Australia A 21-18 in the final game in Sydney. Australia A finished runner-up on 20 points. Japan finished fifth on 7 points with one win and four losses.

2007: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB took the title undefeated with 25 points garnering maximum points in each game. Australia A finished a distant runner-up on 16 points after they lost to the JAB and drew with Fiji. Japan finished last on 4 points with one win and four losses.

2006: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB took the title undefeated with 20 points with maximum points in each game. Japan finished last on 0 points with four losses.

2009 PNC Schedule and Results

Japan will have a pre-PNC camp on the Gold Coast in Queensland from 2-12 June 2009 with a hit out against the Queensland Reds at Ballymore on Wednesday, 10 June.

Round	Date	Teams	Venue	Kick-off
Round 1	Friday, 12 June 2009	Samoa v JAB	Apia Park, Apia	16:00
	Saturday, 13 June 2009	Tonga v Fiji	Nuku’alofa, Tonga	12:00
		Japan bye
Round 2	Thursday, 18 June 2009	JAB v Fiji	Lautoka	15:10
		Japan v Samoa	Lawaqa Park	15:10
		Tonga bye
Round 3	Tuesday, 23 June 2009	Samoa v Tonga	Churchill Park, Lautoka	12:10
		Japan v JAB	Churchill Park, Lautoka	15:10
		Fiji bye
Round 4	Saturday, 27 June 2009	Tonga v Japan	Churchill Park, Lautoka	12:10
		Samoa v Fiji	Churchill Park, Lautoka	15:10
		JAB bye
Round 5	Thursday, 2 July 2009	Tonga v JAB	Suva	15:10
	Friday, 3 July 2009	Fiji v Japan	National Stadium, Suva	15:10
		Samoa bye

2009 PNC Table

Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP1	BP2	Pts.
JAB	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fiji	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tonga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Samoa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

IRB RWCs 2015 and 2019:

Host nations to make presentations on 13 May 2009 in Dublin followed by announcements to be made at IRB HQ in Dublin on 28 July 2009.

The JRFU held a press conference on 2 March 2009 to outline its thought on the 2015 and 2019 bids. In attendance were Chairman Yoshiro Mori, Vice-Chairman Noboru Mashimo and world record test scorer of tries Daisuke Ohata (69 tries from 58 tests). Mashimo noted that at this stage, England has come out of the blocks hard with its bid for 2015 and Australia, SA and Italy are firming for 2019. Further, Japan is balking at the tournament fee the IRB requires the host nation to cough up for the rights. For 2015, the price is 80 million pounds and for 2019, it is 96 million pounds. Japan is not in a position to receive government financial assistance or guarantees for such events under law so the Union will be scratching its collective head on how to raise the dough. England and the RFU received a boost for their solo bid with the support of PM Gordon Brown on 19 February 2009. South Africa (3 February 2009) and Italy (28 February 2009) have received guarantees of financial backing from their respective governments.

On 13 March 2009, the talk coming out of England was a joint bid for 2015 with Scotland, Ireland and Wales in order to cover the 80m pound tournament fee. The issue is political though as the RFU still favours the solo bid but government ministers are looking at the broader funding base.

Mashimo further noted that the call to make the bid as Asian RWC rather than solely a Japan based tournament has a lot of merit. He also hinted at the inclusion of teams from Hong Kong, Korea and China playing in Top League sometime in the future. In looking to the future Mashimo also put emphasis on youth rugby, noting that Japan will host the IRB U20 Junior World Championship this June. He also indicated that the rugby playing population was on the increase at about 5-7% PA. The current playing population stood at about 125,000 and is expected to project to 200,000 by 2015.

Eight Unions are bidding for 2015 (Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa, Wales) while the number bidding for 2019 (Australia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa, Wales) has been reduced to seven with the withdrawal of Russia on 16 February 2009.

In these constrained economic times, Tokyo is also bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics while soccer is bidding for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup to be held in Japan. Thus, rugby has a lot of competition for the corporate yen, particularly given the fact that the Japanese government will not back the financial costs of the RWC. However, the Japan Union is supporting the Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid, particularly if rugby sevens can be included.

On Tuesday, 7 April 2009, the Japan government offered its full support for the Japan bidding process. Although this does not equate to total financial backing the governmental support in nonetheless highly significant. Prime Minister Taro Aso has also joined the bid committee.

On Thursday, 9 April 2009 the JRFU announced that a RWC in Japan would include games in Singapore and Hong Kong, and possibly also Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul.

IRB representatives chairman Bernard Lapasset, chief executive and general secretary Mike Miller and RWC head Kit McConnell visited Japan in mid April 2009.

Then there were FOUR. By early May 2009, England, Italy, Japan and South Africa were the last ones standing in the bidding process for 2015, while Italy, Japan and South Africa were also in it for 2019. Australia was the latest casualty with the ARU withdrawing from the process because they could not justify the high costs demanded by the IRB. The four countries submitted their formal tenders to the IRB by the deadline of 5PM on 8 May 2009 and will outline their bids to the IRB Council in Dublin on 13 May 2009.

Japan A Tour:

There is a proposed tour for Japan A in the second half of July 2009, though details unavailable yet.

Bledisloe Cup:

Rumour has it a fourth Bledisloe Cup game for 2009 will be played in Tokyo in September. Even now in April the rumour is gaining momentum that the two trans-Tasman rivals will be in Tokyo in what could be late September or early November.

ARU CEO John O’Neill announced on 20 April 2009 that along with a rare Grand Slam tour in November, the Wallabies would also play a fourth Bledisloe Cup game for 2009 in Tokyo at the 57,000 seat National Stadium on 31 October 2009. Although the deal was not yet set in concrete it was “virtually done and dusted” he said.

Super Powers Cup:

At this stage there is the proposal to revive the concept of the Super Powers Cup involving Japan, the USA, Canada and Russia for the November window.