RiJ Vol.6 No.37

October 13, 2009

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

Contents:

¡ Japan Rugby Top League 2009-10

s Round 5

¡ 2009-10 Top League Team Profiles

s (7) Yamaha

¡ The Grubber Kick:

s IRB Ranking: 14 (12 October 2009)

s Backchat: More Mortlock

s More Louden

s Seeing Red – Stephen Larkham & Hare Makiri

s Sevens in the Olympics

RiJ brings the reader round 5 of Top League, Yamaha in profile and a few bits and pieces in The Grubber Kick. Amongst the bits and pieces is the fact that Todd Louden will be staying out at Ricoh rather than moving to sunny Queensland while the IOC made a landmark decision in including Sevens in the Olympic programme from 2016.

We are now nearing the halfway mark of the 13 round Top League competition and the cream is starting to float to the top while the other stuff is gradually sinking to the bottom in a very predictable fashion. It is no surprise that Sanyo, Suntory and Toshiba are hovering around the top of the table while Honda and Kyuden are stuck like glue to the bottom of the table. Yes, there has been some good rugby but overall, somehow, Top League needs livening up! In that respect, a push in the direction of a TRULY professional competition would be a great idea, rather than this quasi-semi-professional mish-mash of present. Regionalise the competition, introduce a draft and get corporations to better invest in the future. Think outside the square! Think big!

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2009-10 Round 5

Round 5

Date	Teams	Score	Teams	K/0	Venue
Fri, 9 Oct 2009	Suntory (8Ts)	52-5	Honda (1T)	19:30	Chichibu, Tokyo
Sat, 10 Oct 2009	Kubota (5Ts)	33-38	Coca-Cola (5Ts)	12:00	Chichibu, Tokyo
	Sanyo (8Ts)	54-10	Kyuden (1T)	14:00	Chichibu, Tokyo
	Yamaha (4Ts)	29-29	Kintetsu (4Ts)	13:00	Ishikawa
Sun, 11 Oct 2009	Toshiba (5Ts)	36-21	Ricoh (2Ts)	14:00	Morioka, Iwate
	Toyota (8Ts)	56-10	Sanix (1T)	12:00	Kobe
	Kobe (4Ts)	27-24	NEC (2Ts)	14:00	Kobe

Round Five Preview

On Friday evening, Suntory Sungoliath and Honda Heat are both back at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo for the second time this season. Suntory have had three wins and a draw from their opening four games and sit in second place on the table with 17 competition points, one point behind front runner Sanyo. On the other hand, newly promoted Honda have suffered four straight losses and sit in thirteenth place. As such, it is going to be a tall order for Honda to topple Suntory in Tokyo. Suntory will be endeavouring to continue their winning ways as they look to consolidate their place near the top of the table.

In the first of three Saturday games, Kubota Spears play Coca-Cola West Red Sparks in the early game of an afternoon double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo. After winning their first three games Kubota went down to Sanix 35-24 on this ground last round which had the effect of pushing them out of the top four on points differential with Toshiba. Coca-Cola, however, sit in ninth place from two wins and two losses and they will be trying to further climb the points table at the expense of the Spears. Last year Kubota won this encounter 34-17 while the previous season Coca-Cola won 25-13 so this year too looks like being a keenly fought contest. In such a game it could come down to the kickers to determine the final outcome with Coca-Cola’s Shaun Webb and Kubota’s Shane Drahm in second and third places respectively on the season point scorers list.

In the second game at Chichibu, Sanyo Wild Knights play Kyuden Voltex. Sanyo have won all four of their opening games and sit one point clear of Suntory on top of the table on 18 points and they will be wanting to retain their top spot at the expense of Kyuden. The Voltex are winless after four rounds and so the pressure is on to come up with a much needed win. However, Kyuden are sitting in last place on the table and they play the team that sits in first place and so the Kyushu based Voltex will have to play exceptional rugby if they are to earn a win away from home in Tokyo.

Yamaha Jubilo and Kintetsu Liners travel to Kanazawa city in Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast for this clash. Yamaha chalked up their first win of the season against Honda at home in Iwata last round and they are slowly starting to climb their way up the table. Jubilo will be looking to keep the winning momentum going but Kintetsu will provide stiff opposition. Kintetsu have had just the one win for three losses but they will be out to prove they are no easy pushovers in the 2009-10 season. The Liners finished ninth last season on the back of five wins over all teams that finished below them on the table. Thus, a win over Yamaha will also be revenge for the 43-37 loss they endured last season.

On Sunday, Toshiba Brave Lupus travel to Morioka city in northern Iwate prefecture to play Ricoh Black Rams. As the reigning Top League champion, Toshiba have started the new season with mixed fortunes. They have suffered two losses in the opening four rounds but bonus points are keeping them in the top four. Ricoh are back in Top League this season after spending last year playing out of the Top East competition and they too are on two wins and two losses for the season so far. However, the Rams are yet to pick up any bonus points and this is keeping them midfield amidst a tight bunch of teams. Toshiba will be looking to well and truly up the ante against Ricoh after going down to Toyota 12-8 last round. Ricoh will be without the services of Stephen Larkham after he was suspended for receiving two yellow cards in the 23-6 loss to Kobe last round and so the Ricoh team as a whole will have to step up against Toshiba.

In the first game of an afternoon double header in Kobe city, Toyota Verblitz play Fukuoka Sanix Blues. Toyota have started their season with three wins and a draw and so they are one of three teams yet to taste defeat in the 2009-10 season. One of those wins was against Toshiba in round four when they scraped home 12-8 and that should give them a lot of confidence going into this match. On the other hand, Sanix stopped the winning run of Kubota last round when they pulled off a 35-24 win and so they will be thinking they can do the same to Toyota. Toyota are sitting in third place on the table on 15 points before this round but to stay in the top four they will have to keep winning. The Verblitz have had a good start to the season, especially with the return of Orene Ai’i to the ranks, but it is important they maintain the momentum if they are to be a threat at the business end of the season. Sanix have had two wins and two close losses and they will be striving for consistency and their third win of the season.

In the latter game in Kobe, the NEC Green Rockets travel to play Kobe Steelers. NEC came up with their first win of the season last round when they beat Kyuden 13-7, but they are still way down the table in twelfth place. However, that win over Kyuden will have done a lot for the confidence of the team as a whole and if they can defeat Kobe on their home turf it could see them markedly improve their standings on the table. Kobe have had two wins, a draw and a one point loss to Kubota in their first four games and they are going to be tough to beat at home. Veteran Kobe wing Daisuke Ohata is relishing the role of captain this year after picking up the man-of-the-match award against Sanix in round two and the younger players will be looking to their captain for added inspiration against NEC.

Round Five Wrap-up

After five rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season only Sanyo have collected five wins. Sanyo sit on top of the table on 23 points followed by Suntory in second place on 22 points and Toyota in third place on 20 points. Suntory and Toyota are yet to be beaten though both sides have had a draw. Toshiba are on 17 points in fourth place while just outside the top four are Kobe in fifth place on 16 points. Kubota drop one place to sixth with 14 points following their loss to Coca-Cola on the weekend. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola are now on 13 points and jump from ninth to seventh on the table. Sanix are in eighth place on 11 points followed by Yamaha in ninth place on 10 points. Kintetsu are in tenth place on nine points while Ricoh drop from eighth to eleventh following their loss to Toshiba. NEC picked up a losing bonus point in their last gasp loss to Kobe and are in twelfth place on six points. At the bottom off the table Honda and Kyuden and are on one competition point each.

On Friday evening, Suntory Sungoliath and Honda Heat were both back at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo for the second time this season with Suntory winning 52-5. It was all Suntory in the first half with centre Ryan Nicholas in the thick of the scoring action. Nicholas scored one of the four tries and kicked three conversions to help the Sungoliath to a 26-0 lead at the break. It was more of the same in the second half as Suntory added another 26 points while Honda responded with a try of their own. Hale T-Pole and wing Hirotoki Onozawa were among the second half try scorers for Suntory. Suntory have now had four wins and a draw from their opening five games while newly promoted Honda have suffered five straight losses.

In the first of three Saturday games, Kubota Spears lost to Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 38-33 in the early game of an afternoon double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo. After winning their first three games, Kubota went down to Sanix last round before losing their second game in a row against Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola, however, now have three wins and two losses and they climb the points table at the expense of the Spears. The two sides were locked at 7-all midway through the first half before Coca-Cola put on a further ten points through a try to wing Masahiro Tsuiki and a conversion and a penalty to fullback Shaun Webb to take a 17-7 lead to halftime. Coca-Cola extended the lead to 24-7 upon the resumption of play leaving a lot of work to do for the Spears. Kubota responded appropriately to narrow the difference to 24-19 and then 31-26, but the tit-for-tat try scoring continued to the end with both teams scoring five tries. The difference came down to a flawless kicking display from Webb who converted all five tries and added a penalty. Wing Yasuhiro Negishi picked up a hat-trick of tries for Kubota while the five-pointers were shared around for Coca-Cola.

In the second game at Chichibu, Sanyo Wild Knights beat Kyuden Voltex 54-10. Sanyo have now won all five of their opening games and sit one point clear of Suntory on top of the table on 23 points. However, the Voltex are still winless after five rounds and so the pressure is on to come up with a much needed win over the up-coming rounds. Kyuden played enthusiastic rugby throughout this encounter but a lack of possession told in the end with the extra demands in defence proving too much. Sanyo scored eight tries in total with man-of-the-match, wing Tomoki Kitagawa running in a hat-trick in the last quarter to not only go to the top of the season try scorers list but in the process he notched up his 50^th try in Top League.

Yamaha Jubilo and Kintetsu Liners travelled to Kanazawa city in Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast for this clash where they played out a 29-all draw. Yamaha chalked up their first win of the season against Honda at home in Iwata last round but they are making a habit of coming up with draws after they also drew with Toyota in the opening round. Kintetsu have had just the one win for three losses and a draw with bonus points helping them out so far in the 2009-10 season. The Liners finished ninth last season on the back of five wins over all teams that finished below them on the table and this draw with Yamaha was a good effort considering they were down 24-3 early in the second half. Kintetsu ran in all their four tries in the final quarter of the match with fullback Tadanobu Ko scoring two of them. Ko also contributed with the boot, kicking three conversions and a penalty. However, the one conversion he missed was after the final try at the death which would have handed the Liners victory. It was not to be and both sides had to settle for a draw.

On Sunday, Toshiba Brave Lupus travelled to Morioka city in northern Iwate prefecture to play Ricoh Black Rams with Toshiba winning 36-21. As the reigning Top League champion, Toshiba have started the new season with mixed fortunes having suffered two losses in the opening five rounds so this win was important in keeping them in the top four. Ricoh are back in Top League this season after spending last year playing out of the Top East competition and they are now on two wins and three losses for the season so far. Toshiba scored four first half tries to lead 29-6 at halftime making it a hard task for Ricoh in the second half. Inside centre Neil Brew scored two of the four tries for Toshiba in the first stanza with five-eighth David Hill landing three conversions and a penalty. Ricoh went on to win the second half 15-7 but the first half deficit proved too great to overcome. Ricoh got to within 29-21 with ten minutes to go but Toshiba captain Toshiaki Hirose playing on the right wing sealed the win with a late try.

In the first game of an afternoon double header in Kobe city, Toyota Verblitz defeated Fukuoka Sanix Blues 56-10. Toyota have started their season with four wins and a draw and so they are one of three teams yet to taste defeat in the 2009-10 season. One of those wins was against Toshiba in round four when they scraped home 12-8 and that should have given them a lot of confidence going into this match. On the other hand, Sanix stopped the winning run of Kubota last round when they pulled off a 35-24 win but they could not do the same to Toyota. Toyota are sitting in third place on the table on 20 points after this round but to stay in the top four they will have to keep winning. The Verblitz have had a good start to the season, especially with the return of Orene Ai’i to the ranks, but it is important they maintain the momentum if they are to be a threat at the business end of the season. Sanix have had two wins and three losses and they will be striving for consistency over the remainder of the season. Toyota scored eight tries to one to dominate this encounter with one of their stars being five-eight Yusuke Kuromiya who scored a try and successfully converted all eight tries.

In the latter game in Kobe, the NEC Green Rockets travelled to play Kobe Steelers. The bad luck for NEC continued when they were run down by Kobe over the final twenty minutes of the match with the Steelers scoring 17 unanswered points to come from 24-10 down to grab the game 27-24. Outside centre and man-of-the-match Yuta Imamura scored the match winning try late in the game that also secured a four-try bonus point for the Steelers. Imamura scored the opening try of the game in the fourth minute of the first half followed by a five-pointer to veteran wing Daisuke Ohata a few minutes later. Five-eighth Jaco van der Westhuyzen led the revival for NEC with the Rockets eventually taking an 11-10 lead to the break. The lead was extended to 24-10 early in the second half before Kobe started their fight back.

2009-10 Japan Rugby Top League Round Five

	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Diff	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Sanyo	5	5	0	0	212	68	144	3	-	23
2	Suntory	5	4	0	1	239	60	179	4	-	22
3	Toyota	5	4	0	1	151	58	93	2	-	20
4	Toshiba	5	3	2	0	118	78	40	3	2	17
5	Kobe	5	3	1	1	102	80	22	1	1	16
6	Kubota	5	3	2	0	120	110	10	1	1	14
7	Coca-Cola	5	3	2	0	108	145	-37	1	-	13
8	Sanix	5	2	3	0	100	134	-34	1	2	11
9	Yamaha	5	1	2	2	98	112	-14	1	1	10
10	Kintetsu	5	1	3	1	85	115	-30	2	1	9
11	Ricoh	5	2	3	0	99	139	-40	-	-	8
12	NEC	5	1	4	0	75	119	-44	-	2	6
13	Honda	5	0	5	0	66	202	-136	-	1	1
14	Kyuden	5	0	5	0	42	195	-153	-	1	1

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 Microsoft Cup 2010, the finals series for the 2009-10 Top League season.

The top four finishers automatically qualify for the 47^th National Championship 2010 with the teams that finish 5^th to 10^th 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 11^th and 12^th go through the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers to retain their places in Top League for 2010-11.

Leading Point Scorers

Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe holds onto the top spot on the point scorers list after round five with 71 points. Tanabe has opened up a gap over the rest of the field after scoring a try and kicking 7 conversions against Kyuden on Saturday.

	Name	Team	T	G	PG	DG	Pts
1	Atsushi Tanabe	Sanyo	1	18	10	-	71
2	Ryan Nicholas	Suntory	1	19	4	-	55
3	Shaun Webb	Coca-Cola	1	8	11	-	54
4	Shane Drahm	Kubota	-	10	8	2	50
5	Yoshimitsu Kawano	Ricoh	-	8	9	2	49
6	Ayumu Goromaru	Yamaha	-	6	11	-	45
6	Tadanobu Ko	Kintetsu	2	7	7	-	45
8	David Hill	Toshiba	1	10	6	-	43
9	Yusuke Kuromiya	Toyota	1	14	1	-	36
10	Daisuke Yamamoto	Kobe	1	1	8	-	31

Leading Try Scorers

After round five, Sanyo wing Tomoki Kitagawa jumps to the top of the list with six tries after scoring a hat-trick against Kyuden on Saturday. His second try also brought up 50 tries in Top League for the Sanyo flyer.

	Name	Team	Tries
1	Tomoki Kitagawa	Sanyo	6
2	Go Aruga	Suntory	5
2	Hirotoki Onozawa	Suntory	5
3	Yasuhiro Negishi	Kubota	4
3	Yasunori Nagatomo	Suntory	4
3	Takashi Miyake	Sanyo	4
3	Hideki Namba	Toyota	4

Round 5 Man-of-the-match Awards

Date	Teams	Score	Teams	Ground	MOTM
Fri. 9 Oct. 09	Suntory	52-5	Honda	Chichibu, Tokyo	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA, Prop
Sat. 10 Oct. 09	Kubota	33-38	Coca-Cola	Chichibu, Tokyo	Tetsuya FUKUDA, Five-eighth
	Sanyo	54-10	Kyuden	Chichibu, Tokyo	Tomoki KITAGAWA, Wing
	Yamaha	29-29	Kintetsu	Ishikawa	No Award for draw
Sun. 11 Oct. 09	Toshiba	36-21	Ricoh	Morioka, Iwate
	Toyota	56-10	Sanix	Kobe	Yusuke KUROMIYA, Five-eighth
	Kobe	27-24	NEC	Kobe	Yuta IMAMURA, Centre

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Top League Profiles 2009-10: (7) Yamaha Motor Co. Jubilo.

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/rugby/

Established: Yamaha is relatively new on the corporate rugby scene in Japan having only been set up in 1984 and is as yet to win a major title. Yamaha is based in Iwata city, Shizuoka prefecture a few hours west of Tokyo. The team slogan for 2009-10 is “40 Strong” (Strength in Unity). Yamaha also supports a soccer team with the same name of Jubilo with a lot of facilities, including the Iwata ground shared. The Jubilo part of the name comes from Spanish/Portuguese, meaning ‘jubilation’ and is intended to convey the meaning of bringing joy to the Yamaha fans and leaving a lasting impression of jubilation.

The Company: motor vehicles, in particular motorbikes. Furthermore, Yamaha is a major manufacturer of marine craft and products such as fishing and cruising boats, yachts, outboard motors, diesel motors for boats and jet skis.

Titles:

Top League

From the 2003-4 season to the 2005-6 season Top League (TL) consisted of 12 teams and the team that finished on top of the table claimed the title. From the 2006-7 season, TL was increased to 14 teams with the top four finishers on the ladder progressing to the Microsoft Cup, the play-off series to determine the overall TL champion.

2008-9: Seventh on 35 points with 7 wins and 6 losses.

2007-8: Seventh on 37 points with 7 wins and 6 losses.

2006-7: Third on 48 points with 10 wins, a draw and 2 losses.

2005-6: Seventh on 28 points with 5 wins and 6 losses.

2004-5: Second on 45 points with 9 wins and 2 losses.

2003-4: Third on 39 points with 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.

Microsoft Cup

From 2004 to 2006 the Microsoft Cup (MC) was a separate knock-out tournament for the top 8 finishers in TL. From 2007 the MC has acted as the play-off finals series to determine the overall TL champion with the top four finishers on the TL ladder progressing to the MC.

2009: DNQ.

2008: DNQ.

2007: lost to Suntory 39-40 in SF.

2006: knocked out by Suntory 17-35 in first round.

2005: Runners-up. Beat Kubota 38-33 in first round. Beat Toyota in semi after match drawn 33-all at fulltime & both captains drew straws! Lost 6-20 to Toshiba in final.

2004: knocked out by Toshiba 10-39 in first round.

National Championship – none.

2009 (10 teams): DNQ as only top 6 TL teams qualified.

2008 (8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.

2007 (8 teams): beat KGU 53-14 in round 2 and lost to Toshiba 10-47 in SF.

2006 (8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.

2005 (8 teams): qualified as second seed, but knocked out in SFs by eventual champions NEC 13-24.

2004 (22 teams): beat World 36-20 in quarters, but lost to eventual champions Toshiba in SFs 12-33.

Corporate Championship – none.

Colours: Yamaha wear a light blue jersey with dark blue midriff, navy shorts and socks. The alternate strip uses a white jersey.

Style of Play: Yamaha finished high on the table in the first two seasons of Top League but dropped to seventh before rebounding the next season to third. Over the last two seasons, Yamaha finished well off the pace in seventh place. Yamaha had a number of senior players retire or move on to play with other clubs over the off-season and so there is a sense of the unknown with the team this season.

Over the early seasons of Top League, Yamaha based their forward play largely around an all Japanese pack with the likes of former captain Hajime Kiso at No8 and new captain tighthead prop Ryo Yamamura leading the way. However, like most major teams these days they have bulked up the back five with foreign players. In this case, former All Black Reuben Thorn, South Africa Rory Duncan, Fijian Deryck Thomas and new to Japan this season former All Black backrower Mose Tuiali’i. Likewise, over the early years of Top League, Yamaha based their backline around foreign playmakers Leon McDonald, Nathan Williams and Brendan Laney. However, these players are no longer with the club and the playmaking responsibilities will mainly fall on the shoulders of Tatsuhiko Otao now that Shotaro Onishi changed clubs at the end of last season. The combination of Otao and Onishi did not really work over the past few seasons and this corresponds with the drop from third to seventh. The absence of a top class five-eighth could again be a problem for Yamaha this season.

It remains to be seen if Yamaha can match it with the top sides in Top League this season, particularly in the way they control their game. Another poor finish this year could force a re-think of how they go about things at Yamaha for the future.

Players to Watch: Prominent players in the forwards are line out man Hajime Kiso at No8 and test props Shigeyasu Takagi and Ryo Yamamura. Fijian representative Deryck Thomas is in his third year in the back row with the team now and so he should be more of a presence in the tight. Strengthening the pack last season was the presence of former All Black Reuben Thorn who was picked in the Top League Best XV in his first season in Japan. South African lock Rory Duncan, former Kanto Gakuin University lock Naoki Nishi and Mose Tuiali’i are other important players in the Yamaha forward pack for 2009-10.

In the backs, Japan halfback Yuki Yatomi is now in his third season with Yamaha after graduating from Waseda University and he will be pressured by Takashi Sato who made his international debut for Japan in the Asian Five Nations in 2008. The competition for the starting spot at halfback should bring out the best in both players this year. The backs will have much more of a Japanese flavour again this year with Tatsuhiko Otao the main playmaker. In the midfield, former Counties centre Male Sau is in his second season this year while Grant McQuoid is backing up for his third year. A lot more responsibility will fall on former Waseda fullback Ayumu Goromaru this season after being a regular in the Japan side this spring. The big man should also be the principle goal-kicker for 2009-10.

Cap holders for Japan in the current squad: (8)

Over the course of the 2009 Asian Five Nations series and the 2009 Pacific Nations Cup, halfback Yuki Yatomi, five-eighth Tatsuhiko Otao and fullback/wing Ayumu Goromaru all took part in the two series.

For Otao it was a long time coming for him to play his second test. He made his debut from the bench against Wales on the ill-fated European tour in November 2004 in a forgettable test for Japan who went down 98-0.

Goromaru was a late inclusion in the spring squad after Yamaha team mate Kaoru Matsushita was ruled out with injury. Goromaru made his test debut from the bench against Uruguay on the South American tour in the spring of 2005 as a 19-year-old from Waseda University and went on to play three more tests that season. He again came on late in the test against Romania as a reserve in the 2005 Super Powers Cup before making his run-on debut in the final against Canada. He earned his fourth cap from the bench in the second test against the touring Irish a few weeks later but that was the last of his internationals until 2009. Under then coach Mitsutake Hagimoto, Goromaru was being nurtured as the next super star in Japanese rugby but he was ignored under subsequent coaches Jean Pierre Elissalde and John Kirwan.

In the two home tests against the USA in November 2008, flanker Hajime Kiso, wing Koji Tomioka and fullback Kaoru Matsushita represented Yamaha. Both Tomioka and Matsushita made their international debuts in the series with Tomioka starting on the left wing in both tests while Matsushita started at fullback in both tests. Tomioka left Yamaha at the end of the 2008-9 season to join NTT Docomo. Halfback Yuki Yatomi was also a part of the 30-man squad but he did not see any game time.

The good news for Yamaha over the 2008 international season was the debut of Takashi Sato at halfback. The bad news was the fact that regular test starters over recent seasons and the most capped players for the team, lock Hajime Kiso and tighthead prop Ryo Yamamura were not considered for national selection.

In the inaugural Asian Five Nations (A5N) tournament this year (2008), Yamaha supplied half Takashi Sato who started in one of the four tests and came on from the bench in the other three and centre Shotaro Onishi.

In the 2008 edition of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC), Yamaha were represented by centre Shotaro Onishi.

At the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Yamaha was represented by lock Hajime Kiso who played as No8 against Australia and came on as a reserve against Wales and Canada. Tighthead prop Ryo Yamamura started in the No3 jersey against Australia and then came on as a replacement in the other 3 games. Inside centre Shotaro Onishi started against Fiji, Wales and Canada, and ended the tournament as the golden boy when he kicked the final conversion to give Japan the draw against Canada. Yuki Yatomi was the run on halfback against Australia and came on as a reserve against Fiji. Yatomi injured his left ankle against Fiji and that ended his tournament.

Ryo YAMAMURA 28 y/o, 39 caps at tighthead prop.

Hajime KISO 30 y/o, 31 caps at lock/flanker/No8.

Yuki YATOMI 24 y/o, 12 caps at halfback.

Shigeyasu TAKAGI 33 y/o, 5 caps at prop.

Takashi SATO 28 y/o, 4 caps at halfback.

Ayumu GOROMARU 23 y/o, 9 caps at wing/fullback.

Tatsuhiko OTAO 27 y/o, 7 caps at five-eighth/wing.

Kaoru MATSUSHITA 25 y/o, 2 caps at fullback.

At the end of the 2008-9 season, Shotaro Onishi moved to Kintetsu and Koichi Kubo retired.

The Coach:

Kevin Schuler (42) has the main job as head coach for 2009-10 after serving as team adviser over the past few years. He was capped 4 times for the ABs with the last of them coming against Japan in RWC ‘95. Schuler has spent a lot of time in Japan, as a player and coach at Nippon Steel and also at Yamaha. Takanobu Horikawa is not part of the coaching set-up this year after being coach at Yamaha for the past three years.

Fijian Waisake Sotutu (38) is assistant coach for a fourth year and he is also registered as a player. Sotutu previously played for Yamaha from 1998 to 2003 and he also has 12 caps for Fiji as a centre. All his caps came in 1999, including the RWC of that year.

In previous years, Jun Sano replaced Grant Batty (played 15 Tests for New Zealand on the wing from 1972-77. Batty also has extensive coaching experience on the Queensland club scene & as an assistant coach to the Reds.) Batty left the club for personal reasons with Sano taking on the head-coaching role only in August. Sano was assistant coach at the RWC 7s and then coach of the 7s team at the World Games in Germany. He has also been an assistant coach at the 15s national level. Yamaha also lost forwards coach Adam Leach. Adam is well known in the Eastwood area in Sydney and went on to take up the head coach position for Tonga, though only lasted one season he has since popped up back in Japan helping out John Kirwan. Tabai Matson was backs coach, and he has also moved on.

The Captain: 28-year-old tight head prop Ryo Yamamura is again the captain for the 2009-10 season. Yamamura is in his second season as captain after No8 Hajime Kiso  captained Yamaha for the three previous years. Flanker Koichi Kubo who retired at the end of the 2008-9 season was captain before that.

Centre Tatsuhiko Otao is vice-captain with flanker Yoshikazu Kushida forwards leader and halfback Takashi Sato backs leader.

Losses: (11) Eleven of the 47 registered squad members from the 2008-9 season either retired from playing or moved on to other clubs.

Takayuki KITAGAWA, 27 y/o, prop, 175/107, to Sanyo after 5 years with the club.

Yuta ITO, 27 y/o, prop, 173/117, to Ricoh after 4 years with the club.

Shinichi FURUKAWA, 28 y/o, hooker, 175/95, into the company workforce after 6 years with the club.

Kazuya SAKAMOTO, 30 y/o, lock, 192/102, into the company workforce after 8 years with the club.

Shunji HOMMA, 32 y/o, flanker, 172/88, into the company workforce after 10 years with the club.

Koichi KUBO, 33 y/o, flanker/No8, 190/102, 19 caps for Japan, into the team coaching staff after 11 years with the club.

Noboru SAWADA, 33 y/o, No8, 186/102, into the company workforce after 10 years with the club.

Shotaro ONISHI, 30 y/o, five-eighth/centre, 180/90, 33 caps for Japan, to Kintetsu after 3 years with club.

Sadanobu IMARI, 31 y/o, centre, 165/88, into the company workforce after 8 years with the club.

Yoshihide NAGAMOTO, 29 y/o, wing, 182/92, into the company workforce after 7 years with the club.

Koji TOMIOKA, 29 y/o, wing/fullback, 178/81, 2 caps for Japan, to NTT Docomo after 7 years with the club.

Gains: (6)

Naoya KISHI, 22 y/o, hooker, 168/97, from Tokai Univ.

Takahiro TAKAKI, 22 y/o, hooker, 178/105, from Tsukuba Univ.

Mose TUIALI’I (NZ), 29 y/o, flanker/No8, 192/108, 9 caps for All Blacks, S12/14 Crusaders (2004~8).

Akinori KAWAMOTO, 22 y/o, flanker, 182/93, from Kumagaya Univ.

Joshua LEVI (Samoa), 30 y/o, five-eighth/centre, 182/121, NPC Northland, Venetia (Ita).

Katsunori IMOTO, 23 y/o, centre, 175/90, from Teikyo Univ.

Overseas players & staff: (9 + 2)

Waisake SOTUTU (NZ) 38 y/o, wing/centre/assistant coach, 185/108, 4^th year, 15 caps for Fiji, Auckland NPC, Yamaha (1998-2003).

Deryck THOMAS (Fiji), 24 y/o, lock/flanker/No8, 194/112, 3^rd year, from Hakuo Uni. He represented Fiji U18s in 2002 and has 3 caps for Fiji.

Grant McQUOID (NZ), 30 y/o, centre/fullback, 185/97, 3^rd year, NZ 21s in 1999, Chiefs S12, Bay of Plenty and Waikato in NPC 2000~06, Toyota Shokki 2006~7.

Sung Koo PAK (Korea), 26 y/o, prop, 180/110, 2^nd year, 5 caps for Korea.

Rory DUNCAN (SA), 32 y/o, lock, 194/120, 2^nd year, S14 Cheetahs (2006-8), Curry Cup Cheetahs (2005), Eastern Province (2001-4, also captain), 1997 Natal U21s.

Reuben THORNE (NZ), 34 y/o, lock/flanker, 192/108, 2^nd year, 50 caps for All Blacks, Crusaders S14, Canterbury NPC.

Male SA’U (NZ), 21 y/o, five-eighth/centre, 184/98, 2^nd year, NZ U19s & U21s, ANC Counties-Manukau.

Mose TUIALI’I (NZ), 29 y/o, flanker/No8, 192/108, 1^st year, 9 caps for All Blacks, S12/14 Crusaders (2004~8).

Joshua LEVI (Samoa), 30 y/o, five-eighth/centre, 182/121, 1^st year, NPC Northland, Venetia (Ita).

Kevin Schuler (NZ), 42 y/o, head coach.

Keith Roberts (NZ), 60 y/o, trainer.

The 2009-10 Squad: (42) the list starts with captain and vice-captains then continues through forwards and backs in order from props to fullbacks. Family names come last.

Ryo Yamamura (c), Tatsuhiko Otao (v-c), Yoshikazu Kushida (forwards leader), Takashi Sato (backs leader). Forwards: Shigeyasu Takagi, Satoshi Nakatani, Sung-Koo Pak, Hisashi Sakagawa, Daisuke Nonaka, Keita Kato, Naoya Kishi, Takahiro Takaki, Reuben Thorne, Rory Duncan, Hajime Kiso, Masaru Ishigami, Keisuke Yagishita, Deryck Thomas, Yuta Kasahara, Naoki Nishi, Mose Tuiali’i, Shinya Kajimura, Teppei Yagi, Noriya Kobayashi, Akinori Kawamoto. Backs: Kenji Oka, Yuki Yatomi, Joshua Levi, Mototaka Koshimura, Male Sau, Waisake Sotutu, Grant McQuoid, Koji Misumi, Katsunori Imoto, Takuya Nakajima, Atsuyuki Tsujii, Yusuke Nakagaki, Hiroyuki Tsudaka, Kaoru Matsushita, Kil-Ryong So, Shinji Nakazono and Ayumu Goromaru. Coach: Kevin Schuler (42).

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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 12 October 2009 - Japan was 14 (68.37).

Backchat:

More Mortlock: Stirling Mortlock (32) is set to announce the direction his future will take by the end of the year. The Australian and Brumbies centre is off contract with the ARU at the end of the 2010 season and playing in Japan is one option he is exploring. However, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is also encouraging the blockbusting centre to stay on for 2011. He recently paid a visit to Kyuden Voltex while recovering from a knee injury incurred earlier in the international season that kept him on the sidelines for an extended period. However, he will be back in Japan before he makes his big announcement, with the Wallabies when they take on the All Blacks in Tokyo on October 31. Mortlock was named in the 35-man Wallabies squad for Tokyo and the Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland named on 9 October but without that little “c” behind his name. That honour has gone to Rocky Elsom, who becomes the 76^th captain of the Wallabies. Mortlock captained the Wallabies in 28 of his 80 tests to date.

More Louden: Ricoh head coach Todd Louden recently threw his hat in the ring for the available coaching job at the Queensland Reds, but the bad news for Todd and the good news for Ricoh is that he did not even reach the interview stage. The money seems to be on John Connolly as an interim coach to replace Phil Mooney until Michael Foley becomes available. Ewen McKenzie seems to be still in the equation but he does not have bananas flowing in the blood. None of this is a slight on the coaching abilities of Louden either, as his time sill surely come in the big league. In the meantime, more good news for Ricoh with the rumour Todd is now set to agree to a new one-year contract. Both Connolly and McKenzie were interviewed in the Banana Republic last Friday, 2 October 2009 and the results should be known soon. And the winner is… STOP THE PRESS!! We have the answer! And the winner is…Ewen McKenzie! The QRU has gone for the Link and signed him to a three-year deal. Wow, three years at the revolving doors of Ballymore is a long time, considering there have been seven coaches in the last ten years.

Seeing red: Stephen Larkham (Ricoh) received two Yellow cards against NEC in round three for a late charge and then a dangerous tackle and was consequently given a one match suspension. Bernie is hardly the character to be a regular at any judiciary and so it begs the question: Has he ever been red-carded before? RiJ cannot even remember a yellow for one of the most likeable and laid back people in rugby.

Not to be outdone, Hare Makiri (Sanix) was sent off for stamping against Kubota in round four and was given a three match suspension. Hare too is one of the nice guys in rugby and so all of this is very unfortunate.

Sevens in the Olympics: In Copenhagen on Friday, 9 October 2009 the International Olympic Committee voted Rugby Sevens for both men and women into the Olympics from 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

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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 in Japan.

Nissui Tokyo 2009 Bledisloe Cup:

The New Zealand All Blacks v The Australian Wallabies

Date: Saturday, 31 October 2009.

Venue: The National Stadium, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 5:30 PM (local Japan time).

ARU CEO John O’Neill announced on 20 April 2009 that along with a rare Grand Slam tour in November (the last one being back in 1984), the Wallabies would also play a fourth Bledisloe Cup game for 2009 in Tokyo at the 57,000 seat National Stadium on Saturday, 31 October 2009. The above details were confirmed on Thursday, 25 June 2009. On 30 June 2009, the JRFU formally announced the deal at a news conference as the Bledisloe in Tokyo news took off around the rugby world. NZRU CE, Steve Tew and ARU deputy chief executive Matt Carroll were at the Tokyo news conference.

Canada Tour to Japan 2009

On 6 July 2009 the Japan Rugby Football Union announced that Canada would tour Japan for two test matches in November 2009. The tour is to be known as the Lipovitan D Challenge 2009 with Taisho Pharmaceuticals the official sponsor. Meanwhile, Canterbury of New Zealand Japan and Coca-Cola West are the official suppliers for the series. The first test will be played at the Yurtec Stadium in Sendai City in north-eastern Japan, while the second test will be held in Tokyo.

First Test: Japan v Canada, Sunday, 15 November 2009, kick-off at 2:00 PM, Yurtec Stadium, Sendai.

Second Test: Japan v Canada, Saturday, 21 November 2009, kick-off at 2:00 PM, Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

In July 2009 the Emperor and Empress of Japan toured Canada to mark the 80^th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1929. Canada and Japan also have deep rugby links with the inaugural tour by the Japan national side taking place to Canada in 1930. Japan played their first official test on that tour, a 3-all draw against British Columbia in Vancouver on September 24. Canada reciprocated in 1932 as the first country to visit Japan on a full test match tour. Japan beat Canada in the two tests played, winning 9-8 at the Hanazono Ground in Osaka on January 31 and then winning 38-5 at the Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on February 11.

Previous Encounters:

Japan and Canada or British Columbia have met on 24 previous occasions with Japan winning 11, Canada/British Columbia 9 and there have been three draws.

Japan 12 drew with Canada 12, Tuesday, 25 September 2007, Bordeaux, 6^th RWC. (Test No.230)

Canada 15 d Japan 10, 29 May 2005, Chichibu, Tokyo, Super Cup final. (Test No.205)

Japan 34 d Canada 21, 30 May 2004, Chichibu, Tokyo, Super Powers Cup final. (Test No.195)

Japan 39 d Canada 7, 8 July 2001, Chichibu, Tokyo, 6^th PRC, play-off for 3^rd. (Test No.174)

Canada 62 d Japan 18, 15 July 2000, Toronto, 5^th PRC. (Test No.167)

Japan 23 d Canada 21, 1 May 1999, Chichibu, Tokyo, 4^th PRC. (Test No.153)

Canada 34 d Japan 25, 20 June 1998, Vancouver, 3^rd PRC. (Test No.147)

Canada 30 d Japan 22, 3 May 1998, Chichibu, Tokyo, 3^rd PRC. (Test No.142)

Canada 42 d Japan 18, 14 June 1997, Vancouver, 2^nd PRC. (Test No.140)

Japan 32 d Canada 31, 18 May 1997, Chichibu, Tokyo, 2^nd PRC. (Test No.137)

Canada 51 d Japan 30, 13 July 1996, Vancouver, 1^st PRC. (Test No.134)

Canada 45 d Japan 18, 9 June 1996, Chichibu, Tokyo, 1^st Pacific Rim Championship (PRC). (Test No.131)

Canada 49 d Japan 26, 11 May 1991, Vancouver. (Test No.110)

Japan 26 d Canada 21, 7 June 1986, Vancouver. (Test No.89)

Japan 16 d Canada 6, 18 April 1982, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.72)

Japan 24 d Canada 18, 11 April 1982, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.71)

British Columbia 38 d Japan 7, 12 May 1976, Vancouver. (Test No.51)

Japan 32 d British Columbia 3, 22 March 1970, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.31)

Japan 33 d British Columbia 6, 13 April 1963, Vancouver. (Test No.22)

Japan 11 drew with Canada (British Columbia) 11, 22 March 1959, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.19)

Canada (British Columbia) 21 d Japan 17, 15 March 1959, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.18)

Japan 38 d Canada 5, 11 February 1932, Meiji Jingu, Tokyo. (Test No.3)

Japan 9 d Canada 8, 31 January 1932, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.2)

Japan 3 drew with British Columbia 3, 24 September 1930, Vancouver. (Test No.1)

Sevens

The East Asia Championship is to be held in Hong Kong in December 2009. The IRB is pushing for the abbreviated form of the game to be included in the Summer Olympics programme from 2016 and as part of this there is talk of cancelling the Sevens RWC and moving it into the Olympics with the proviso that players must have the nationality of the country they are representing. The JRFU announced an expanded 40-man Sevens squad on 12 June 2009 under head coach Wataru Murata. There is also the hint of having Sevens as a non-medal demonstration sport at the London Games in 2012 should the sport be officially included for 2016 and beyond.