Rugby in Japan Vol.7, No.8

Contents:

¡ 47^th National Championship 2009-10: Semi-finals

s Toyota 23 d Toshiba 10

s Sanyo 25 d NEC 16

¡ IRB Sevens World Series, USA: full details

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 15 February 2010)

s Yokogawa end pro Contracts; Scott Staniforth; David Hill; Honda ‘Retirements’.

s The Think-tank: Poor Attendances

¡ Looking Ahead:

s Japan Schoolboys to France; 2010 HSBC A5N; 2010 PNC; IRB JWT

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The 47^th National Championship 2009-2010

The National Championship (NC) had an 8-team format for three years prior to 2009, but for 2009 the number of teams was increased to ten with the inclusion of two extra Top League sides. For 2010, the NC involves six Top League sides, the two top university teams, the winner of the Top Challenge Series and the Top Club team. The first round of the NC kicked off on Sunday, 7 February 2010.

The top four Top League finishers gained automatic qualification to the NC, that is, Sanyo (first on 59 points), Suntory (second on 58 points), Toshiba (third on 52 points and Toyota (fourth on 48 points).

For 2010 the Wildcard Tournament was introduced for the Top League sides that finished fifth to tenth on the final table. These six sides were: Kobe (fifth on 38 points), Kubota (sixth on 31 points), Sanix (seventh on 31 points), Coca-Cola (eighth on 31 points), Yamaha (ninth on 30 points) and NEC (tenth on 25 points). The teams played off over two weekends with Kobe and NEC winning the right to participate in the NC as the final two Top League participants.

The two universities that participated in the 46^th National University Championship final gained admission to the NC. Teikyo University defeated Tokai University 14-13 in the final and consequently Teikyo was University 1 while Tokai was University 2.

NTT Communications Shining Arcs (Top East), won the Top Challenge One series and gained automatic entry to the NC as the Top Challenger.

Rokko Fighting Bull won the 17^th National Club Championship to determine the Top Club participant in the NC.

Final

Sanyo Wild Knights (Top League Runner-up) v Toyota Verblitz (Top League 4)

Date: Sunday, 28 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Semi-finals

Toyota Verblitz (Top League 4) 23 d Toshiba Brave Lupus (Top League Champion) 10.

Toyota 23 – Tries: Yoshitaka Nakayama and Steven Yates; Conversions: Orene Ai’i 2; Penalties: Ai’i 3 d.

Toshiba 10 – Tries: David Hill and Goshi Tachikawa.

Date: Saturday, 20 February 2010.

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Referee: Masahiro Sakuraoka.

Attendance: 4,574.

Halftime: Toshiba 5 – Toyota 3.

Recent Encounters

Toyota 12 d Toshiba 8 (TL 2009-10)

Toshiba 34 d Toyota 3 (TL 2008-9)

Toyota 19 d Toshiba 17 (TL 2007-8)

Toshiba 19 d Toyota 10 (National Championship final 2007)

Toshiba 38 d Toyota 33 (Microsoft Cup 2007)

Toshiba 34 d Toyota 18 (TL 2006-7)

Toshiba at Recent National Championships – Won 6 times overall (2007, 2006 – joint champions with NEC, 2004, 1999, 1998, 1997) & runners-up once (1988).

2009 (10 teams): Toshiba withdrew from the 2009 NC.

2008 (8 teams): Beat Waseda 47-24 in quarterfinal then lost to Suntory 25-14 in semis.

2007 (8 teams): Champions. Beat Yamaha 47-10 in semis then beat Toyota 19-10 in the final.

2006 (8 teams): Joint-Champions. Beat Waseda 43-0 in semis then drew with NEC 6-all in the final.

2005 (8 teams): Lost to Toyota 24-19 in the semis.

2004 (22 teams): Champions. Beat Toyota 55-12 in quarterfinals, beat Yamaha 33-12 then beat Kobe 22-16 in the final.

Toyota at Recent National Championship – Won 3 times overall (1987, 1978 and 1969). Runners-up 5 times (2007, 2005, 2000, 1998 & 1986).

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

2008 (8 teams): Beat Kintetsu 53-43 in quarterfinal then lost to Sanyo 25-24 in semis.

2007 (8 teams): Runners-up. Toyota beat Kyuden 64-14 in their first game, beat Suntory 39-17 in a semi then lost 19-10 to Toshiba in the final.

2006 (8 teams): Lost to Waseda University 24-28 in the QFs.

2005 (8 teams): Runners-up. Beat Waseda 28-8 in QFs, beat Toshiba 24-19 in SFs then lost to NEC13-17 in the final.

2004 (22 teams): Beat Kyuden 66-21, beat Sanyo 44-14 then lost to eventual winners Toshiba 12-55 in QFs.

Toshiba: 1- Tomohiro Kubo, 2- Hiroki Yuhara, 3- Toshiki Sakurai, 4- Yuta Mochizuki, 5- Hitoshi Ono, 6- Steven Bates, 7- Tomoaki Nakai, 8- Masato Toyoda, 9- Tomoki Yoshida, 10- David Hill, 11- Takehisa Usuzuki, 12- Tomohiro Semba, 13- Neil Brew, 14- Toshiaki Hirose (c) and 15- Goshi Tachikawa. Reserves: 16- Taku Inokuchi, 17- Kenji Kasai, 18- Rei Horai, 19- Hiroshi Yamamoto, 20- Jun Fujii, 21- Nataniela Oto and 22- Tsutomu Matsuda. Coach: Tomohiro Segawa.

Toyota: 1- Masayuki Yachimura, 2- Ryuta Ueno, 3- Takashi Kumagai, 4- Toshizumi Kitagawa, 5- Yoshitaka Nakayama, 6- Hayden Hopgood, 7- Ryo Kusaka, 8- Takashi Kikuchi, 9- Ippei Asada (c), 10- Orene Ai’i, 11- Tatsuya Kusumi, 12- Hideki Nanba, 13- Takayuki Yamauchi, 14- Hiroki Mizuno and 15- Steven Yates. Reserves: 16- Katsuyuki Takayama, 17- Masahito Yamamoto, 18- Akitomo Goto, 19- Kota Makihara, 20- Koji Wada, 21- Yuki Kido and 22- Kosuke Endo. Coach: Ryuji Ishii.

Preview

In the regular rounds of Top League this season Toyota inflicted a 12-8 loss on Toshiba, but that did not prevent the Brave Lupus from going on to eventually win the Top League title for the second year in a row. However, Toyota will probably reflect back on that win and use it as motivation to try to beat Toshiba for a second time. It will not be easy but encounters between these two sides tend to be very competitive with the honours pretty much evenly shared over the past couple of seasons.

The last time Toyota and Toshiba met in the National Championship was three years ago in the final when the Brave Lupus managed to take the Championship title with a 19-10 win. This was the third National title for Toshiba in the Top League era and their sixth overall. Toyota, on the other hand, have been to two finals in the Top League era but lost on both occasions, while they have won this title three times in the past with the most recent in 1987.

Toshiba finished the Top League season in third place on the table on 52 points from ten wins and three losses. In the Top League Play-offs, Toshiba beat Suntory 35-24 in the semi-finals and then took the title with a 6-0 win over Sanyo in the final. This is their first game in the National Championship.

Toyota finished fourth on the Top League table on 48 points from ten wins, a draw and two losses. In the Top League Play-offs, they lost 25-21 to Sanyo. So far in the National Championship, Toyota beat Kobe 36-19 in the first round and NTT Communications 50-17 in the second round.

Wrap-up

Toyota Verblitz made their first National Championship final since 2007 when they defeated Toshiba Brave Lupus 23-10 in their semi-final clash at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Saturday, 20 February 2010.

The first half was a low-scoring affair with the first points only coming in the twenty-third minute with a try to Toshiba five-eighth David Hill. Hill failed to convert his own try but the Brave Lupus were out to a handy 5-0 lead. The only points for Toyota in the first stanza came from the boot of five-eighth Orene Ai’i with a penalty on the half hour mark. Ai’i could have given his side the lead just before halftime but his attempt at drop goal did not find its mark and the sides went to the break with Toshiba leading 5-3.

The game opened up more as the second half got underway with Toyota flanker Yoshitaka Nakayama scoring the first try of the semi-final for Verblitz in the fifth minute. Ai’i kicked the conversion and Toyota now enjoyed the lead for the first time in the game at 10-5. However, the outright lead was short-lived with Toshiba fullback Goshi Tachikawa touching down in the tenth minute to level the scores at 10-all. Nevertheless, it was Toyota that finished the stronger over the closing twenty minutes with a try to fullback Steven Yates and a conversion and two further penalties to Ai’i to close out the match 23-10.

Toyota will now play Sanyo Wild Knights in the final next Sunday in Tokyo.

Sanyo Wild Knights (Top League Runner-up) 25 d NEC Green Rockets (Top League Wildcard) 16.

Sanyo 25 – Tries: Tomoki Kitagawa, Ryohei Miki and Atsushi Takayasu; Conversions: Atsushi Tanabe 2; Penalties: Tanabe 2 d.

NEC 16 – Try: Ryota Asano; Conversion: Takeshi Matsuo; Penalties: Matsuo 3.

Date: Saturday, 20 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Referee: Taizo Hirabayashi.

Attendance: 7,077.

Halftime: Sanyo 11 – NEC 6.

Yellow Card: Tomokazu Soma, Sanyo No.3, 23 min 2H, repeated team infringements.

Recent Encounters

Sanyo 22 d NEC 5 (TL 2009-10)

Sanyo 55 d NEC 9 (TL 2008-9)

Sanyo 34 d NEC 7 (TL 2007-8)

Sanyo 53 d NEC 14 (TL 2006-7)

NEC 24 d Sanyo 16 (National Championship semi-final 2006)

Sanyo 31 d NEC 21 (TL 2005-6)

NEC 30 d Sanyo 24 (TL 2004-5)

Sanyo 29 drew with NEC 29 (TL 2003-4)

Sanyo at Recent National Championships – Won twice overall (2008 and 2009).

2009 (10 teams): Champions. Beat Ricoh 59-3 in semi-finals then beat Suntory 24-16 in the final.

2008 (8 teams): Champions. Beat Toyota 25-24 in semi-finals then beat Suntory 40-18 in the final.

2007 (8 teams): DNQ.

2006 (8 teams): Came in as second seed but knocked out by NEC 24-16 in the first round.

2005 (8 teams): DNQ.

2004 (22 teams): Knocked out by Toyota 44-14 in the early rounds.

NEC at Recent National Championships – Won three times overall (2006 (joint champions with Toshiba after final drawn at 6-all), 2005 & 2002).

2009 (10 teams): Beat Kobe 30-29 in first round, then lost to Ricoh 24-23 in QFs.

2008 (8 teams): DNQ.

2007 (8 teams): DNQ.

2006 (8 teams): Joint Champions. Beat Coca-Cola 69-24 in QFs & Sanyo 24-16 in SFs. Drew the final 6-all with Toshiba.

2005 (8 teams): Champions. Beat Yamaha 24-13 in SFs, Sanix 55-21 in QFs & Toyota 17-13 in final.

2004 (22 teams): Beat KGU 43-13, Suntory 34-27 in QFs & lost 34-29 to Kobe in SFs.

Sanyo: 1- Jungo Kikawa, 2- Mitsugu Yamamoto, 3- Tomokazu Soma, 4- Justin Ives, 5- Daniel Heenan, 6- Young-Nam Yu, 7- Daishi Wakamatsu, 8- Koliniasi Ryu Holani, 9- Fumiaki Tanaka, 10- Tony Brown, 11- Ryohei Miki, 12- Jumpei Enomoto, 13- Seiichi Shimomura (c), 14- Tomoki Kitagawa and 15- Atsushi Tanabe. Reserves: 16- Shota Horie, 17- Naoki Kawamata, 18- Yoichi Iijima, 19- Sione Vatuvei, 20- Atsushi Takayasu, 21- Masakazu Irie and 22- Takashi Yoshida. Coach: Hitoshi Iijima.

NEC: 1- Yuichi Hisadomi, 2- Yosuke Usui, 3- Takahiro Doi, 4- Ryota Asano, 5- Tomoo Yasuda, 6- Semisi Saukawa, 7- Taro Kenjo, 8- Nili Latu (c), 9- Tsukuru Nishida, 10- Takeshi Matsuo, 11- Hayato Sezaki, 12- Bryce Robins, 13- Tsutomu Sakuraya, 14- Koichiro Kubota and 15- Hiromasa Yoshihiro. Reserves: 16- Takaharu Yamamoto, 17- Yuta Inose, 18- Taku Hirosawa, 19- Takuro Miuchi, 20- Kyohei Fujito, 21- Shindo Kamaike and 22- Supeli Lokotui. Coach: Kaname Okamura.

Preview

Sanyo enjoy a four game winning streak over NEC stretching back to the corresponding semi-final stage of the 2006 National Championship. On that particular occasion, NEC won 24-16 and then went on to draw the final 6-all with Toshiba to be declared joint champions. Sanyo have been very consistent in recent seasons and as defending National Champions over the past two years the Wild Knights will be aiming to make their third final in a row.

Sanyo finished the regular season of Top League undefeated in first place on 59 points from twelve wins and a draw. This contrasts with the fortunes of NEC who finished well down the table in tenth place on 25 points from four wins and nine losses. A quick glance at these statistics would suggest this semi-final will not be a contest but NEC turned their season around in dramatic fashion from Round 11 and they are now throwing down the gauntlet to their more fancied rivals.

NEC had an horrendous start to their season losing nine of their first ten games but finished with three wins in their last three games to claim the final place in the Wildcard Tournament. NEC then went from strength to strength beating Sanix and then Kubota in that tournament to take one of the two Top League Wildcard entry spots in the National Championship.

All the recent hard work paid off handsomely for NEC in the first round of the National Championship when they held Suntory Sungoliath to at 10-all draw. The luck of the gods was then with game captain Nili Latu as he pulled out the winning ballot to continue the remarkable turnaround for the Rockets over the latter stages of the season. NEC then beat Teikyo University 38-5 last weekend in the second round to progress to the semi-finals.

The Green Rockets have now won their last seven games and they will be aiming to make it eight in a row with a win over Sanyo to progress to their fourth National Championship final.

Wrap-up

Sanyo Wild Knights reached their third National Championship final in a row with a hard-fought 25-16 semi-final win over NEC Green Rockets at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday, 20 February 2010.

In the opening encounters, both sides played it close with kicking and solid defence dominating proceedings. It was left to Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe and NEC five-eighth Takeshi Matsuo to trade penalties throughout the first half with the scores locked at 6-all up to the shadows of halftime. During this period Sanyo showed glimpses of their open attacking rugby inside the NEC twenty-two which finally ended with wing Tomoki Kitagawa crossing for the first try of the semi-final after a 5 metre scrum. This gave Sanyo the advantage with an 11-6 lead at the end of the first forty minutes.

NEC were first to score after the resumption of play with a third penalty to Matsuo in the tenth minute of the second half to narrow the difference to 11-9. However, Sanyo used their big game experience to up the ante with a second Wild Knights try to wing Ryohei Miki in the twelfth minute. Tanabe added the extras to extend the lead to 18-9 and at this stage, Sanyo looked like pulling away but when tighthead prop Tomokazu Soma was sinbinned for repeated team infringements it brought the Green Rockets back into the game. NEC capitalised with a try to veteran lock Ryota Asano which was converted by Matsuo to reduce the margin to 18-16. In the end though, it was a charge down try to replacement halfback Atsushi Takayasu in the 35^th minute that turned the game in the favour of Sanyo. Tanabe landed the conversion to close out the game 25-16.

Sanyo will now play Toyota Verblitz in the final next Sunday in Tokyo.

Second Round

Toyota Verblitz (Top League 4) 50 d NTT Communications Shining Arcs (Top Challenger) 17

Date: Sunday, 14 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 12:00.

NEC Green Rockets (Wildcard) 38 d Teikyo University (University 1) 5

Date: Sunday, 14 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 14:00.

First Round

NEC Green Rockets (Top League Wildcard) 10 drew with Suntory Sungoliath (Top League 2) 10

Date: Sunday, 7 February 2010.

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Teikyo University (University 1) 76 d Rokko Fighting Bull (Top Club) 7

Date: Sunday, 7 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 14:00.

NTT Communications Shining Arcs (Top Challenger) 11 d Tokai University (University 2) 7

Date: Sunday, 7 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 12:00.

Toyota Verblitz (Top League 4) 36 d Kobe Steelers (Top League Wildcard) 19

Date: Sunday, 7 February 2010.

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka.

Kick-off: 12:00.

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IRB Sevens World Series, USA

Las Vegas

13-14 February 2010

Samoa took out the USA Sevens when they beat New Zealand 33-12 in the Cup Final.

The Japan Squad

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt.	Wgt.
1	Yusaku KAWAZURU	Coca-Cola	24	188	95
2	Masahiro TSUIKI	Coca-Cola	26	176	88
3	Kensuke IWABUCHI	JRFU
4	Lepuha LATUILA	Daito Bunka Univ.	25	187	103
5	Kaoru MATSUSHITA	Yamaha	26	185	86
6	Hiraku TOMOIGAWA	NTT Communications	25	168	68
7	Tomohiro SHOKAI	Doshisha Uni.	20	186	82
8	Daisuke NATSUI	Kanto Gakuin Uni.	21	188	88
9	Yuki SUEMATSU	Honda	24	183	89
10	Kenji SHOMEN	Kobe	26	175	84
11	Takashi TOYOMAE	Nippon Sports Uni.	22	177	80
12	Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI	Tokai Uni.	20	185	97

Japan Sevens Staff

Wataru Murata (head coach, Yamaha),

Kensuke Iwabuchi (coach, JRFU),

Masahiro Furudate (trainer, Reniart).

Pools

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, France and Guyana.

Pool B: Fiji, South Africa, Canada and USA.

Pool C: Samoa, Kenya, Scotland and Chile.

Pool D: England, Argentina, Wales and Japan

Japan’s Pool Matches

Day 1: Saturday, 13 February 2010

Game 8: 13:34, Argentina 7 d Japan 0.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 8- Daisuke NATSUI and 10- Kenji SHOMEN.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU, 11- Takashi TOYOMAE and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Game 15: 16:18, England 24 d Japan 5.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI and 10- Kenji SHOMEN.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 8- Daisuke NATSUI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU, 11- Takashi TOYOMAE and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Japan Scorers: Try: Matsushita.

Game 20: 18:30, Wales 22 d Japan 5.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 8- Daisuke NATSUI and 10- Kenji SHOMEN.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU, 11- Takashi TOYOMAE and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Japan Scorers: Try: Matsushita.

Japan’s Knock-out Matches

Day 2: Sunday, 14 February 2010

Bowl QF: Chile 19 d Japan 7.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 8- Daisuke NATSUI, 10- Kenji SHOMEN and 11- Takashi TOYOMAE.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Japan Scorers: Try: Shomen; Conversion: Shomen.

Shield SF: Japan 17 d Canada 5.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 8- Daisuke NATSUI, 10- Kenji SHOMEN and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU and 11- Takashi TOYOMAE.

Japan Scorers: Tries: Tsuiki, Matsushita and Shomen; Conversion: Shomen.

Shield Final: Scotland 17 d Japan 7.

Japan: 1- Yusaku KAWAZURU, 2- Masahiro TSUIKI (c), 5- Kaoru MATSUSHITA, 6- Hiraku TOMOIGAWA, 8- Daisuke NATSUI, 10- Kenji SHOMEN and 12- Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI.

Reserves: 3- Kensuke IWABUCHI, 4- Lepuha LATUILA, 7- Tomohiro SHOKAI, 9- Yuki SUEMATSU and 11- Takashi TOYOMAE.

Japan Scorers: Try: Matsushita; Conversion: Shomen.

Coach Murata’s Comments

On the second day we planned to reach the Bowl final but fell to Chile. We re-grouped and beat Canada in the Shield semi-final with sharp attack and compact defence. In the Shield final we held Scotland to 7-all at the break but fell away in the second half. Our players suffered somewhat from the time difference and jet lag and we did not have adequate preparation time. However, we have to improve on our fitness at this level. We finished with two wins and four losses and we now have a lot of things to work on ahead of Adelaide.

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Odds & Sods

Odds & Sods brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

News in Japan: Catching the headlines in Japan this week are – Keiichiro Nagashima (silver) and Joji Kato (bronze) medal in the 500m Speed Skating and Daisuke Takahashi captures figure skating bronze in Vancouver which is great, but then every channel on TV shows endless, endless, endless replays, interviews and ‘This is Your Life’ details twenty-four seven! Give us a break!

IRB ranking on 15 February 2010 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

Well RiJ has heard this all too frequently before. It was just the one little article of no more than one and a half lines in the local Japanese online press but it caused the heart to miss a beat. The article stated that Yokogawa Denki, the company behind Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars had announced on 17 February 2010 that they would cut back on their commitments to rugby. From next season, Yokogawa will not renew professional contracts for players and coaching staff and revert to a company employee side. Over the past twelve months RIJ has more or less reported the same thing about IBM, Secom, World, Yamaha and Suntory Foods and one quietly wonders where it will all end.

Part of the spin-off of Yokogawa going back to the past is that Scott Staniforth looks like returning to the injury stricken Western Force for the rest of the 2010 Super 14 season. Scott will not be lonely on the flight from Narita to Perth as Toshiba five-eighth David Hill also looks set to spend the Japanese off-season with the Force. The Force are struggling for a play-maker since Andre Pretorius was ruled out for the season with a torn hamstring before the season started and Hill will go a long way to steadying the ship. Ironically, the rumour is strong that Pretorius is heading to Japan with Kobe a highly likely destination.

Recently relegated Honda Heat announced a raft of ‘retirements’ on 17 February 2010 which RiJ hopes and prays is not a precursor of things to come a la Yokogawa. Among the losses are centre Alisi Tupuailei who debuted for Japan last November against Canada, lock Warren Smith, centre Gene Fairbanks, former Japan centre Atsushi Moriya along with most of the coaching staff including head coach John Sherratt.

The Think-tank: Poor Attendances

In a country of about 125 million people it is truly sad that the National Championship semi-final between Toyota and Toshiba in Osaka could only draw 4,574 fans while the other semi in Tokyo between Sanyo and NEC only fared marginally better with 7,077 through the turnstiles.

Toyota are based in Nagoya and Toshiba in Tokyo but it was an ‘away’ semi for both sides at the Kintetsu Hanazono ground in Osaka. At the Chichibu ground in Tokyo it was a similar story for Gunma based Sanyo and Chiba based NEC. Maybe the ‘away’ factor contributed to the low turnout while by and large too, the majority of fans attending these two games would have been associated with the respective companies, along with a sprinkling of dedicated rugby supporters.

The games were screened live on J Sports as well as on NHK, and this may not have helped, but there is nothing like being at the game. Many of the fans gave their full tilt to the cheering but when the stands are less than a quarter full at the semi-final business end of the season the question ‘What are we doing wrong?’ has to be asked. It is all the more worrying because the on field action was really quite gripping in both games.

That just leaves the final to be played, the ultimate game of the year, to close the domestic 2009-10 season. The final will be played at Chichibu in central Tokyo on the very same day that the Tokyo Marathon is being held, which, in itself does not make any sense. Why put your supposed biggest game of the year, the ace card, up against the Tokyo Marathon? That is just a no-brainer!

Last year (2009) was a similar situation with 4, 132 people attending the semi-final between Sanyo and Ricoh at Hanazono while bizarrely the other semi was cancelled after Toshiba pulled out of the Championship over a doping scandal. The final between Sanyo and Suntory could then only attract 11,709 spectators and if RiJ remembers correctly, that was also the day of the Tokyo Marathon. Pretty paltry when all is said and done.

The National Championship just does not tap into the public stream of consciousness in the way such a tournament should. If you cannot get 60,000 people to the final domestic game of the season there is something drastically wrong. The Japan Union needs to take a long hard look at the current state of affairs, especially in light of teams dropping like flies in the company leagues, but unfortunately RiJ suspects it will be the same old business as usual approach twelve months down the track.

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Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead gives the reader future dates for the diary and other great things to look forward to in Rugby in Japan.

IRB Sevens World Series, Australia

Adelaide

19-21 March 2010

Pools

Pool A: New Zealand, Argentina, Scotland and Tonga.

Pool B: Samoa, South Africa, France and Japan.

Pool C: Fiji, Kenya, Wales and PNG.

Pool D: England, Australia, USA and Niue.

Japan Schoolboys Tour to France 2010

13-29 March 2010.

France toured Japan in the summer of 2008 with two games at Sugadaira.

Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, 17 March, Japan Schoolboys v France U17 Selection, Tours.

Game 2: Friday, 19 March, Japan Schoolboys v France U18, Orleans.

Game 3: Wednesday, 24 March, Japan Schoolboys v Paul Espoir U17 Selection, Paris.

Game 4: Saturday, 27 March, Japan Schoolboys v Paris area U18 Selection or Club Team, TBC, Paris.

26-man Squad

Position	Name	Pref.	School	Height	Weight
Loose Heads	Hikaru ISHIZAWA	Tokyo	Tokyo	177	105
	Katsuhiko TAKEI	Nara	Gose Jitsugyo	172	100
Hookers	Masayoshi MARUMI	Osaka	Josho Gakuen	176	96
	Takumi SUDO	Tokyo	Kugayama	171	91
Tight Heads	Daikichi KASAI	Akita	Akita Kogyo	183	109
	Shinnosuke KAKINAGA	Fukuoka	Higashi Fukuoka	179	112
Locks	Tosei KUROKI	Fukuoka	Higashi Fukuoka	185	87
	Yoji AKIYAMA	Tokushima		188	96
	Yuho ASHIYA	Kyoto	Fushimi Kogyo	190	90
	Yuta SHINYA	Yamanashi	Hikawa	184	94
Flankers	Shunsuke KASUYA	Saitama	Urawa	181	84
	Kazuki TAKAMORI	Chiba	Ryukeidai	178	88
	Yusuke NIWAI	Hyogo	Hotoku Gakuen	173	93
No8	Sho-Kei KIM	Osaka	Joshokeiko	176	89
Halfbacks	Ryota KAYAMA	Fukuoka	Higashi Fukuoka	166	69
	Keisuke UCHIDA	Kyoto	Fushimi Kogyo	177	76
Five-eighth	Hirotomo SHIMOJI	Hiroshima	Onomichi	173	80
Centres	Tonisio VAIHU	Ishikawa	JAL Ishikawa	175	98
	Shunsuke NUNOMAKI	Fukuoka	Higashi Fukuoka	178	84
	Koki NODA	Nagasaki	Nagasaki Nanzan	175	79
	Shingo HATANAKA	Osaka	Tokai Gyosei	170	83
Wings	Sho TAKENAKA	Kanagawa	Toin Gakuen	175	83
	Kentaro KODAMA	Fukuoka	Kokura	182	75
	Seiyu KOHARA	Osaka	Tokai Gyosei	182	82
Fullbacks	Yoshizumi TAKEDA	Nara	Gose Jitsugyo	180	86
	Kotaro MATSUSHIMA	Kanagawa	Toin Gakuen	174	77

2010 IRB HSBC Asian Five Nations

The 2010 A5N also doubles as the final Asian qualification round for the 2011 RWC in New Zealand.

Saturday, 1 May 2010, kick-off 14:00, Korea v Japan, Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu.

Saturday, 8 May 2010, kick-off 14:00, Japan v Arabia Gulf, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Saturday, 15 May 2010, kick-off 16:00, Kazakhstan v Japan, Central Stadium, Almaty.

Saturday, 22 May 2010, kick-off 14:00, Japan v Hong Kong, Chichibu, Tokyo.

NB: the Kazakhstan v Japan fixture has been changed to Chichibu in Tokyo due to the lack of a suitable venue in Almaty.

The 11^th Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010:

This annual high school tournament is again set for the Golden Week period from 27 April to 6 May at the Global Arena in Munakata in Fukuoka. Eight overseas schools chosen by their respective unions compete with eight top Japanese schools. Four of the local schools are chosen from Kyushu with the remaining four schools from other parts of Japan.

Overseas Schools:

Japanese Schools:

IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy

18-30 May 2010, Moscow.

Full details of the eight team Under 20 tournament soon.

The winner of the Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010 will be promoted to the Junior World Championship 2011.

Japan referee Akihisa Aso is one of twelve match officials named on the tournament panel.

Pools

Pool A: Italy, Uruguay, Romania and PNG.

Pool B: Canada, Japan, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Schedule

Day 1: Tuesday, 18 May 2010, Russia v Japan, 18:15, Slava Stadium, Moscow.

Day 2: Saturday, 22 May 2010, Japan v Zimbabwe, 16:00, Fili Stadium, Moscow.

Day 3: Wednesday, 26 May 2010, Japan v Canada, 18:00, Slava Stadium, Moscow.

Day 4: Sunday, 30 May 2010, play-offs, Fili Stadium & Slava Stadium, Moscow.

2010 IRB Pacific Nations Cup

June-July 2010.

Details when available.