Rugby in Japan Vol. 7, No. 09

¡ 47^th National Championship 2009-10: Final

s Sanyo 22 d Toyota 17

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 22 February 2010)

s The Think-tank: The Crisis Continues: Yokogawa, JAL et. al.

¡ Looking Ahead:

s Adelaide & Hong Kong 7s; Japan Schoolboys to France; 2010 HSBC A5N; IRB JWT; 2010 PNC

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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 from 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.

Recent National Championship Finals

2010 (47^th): Sanyo 22 d Toyota 17.

2009 (46^th): Sanyo 24 d Suntory 16.

2008 (45^th): Sanyo 40 d Suntory 18.

2007 (44^th): Toshiba 19 d Toyota 10.

2006 (43^rd): Toshiba 6 drew with NEC 6. (Joint champions)

2005 (42^nd): NEC 17 d Toyota 13.

2004 (41^st): Toshiba 22 d Kobe 10.

Final

Sanyo Wild Knights (Top League Runner-up) 22 d Toyota Verblitz (Top League 4) 17

Sanyo 22 – Tries: Shota Horie, Tomoki Kitagawa and Daishi Wakamatsu; Conversions: Atsushi Tanabe 2; Penalty: Tanabe d.

Toyota 17 – Tries: Hayden Hopgood 2 and Steven Yates; Conversion: Orene Ai’i.

Date: Sunday, 28 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Referee: Shinji Aida.

Attendance: 11,479.

Halftime: Toyota 12 – Sanyo 0.

Yellow Card: Hayden Hopgood, Toyota No.6, repeated team infringements, 15 min 2H.

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.

Toyota at Recent National Championships – 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.

Recent Encounters

Sanyo 25 d Toyota 21 (TL Play-offs semi-final 2009-10)

Sanyo 46 d Toyota 19 (TL 2009-10)

Sanyo 27 d Toyota 17 (TL 2008-9)

Sanyo 25 d Toyota 24 (National Championship semi-final 2008)

Sanyo 26 d Toyota 25 (TL 2007-8)

Toyota 23 d Sanyo 20 (TL 2006-7)

Sanyo 26 d Toyota 25 (TL 2005-6)

Toyota 41 d Sanyo 21 (first round Microsoft Cup 2005)

Toyota 35 d Sanyo 13 (TL 2004-5)

Toyota 44 d Sanyo 14 (National Championship 2004)

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- Takeshi Miyake, 12- Masakazu Irie, 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- Ryohei Miki and 22- Takashi Yoshida. Coach: Hitoshi Iijima.

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- Tomoaki Taniguchi, 19- Akitomo Goto, 20- Koji Wada, 21- Yuki Kido and 22- Kosuke Endo. Coach: Ryuji Ishii.

Preview

It is only a few short weeks ago that Sanyo and Toyota met in the semi-finals of the 2009-10 Top League play-offs in Osaka on 24 January 2010. In a tough battle Sanyo took a slender 13-9 lead into the halftime break only to come out on fire in the second half. Sanyo got out to a 25-9 lead with ten minutes to play before Toyota rallied with two late tries to narrow the final difference to 25-21. That was the second win for Sanyo over Toyota this season after the Knights won 46-19 at Ota city in Gunma prefecture in round 7 of the regular season of Top League.

Sanyo will be looking for their third win over Toyota this season and in the process claim their third National Championship title in a row. Sanyo reached the final of the National Championship for the first time in 2008 where they defeated Suntory 40-18 and they backed that up last year with another win over Suntory in the decider. The Wild Knights completed the rounds of Top League this season undefeated on 59 points from 12 wins and a draw to finish on top of the table. In the subsequent play-offs, they beat Toyota in the semis before losing to Toshiba 6-0 in a low-scoring tryless final. Sanyo then entered the National Championship at the semi-final level where they beat NEC 25-16 last Saturday at this same venue. Leading into this last game of the domestic season, Sanyo have had 14 wins, a draw and just the one loss from the 16 games they have played in the 2009-10 season.

Toyota finished fourth on the Top League table on 48 points from ten wins, a draw and two losses and 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, NTT Communications 50-17 in the second round before beating Toshiba 23-10 in the semi-finals last Saturday. Toyota have been to two National Championship finals in the Top League era but lost on both occasions, however, they have won this title three times in the past with the most recent in 1987.

Sanyo have managed to field a relatively stable side throughout the season with consistency a hallmark of their play. There is also good strength in depth with internationals like hooker Shota Horie, prop Naoki Kawamata, five-eighth Masakazu Irie and veteran wing Takashi Yoshida all starting from the bench. On the field, Daniel Heenan and Justin Ives have worked well in combination in the second row while the halfback pairing of Fumiaki Tanaka and Tony Brown is one of the best in the business. Fullback Atsushi Tanabe was given the goal kicking responsibilities this season and ended the regular season as the leading point scorer in Top League.

Toyota slumped to eighth last season but the return of prodigal son Orene Ai’i at five-eighth or fullback has seen the confidence return for the Verblitz this season. His goal kicking, kicking out of hand and general organisational skills have given Toyota the edge in close games, something they lacked last season. Takashi Kikutani as No.8 and captain of the national side has also caused havoc for opposition sides and the return of international wing Kosuke Endo from injury has further boosted the squad.

Wrap-up

Sanyo Wild Knights held on to outscore Toyota Verblitz in the second half to overcome a 12-0 halftime deficit to claim their third National Championship title in a row with a hard-fought 22-17 victory to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the team in 1960.

Toyota had the better of the first half with lock Hayden Hopgood running in two tries with five-eighth Orene Ai’i kicking a conversion to put Verblitz out to a 12-0 lead at the end of the first forty minutes of play. Toyota managed to strangle the Sanyo play, particularly at the breakdown as the Verblitz minimised their own mistakes while taking full advantage of the limited opportunities that came their way.

Fullback Atsushi Tanabe kicked a penalty in the third minute of the second half to finally get Sanyo on the scoreboard but the turning point in the game came in the fifteenth minute when Toyota first half try scorer Hopgood was sinbinned for repeated team infringements by referee Shinji Aida. The extra man advantage allowed Sanyo to up the ante and apply added pressure on Toyota through a better share of possession and territory. The pressure paid off with replacement hooker Shota Horie crossing for the first Sanyo try in the twenty-second minute with the Tanabe conversion closing the gap to 12-10. Wing Tomoki Kitagawa ran down the right flank to score the second Sanyo try in the twenty-sixth minute to put the Wild Knights in front for the first time with Tanabe adding the extras to stretch the lead to 17-12. Sanyo all but confirmed the win in the thirty-fourth minute when veteran flanker Daishi Wakamatsu scored the third try for the Knights. This time Tanabe could not land the conversion but Sanyo were out to a commanding ten point lead at 22-12 with time running out for Toyota. In the shadows of fulltime fullback Steven Yates out-sprinted the tiring Sanyo defence to run in a late try to give the Verblitz a chance at 22-17, but the clock beat the chase with the final score remaining unchanged to hand the national crown to Sanyo for the third year running.

Semi-finals

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

Date: Saturday, 20 February 2010.

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Attendance: 4,574.

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

Date: Saturday, 20 February 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Kick-off: 14:00.

Attendance: 7,077.

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.

Attendance: 6,278.

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.

Attendance: 7,851.

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.

Attendance: 8,292.

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.

Attendance: 5,010.

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.

Attendance: 4,462.

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.

Attendance: 7,087.

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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 – One eye was on the women’s figure skating at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics with Mao Asada in a fierce contest with Korean Yo-Na Kim for the Gold, but the Japanese girl had to settle for Silver. The other eye was on Washington where Toyota Motor Corp boss Akio Toyoda and grandson of the company founder fronted a congressional hearing to explain a spate of defects and recent recalls.

IRB ranking on 22 February 2010 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

The Think-tank: The Crisis Continues: Yokogawa, JAL et. al.

Back in Vol.6 No.43 (24 November 2009), RiJ wrote a lengthy article about the decision at Yamaha to forego professional rugby entitled ‘Japan Rugby in Crisis?: Yamaha Pull Plug on Pro Contracts.’ In the article, RiJ also touched on World, IBM and Secom who went down the same path before Yamaha.

In something of a follow-up, in Vol.7 No.2 (12 January 2010) RiJ further commented on this issue in ‘The Lehman Brothers Shock: One Year On.’ In that article RiJ added Top East mid-table side Suntory Foods to the list but also noted that there were changes rumoured from within the Union. The JRFU and Top League organisers were looking to put a ‘salary cap’ of 250 million yen on the amount teams could spend on foreign players while restricting the number of foreign players at any one team to six players.

In Vol.7 No.5 RiJ continued to watch the Yamaha headlines with the company announcing in mid-January that they would plod on in Top League next season regardless of who left the club. Brave words, but it could be a long season for Yamaha next year.

Meanwhile, last week in Vol.7 No.8 RiJ reported that former Top League side Yokogawa Atlastars followed suit when they announced on 17 February 2010 that they had joined the ever growing list of companies trimming back on rugby. In the same issue RiJ also added that Honda Heat had announced a long list of ‘retirements’ on 17 February 2010 following their relegation from Top League and wondered out loud if this was the thin edge of the wedge there too.

In more disturbing news this week, Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on 23 February 2010 that they were disbanding their JAL Grand Service athletics group at the end of March. Formed in 1992, JAL fielded this squad in the corporate athletics league, mainly long distance running. With the Japan flag-carrier filing for bankruptcy on 19 January 2010 and burdened with heavy debts the axe is now hanging over the JAL women’s basketball team and yes, the Reader knows what’s coming, the JAL Wings rugby team. JAL Wings play in the Kanto-based Top East competition but have consistently struggled to be seriously competitive and this could very well work against their ultimate survival. They finished tenth in the 12-team Top East competition in the 2009 season with 2 wins and nine losses after finishing with 2 wins and eight losses in both 2008 and 2007 when the competition fielded eleven teams. Compounding matters was the fact JAL posted a record quarterly loss for the December 2009 quarter of 46.7 billion yen.

As far as Yokogawa are concerned, they spent their one and only season in Top League in 2008-9 when they finished last with one win and twelve losses to be automatically relegated back to the Top East competition from whence they came. In 2009-10, Yokogawa finished second on the final Top East table behind NTT Communications with ten wins and one loss. Yokogawa then beat third placed Mitsubishi Dyna Boars 35-30 in a play-off to qualify for the Top Challenge Two Series. In that series Yokogawa beat Chugoku Electric (Kyushu) 81-17 and NTT Docomo (West) 29-23 to then qualify for the final Top League promotion & relegation play-off against Kintetsu Liners who finished eleventh in Top League. In that final play-off, Kintetsu ended up winning 28-8, committing Yokogawa to another year in Top East.

Apparently, with this failure by the team to re-gain a place in Top League, the punishment seems to be that the whole rugby structure at the company has been dramatically wound back.

One only has to look at what happened to IBM and Secom after they went back to being company employee sides to get a glimpse of what might happen to Yokogawa and also Suntory Foods next season. Secom finished second last on the Top East table in 2009-10 with one win and ten losses, a far cry from their finishes in recent years while IBM finished ninth in the twelve team competition with four wins and seven losses. Had IBM maintained their Top League structure they may well have gone through Top East undefeated and found themselves back in Top League. Suntory Foods finished seventh with four wins, a draw and six losses but they too will struggle next year.

Thus, in Top East in 2010-11, IBM, Secom, Suntory Foods and Yokogawa will all be strictly company employee teams while the future existence of JAL is seriously under threat. With NTT Communications gaining promotion to Top League and no teams coming back down into Top East that will leave Mitsubishi Dyna Boars as about the only candidate at a shot of promotion for the following season. The overall effect is that the standard of the competition is going to be drastically lowered with Tokyo Gas, Kamaishi and Kurita unlikely to rise to the cause which will only further widen the gap between the Top League sides and regional sides. This is not a good sign as Top West and Top Kyushu as the other two regional leagues are already down for the count.

On the books at Yokogawa for the 2009-10 season were the likes of former Wallabies backrower Radike Samo, New Zealand born Japan representative flanker Phil O’Reilly, former Wallabies wing Scott Staniforth, Australians five-eighth Matt Brandon and flanker Pauliasi Taumoepeau. Presumably, these players will be let go along with head coach in former Samoan flanker Leo Lafaiali’i. It has already been reported in the international media that Staniforth is returning to the Western Force, but what might happen to players like O’Reilly is still very much up in the air.

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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

The Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.

19-21 March 2010

Japan played at the recent USA leg of the 2009-10 IRB Sevens World Series in Las Vegas from 13-14 February 2010. In that event, Japan opened their account with a gutsy 7-0 win over Argentina in their first pool match before going down to England and Wales. In the Bowl quarterfinals, Japan lost to Chile 19-7 in a game they were expected to win. However, in the subsequent Shield semi-finals, Japan beat Canada before eventually going down to Scotland in the Shield final. All-in-all, Japan came away from Las Vegas with two wins and four losses from their six games.

The squad will be all the better for the hit out in the USA as they head to the picturesque Adelaide Oval in the capital of the state of South Australia for the next round. Japan are in the very tough Pool B with South Africa, Samoa and France so Japan will have to play to their full potential if they are to earn some wins at the pool stages of the three day tournament. Samoa took out the USA Sevens when they beat New Zealand 33-12 in the Cup Final and they are in the same pool as Japan in Adelaide. Like last year, Japan are again in the same group as reigning Sevens World Champions South Africa who also went on to win the Adelaide tournament in 2009.

The Japan Squad

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt.	Wgt.
1	Yusaku KAWAZURU	Coca-Cola	24	188	95
2	Masahiro TSUIKI (c)	Coca-Cola	26	176	88
3	Kensuke IWABUCHI	JRFU	34	179	81
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

There were 16 countries in 4 pools of 4 teams.

A	B	C	D
NZ	Samoa	Fiji	England
Argentina	S. Africa	Kenya	Australia
Scotland	France	Wales	USA
Tonga	Japan	PNG	Niue

Schedule

Day 1: Friday, 19 March 2010

Game 2, 18:22: South Africa v Japan.

Day 2: Saturday, 20 March 2010

Game 9, 14:15: Samoa v Japan.

Game 17, 17:26: France v Japan.

Day 3: Sunday, 21 March 2010

Knock-out stages.

IRB Sevens World Series, Hong Kong

The Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens

26-28 March 2010 in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong leg of the IRB Sevens World Series is the premier event of the world circuit with its tradition, excitement and expanded twenty-four team format. Held at the 40,000 seat Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong is the only event of the annual eight leg series that has twenty-four teams, whereas all the other events have sixteen teams.

In Hong Kong in 2009, Japan had one of their better IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in a long time when they won two and lost three to make it as far as the Bowl semi-finals in. On the opening Friday of the annual three-day Hong Kong leg of the World Series Japan went close against Wales only going down by the margin of 14-5. However, all the good work and confidence building was undone against England on the Saturday when the Japanese went down 50-0. Not to be denied though, Japan regained their focus against China to win a close fought encounter 21-17. The win over China meant Japan finished third in Pool B and this put them into a Bowl quarterfinal against Sri Lanka on the Sunday. Japan had a reasonably comfortable 26-10 win over their Asian rivals to then put them into one of the semi-finals against Portugal. Although the score ended up being the same as the quarter, this time it was Japan on the losing end of the 26-10 score line.

In 2010, Hong Kong is the sixth tournament of the season and Japan are in Pool E this year but they are again grouped with England and Wales, though instead of China they will be joined in the pool by hosts Hong Kong. Wales are the reigning World Sevens champions, while over recent years England won this event in 2006, 2004, 2003 and 2002. Furthermore, Hong Kong will also have the vocal support of the locals to back their campaign making the overall task for Japan that much harder.

Pools:

There were 24 countries in 6 pools of 4 teams.

A	B	C	D	E	F
Samoa	NZ	Fiji	Australia	England	Kenya
Argentina	Scotland	USA	Canada	Wales	S. Africa
Russia	France	Portugal	Tonga	Japan	Zimbabwe
Italy	Chinese Taipei	Thailand	China	Hong Kong	Korea

Pool E Games for Japan:

Day 1: Friday, 26 March 2010

Game 11: (20:38) - Wales v Japan

Day 2: Saturday, 27 March 2010

Game 23: (14:10) - England v Japan

Game 29: (16:22) - Japan v Hong Kong

Day 3: Sunday, 28 March 2010

Knock-out stages.

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	Sadamitsu Kogyo	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.

Japanese 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.

Japan v South African President’s XV

Possibility of Japan playing a South African XV in between the A5N and the PNC.

2010 IRB Pacific Nations Cup

June-July 2010.

Now in its fifth year, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2010 involves the Junior All Blacks (JAB) from New Zealand, the three island nations Fiji, Samoa and Tonga along with Japan. The JAB replaced the Maori for 2009, while Australia A did not participate in last year’s tournament.

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 made the decision not to include a side for 2009.

The tournament last year was further abbreviated with the majority of the games played in Fiji rather than the home and away format of the three previous years.

Previous Winners

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

2009: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB again took the PNC title undefeated on 19 points. Fiji were runner-up on 14 points followed by Samoa on 12 points, while Japan finished fourth on 6 points with one win and three losses. Tonga took the wooden spoon on one point.

2008: The New Zealand Maori. The Maori took the PNC 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 PNC 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 P5N title undefeated with 20 points with maximum points in each game. Japan finished last on 0 points with four losses.

Full details when available.

There is the rumour that no representative sides from New Zealand or Australia will take part in the 2010 PNC leaving only Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga.

Saturday, 12 June 2010, Fiji v Japan, in Fiji (venue TBC).

Saturday, 19 June 2010, Tonga v Japan, in Samoa (venue TBC).

Saturday, 26 June 2010, Samoa v Japan, in Samoa (venue TBC).

November 2010

There is the possibility that the New Zealand Maori and maybe even the Wallabies will play against Japan in the November window month. Another alternative being considered is three matches in November against Rod McQueen’s Melbourne Rebels ahead of their debut in the expanded Super 15 competition in 2011. There is the added possibility that there will be no games for Japan in the autumn to allow the test level players to freshen up ahead of the very heavy schedule in 2011 leading up to the RWC in NZ late in the year.