RiJ Vol.7, No.17

Contents:

¡ HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 1

¡ IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010

¡ Sevens Festival in Tokyo 2010

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 19 April 2010)

s The Think-tank:

¡ Looking Ahead:

s Sanix Youth; HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010; IRB JWT 2010; ANZ PNC 2010

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HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 1

The 2010 HSBC Asian Five Nations also doubles as the final Asian qualification round for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The top placed finisher will qualify directly for New Zealand as Asian 1 and will join hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada in Pool A. The runner-up still has a chance of qualifying through the Final Place Play-off for a spot in Pool B.

In preparation for the test against Korea in Daegu on Saturday, 1 May 2010, the Japan squad will go into camp at the Sawayaka Sports Ground in Fukuoka city in Fukuoka prefecture from Friday, 23 April to Wednesday 28 April 2010.

The squad will fly out of Fukuoka Airport for Daegu on Wednesday 28 April. The team will have a captain’s run at the Gyeongsang Stadium on Friday 30 April on the eve of the test. The squad will fly out of Pusan for Narita Airport on Sunday 2 May and move to Saitama to prepare for the test against the Arabian Gulf in Tokyo on Saturday 8 May 2010.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five Schedule & Results

Week	Date	Teams	Venue	Kick-off
Week 1	Saturday, 24 April 2010	Hong Kong 32 d Korea 8	HKFC, Hong Kong	16:00
		Kazakhstan 43 d Arabian Gulf 28	National University Stadium, Almaty	16:00
		Japan bye
Week 2	Friday, 30 April 2010	Arabian Gulf v Hong Kong	Bahrain Sports Club, Bahrain	19:00
	Saturday, 1 May 2010	Korea v Japan	Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu,	14:00
		Kazakhstan bye
Week 3	Saturday, 8 May 2010	Hong Kong v Kazakhstan	HKFC, Hong Kong	16:00
		Japan v Arabian Gulf	Prince Chichibu, Tokyo	14:00
		Korea bye
Week 4	Friday, 14 May 2010	Arabian Gulf v Korea	The Sevens, Dubai	19:00
	Saturday, 15 May 2010	Japan v Kazakhstan	Prince Chichibu, Tokyo	14:00
		Hong Kong bye
Week 5	Saturday, 22 May 2010	Japan v Hong Kong	Prince Chichibu, Tokyo	14:00
		Korea v Kazakhstan	Munhak Stadium, Incheon	14:00
		Arabian Gulf bye

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five Table

Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
Hong Kong	1	1	0	32	8	24	1	5
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	43	28	15	1	5
Arabian Gulf	1	0	1	28	43	-15	0	0
Korea	1	0	1	8	32	-24	0	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The Japan squad for the tour to play Korea in Daegu on Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Position	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
Loose head prop	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	27	180/115	10
Hookers	Shota HORIE	Sanyo Wild Knights	24	180/104	2
	Takeshi KIZU	Tokai Univ.	21	183/110	1
	Hiroki YUHARA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	26	173/105	-
Tight head props	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	24	178/122	10
	Shinsuke NAKAMURA	Suntory Sungoliath	22	190/115	2
	Nozomu FUJITA	Honda Heat	25	191/115	-
Locks	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	31	192/105	37
	Toshizumi KITAGAWA	Toyota Verblitz	29	195/110	25
	Luke THOMPSON	Kintetsu Liners	29	195/108	18
	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	23	192/110	1
Flankers	Takashi KIKUTANI (c)	Toyota Verblitz	30	187/100	28
	Toetu’u TAUFA	Kintetsu Liners	29	183/108	9
	Michael LEITCH	Tokai Univ.	21	189/99	9
	Sione VATUVEI	Sanyo Wild Knights	27	189/100	-
No8s	Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI	Sanyo Wild Knights	28	188/111	8
	Masakazu TOYOTA	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	23	189/108	5
Halfbacks	Tomoki YOSHIDA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	28	172/78	20
	Fumiaki TANAKA	Sanyo Wild Knights	25	166/75	14
	Koji WADA	Toyota Verblitz	25	173/78	-
Five-eighths	James ARLIDGE	Newport Dragons (Wales)	30	187/93	16
	Shaun WEBB	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	28	180/90	16
	Ryohei YAMANAKA	Waseda Univ.	21	187/95	-
Wings	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	29	186/90	25
	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	24	176/85	-
Centres	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	30	192/100	17
	Koji TAIRA	Suntory Sungoliath	27	185/95	17
	Alisi TUPUAILEI	Canon Eagles	29	187/116	2
	Ryo KANAZAWA	Ricoh Black Rams	28	174/86	-
Fullbacks	Goshi TACHIKAWA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	33	183/94	14
	Kaoru MATSUSHITA	Toyota Verblitz	26	185/86	2

Head Coach: John Kirwan (NZ).

Week 1 Preview

In the first week of the 2010 HSBC Asian Five Nations Hong Kong host Korea, Kazakhstan are at home to play newly promoted Arabian Gulf and Japan have the bye.

The HSBC Asian Five Nations is now in its third season with Japan having taken the first two titles and although the defending champions have the bye in the first week the challenge for the 2010 title looks set to be the fiercest to date.

In the opening round there is less travel involved for the four teams involved with regional neighbours Hong Kong and Korea doing battle at the Hong Kong Football Club in Hong Kong while likewise Kazakhstan host the Arabian Gulf in Almaty as their only home game of their 2010 campaign.

In 2009, Hong Kong finished fourth on eight points from one win and three losses while Korea finished third on thirteen points from two wins and two losses. In the corresponding game in Seoul last year, Korea took the honours 36-34 but with Hong Kong having the home ground advantage this time round it looks like this could be another close tussle. In 2008 Hong Kong went down to Korea 50-24 in the final round of that tournament but with the steady improvement in the standard of rugby in Hong Kong over the past two years Korea cannot afford to take this game lightly.

Kazakhstan were runners-up to Japan last year when they finished on fifteen points from three wins and the one loss to Japan. However, with only one home game and three away games in 2010 Kazakhstan will be keen to kick off their challenge with a win in front of their home fans. On the other hand, the Arabian Gulf are back in the top division this year to replace Singapore. The Arabian Gulf played in the inaugural HSBC Asian Five Nations in 2008 but were relegated after suffering four straight losses. Thus, the Gulf will be looking for their first win in this tournament while also seeking revenge for the 56-27 away loss to Kazakhstan two years ago.

Japan have won the previous two tournaments undefeated and they have the bye in the first week before travelling to Korea for their first match in week two.

Week 1 Wrap-up

Hong Kong and Kazakhstan chalked up home wins in the opening round of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five division when Hong Kong beat Korea 32-8 at the Hong Kong Football Club and Kazakhstan bounced back from a 14-0 deficit early in the first half to claim a 43-28 victory in Almaty.

Hong Kong 32 d Korea 8

Date: Saturday, 24 April 2010.

Venue: Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong.

In the opening game of the 2010 HSBC Asian Five Nations Hong Kong beat Korea 32-8 in Hong Kong. Korea opened up an early 8-0 lead, however, flanker Nigel Clarke opened the account for Hong Kong with a try just before halftime and the conversion and a late penalty gave the home side a 10-8 lead at halftime. Hong Kong went on to score a further three tries in the second stanza to take the game 32-8 with a four try bonus point. This was also their first win over Korea in the three year history of this tournament after losing in both 2009 and 2008.

In 2009, Hong Kong finished fourth on eight points from one win and three losses while Korea finished third on thirteen points from two wins and two losses. In the corresponding game in Seoul last year, Korea took the honours 36-34 while in 2008 Hong Kong went down to Korea 50-24 in the final round of that tournament.

Kazakhstan 43 d Arabian Gulf 28

Date: Saturday, 24 April 2010.

Venue: National University Stadium, Almaty.

Kazakhstan defeated the Arabian Gulf 40-28 in their only home game in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 to kick off their challenge with a win in front of their home fans. The Arabian Gulf led 6-0 after the first ten minutes of play and then stretched the lead to 14-0 five minutes later with an intercept try to centre Trent Eastgate. However, the home side whittled down the lead to eventually take a 17-14 lead into the halftime break. Both sides added to their scores throughout the second half with Kazakhstan holding a 33-28 late in the game, however, the hosts finished the stronger to take the game 43-28 and earn a bonus point for their efforts.

Kazakhstan were runners-up to Japan last year when they finished on fifteen points from three wins and the one loss to Japan. On the other hand, the Arabian Gulf are back in the top division this year to replace Singapore. The Arabian Gulf played in the inaugural HSBC Asian Five Nations in 2008 but were relegated after suffering four straight losses. The Gulf are still looking for their first win in this tournament but there was no revenge for the 56-27 away loss to Kazakhstan two years ago.

Japan bye

Meanwhile the Japan squad is in camp preparing for their opening game in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five tournament against Korea in Daegu next Saturday, 1 May.

The camp is being held at the Sawayaka Sports Ground in Fukuoka city in Fukuoka prefecture from 23-28 April 2010. On Saturday, 24 April the squad went through basic skills sets in units across the backs and forwards practicing such things as scrums, lineouts and ball presentation at the breakdown in the forwards and attack moves in the backs.

Head coach John Kirwan noted, “We’ve had a one week break since our previous camp in Miyazaki and now we are setting about our final preparation for Korea. The players look fresh after the break but we still have a lot to work on with our ultimate target for the season being to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. We play Korea every year and this year they will have the advantage of playing at home and so we will have to take it to them.”

The Japan squad training in Fukuoka.

On Sunday 25 April, on the second day of camp the squad used the Coca-Cola West Red Sparks ground for training in front of a good turnout of local rugby fans.

The second day of camp focussed on defence, from both individual and unit perspectives, especially with a view to the refereeing of new law interpretations at the breakdown for this season.

After training, halfback Tomoki Yoshida commented on Korea going down to Hong Kong 32-8 in the opening round in Hong Kong. He noted that there is not a lot of difference between the two sides at the end of the day and that playing at home can often prove the difference. He pointed out that Korea would be a totally different prospect for Japan next Saturday but ended by saying they had to focus on their own game.

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IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010

18-30 May 2010, Moscow.

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

The Japan U20 squad for the IRB Junior World Trophy 2010 will go into camp at the Ryutsu Keizai University ground in Ibaraki prefecture from Friday 23 April to Thursday 29 April 2010. The camp will conclude with a trial game against the Ricoh Black Rams at the Ricoh ground on Wednesday 28 April.

A second camp will be conducted at the Ryutsu Keizai University ground from Thursday 6 May to Sunday 9 May 2010 prior to departure for Moscow. 

Pools

Pool A: Italy, Uruguay, Romania and PNG.

Pool B: Canada, Japan, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Schedule for Japan

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.

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Date: Sunday 25 April 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Men

In the men’s division, twelve teams participated in four pools of three teams as follows: Toshiba Brave Lupus, Suntory Sungoliath, Toyota Verblitz, Kubota Spears, Ricoh Black Rams, Kintetsu Liners, NEC Green Rockets, Sanix Blues, Japan Select A, Japan Select B, Japan Select C and NTT Communications.

Ricoh, Japan Select B, NEC and Sanix topped their respective pools and played off for the Cup. Ricoh beat NEC 26-10 in their semi but Japan Select B had a harder time of it as their semi went into extra time after they were locked at 19-all with Sanix at the end of regular time. Japan Select B were first to score and this ended the game at 24-19. In the final the Japan Select B side beat Ricoh 38-26 to take the Cup title with captain Masahiro Tsuiki named the MVP for the tournament. Meanwhile, Japan Select C won the Plate final and Toyota took the Shield title.

Women

In the women’s division, four teams participated including the Japan U23 Sevens squad, the National Women’s team, Nagoya Ladies and the Tokyo based Phoenix. In a round robin tournament the Nagoya Ladies took the title after beat the other three sides to make a clean sweep of the day.

The Festival had a focus on youth with a view to the 4^th World University Rugby Sevens Championship 2010 to be held in Portugal from 21-24 July 2010 and further ahead to the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro that will include Rugby Sevens in the programme.

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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 – the eruption of a volcano in Iceland has disrupted world travel to and from Europe and Japan too is well and truly affected.

IRB ranking on 19 April 2010 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

The Think-tank:

Top Referees to Gain Experience Overseas

The Japan Rugby Football Union has instigated a programme to send top Japanese referees overseas to gain world class experience.

As part of the strategic Union plan for the period 2010-2019 with a view to the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan, younger talented referees are to be send to major world Unions for stints of three to four months to participate in elite referee programmes run by those Unions.

Over the spring and early summer of 2010 referees Taizo Hirabayashi and (A class referee) and Akihisa Aso (A1 class referee) will spend time in New Zealand where they will come under the guidance of IRB referee manager Paddy O’Brien and IRB referee selector Colin Hawke.

Taizo Hirabayashi will be based in Hamilton from late April through to late July, while Akihisa Aso will be based in Christchurch from early April to late July.

3D Rugby

The Japan Rugby Football Union will hold a public viewing of the Japan – Kazakhstan test match in 3D television.

The Japan – Kazakhstan test as part of the HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament will be played at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday 15 May 2010.

In cooperation with J Sports Broadcasting, this will be the first time in Japan for a sports event to be screened in a 3D sports live telecast. This public viewing will utilise specialised 3D equipment and glasses.

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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.

The 11^th Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010

This annual high school international tournament is again set for the Golden Week period from 27 April to 5 May 2010 at the Global Arena in Munakata in Fukuoka prefecture. Eight overseas schools chosen by their respective unions compete with eight top Japanese schools.

The sixteen schools will compete in four pools of four teams.

The Dax Landes High School from France will return in 2010 as the defending champion after they defeated Higashi Fukuoka High School from Fukuoka prefecture 38-30 in the 2009 final. The win for the French school was also the first time for a school other than from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa to take the title. To date, no Japanese school is yet to win the tournament with Higashi Fukuoka the only local school to make a final, on three occasion in 2009, 2007 and 2004.

Schedule

Pool Games

Games are of 25 minute halves.

Four points are awarded for a win, two for a draw, one point for scoring four tries or more and one point for losing by seven points or less.

Day 1: Wednesday, 28 April 2010.

Day 2: Thursday, 29 April 2010.

Day 3: Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Play-off Games

Games are of 30 minute halves.

The top two place getters in each pool play-off for places first to eighth while the remaining schools play off for places ninth to sixteenth.

Day 4: Sunday, 2 May 2010.

Day 5: Tuesday, 4 May 2010.

Day 6: Wednesday, 5 May 2010.

Overseas Schools

The Hills Sports High School (Australia), Truro College (England), Ratu Kadavulevu School (Fiji), Dax Landes High School (France), Korean High School Select (Korea), Hamilton Boys’ High School (New Zealand), Marais Viljoen High School (South Africa) and The British School (Uruguay).

Japanese Schools

Ryutsu Keizai, Kashiwa High School (Chiba), Toin Gakuen High School (Kanagawa), Kyoto Seisho High School (Kyoto), Fushimi Technical High School (Kyoto), Osaka Chosen High School (Osaka), Saga Technical High School (Saga), Kokura High School (Fukuoka) and Higashi Fukuoka (Fukuoka).

Overseas Referees

A number of up and coming overseas referees have been invited to participate at the Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010 including Grant Stuart from New Zealand who is based in the Waikato Rugby Union; Angus Gardner from Australia who is based in the New South Wales Rugby Union; Ian Tempest from England who is based in the Liverpool Referees’ Society and Archie Sehlako from South Africa who is based in the KwaZulu Natal Rugby Union.

Previous Winners

2009: The Dax Landes HS (France)

2008: Glenwood HS (SA)

2007: Westfields Sports HS (Australia)

2006: Christchurch Boys’ HS (NZ)

2005: Christchurch Boys’ HS (NZ)

2004: Rotorua Boys’ HS (NZ)

2003: Rotorua Boys’ HS (NZ)

2002: Boland Agricultural College (SA)

2001: Grey College, Bloemfontein (SA)

2000: The King’s School, Sydney (Australia)

Japan v South African President’s XV

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

ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010

June 2010

Now in its fifth year, the International Rugby Board (IRB) funded ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010 involves the three island nations Fiji, Samoa and Tonga along with Japan. New Zealand and Australia have not committed teams for 2010.

In 2006 this tournament kicked off as the Pacific Five Nations and involved Fiji, Japan, the Junior All Blacks (JAB), Samoa and Tonga. Australia A joined the competition in 2007 and the tournament name changed to its present moniker of 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 2009, the Junior All Blacks (JAB) replaced the Maori as the New Zealand representative team, while Australia A did not participate in last year’s tournament. The 2009 tournament was condensed with the majority of the games played in Fiji rather than the home and away format of the three previous years. Also in 2009, ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) came on board as the presenting sponsor for the tournament.

This year, Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga will take part in the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010. Except for the opening game between Fiji and Japan at Churchill Park in Lautoka, Fiji, Samoa and the Samoan Rugby Union will host the 2010 competition with the remaining five games slated for Apia Park in the capital city of Apia. With the tournament again largely being hosted in one country, refereeing and coaching workshops along junior rugby clinics are planned for the two week duration of the event. This is also the first time for Samoa to host a major international 15-a-side rugby tournament. The occasion is also a fillip for Samoa after the 2009 Samoa Earthquake, an 8.1M submarine earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the area on 29 September causing significant damage and loss of life across the region.

Previous Winners

The New Zealand representative sides have won all four previous titles.

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.

ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010 Schedule

Round	Date	Teams	Venue	Kick-off
Round 1	Saturday, 12 June 2010	Samoa v Tonga	Apia Park, Apia	15:10
		Fiji v Japan	Churchill Park, Lautoka	15:10
Round 2	Saturday, 19 June 2010	Samoa v Japan	Apia Park, Apia	13:10
		Fiji v Tonga	Apia Park, Apia	16:10
Round 3	Saturday, 26 June 2010	Fiji v Samoa	Apia Park, Apia	13:10
		Japan v Tonga	Apia Park, Apia	16:10

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.

Furthermore, there is also the rumour that Japan will play Italy home and away in November.