Rugby in Japan (RiJ) Vol.9, No.18

Contents:

¡ HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 2 Japan 71 d Korea 13

¡ Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010

¡ IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010 - Squad

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 26 April 2010)

s The Think-tank:

¡ Looking Ahead:

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

---

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 2

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.

Japan 71 d Korea 13

Japan 71 – Tries: Kosuke Endo 5, Shota Horie, Fumiaki Tanaka, Yasunori Nagatomo, Takashi Kikutani, Hitoshi Ono, Hiroki Yuhara; Conversions: Ryan Nicholas 7, Shaun Webb d.

Korea 13 – Try: Chae Jae Young; Conversion: Oh Youn Hyung; Penalties: Yun Hi Su, Oh Youn Hyung.

Date: Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Venue: Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu, South Korea.

Japan Test Number: 252.

Kick-off: 2:00 PM (local Japan time).

Referee: Scott Herbert (Arabian Gulf).

Conditions: Sunny, no wind, firm ground.

Attendance: N/A.

Halftime: Japan 19 – Korea 3.

Yellow Card: Park Wan Yong (Korea, No.9, repeated infringements, 37 min 1H).

Recent Encounters:

Before this test, Japan and Korea have played 26 official tests. Japan have won 19, Korea 5 and there have been 2 draws.

Japan 80 - Korea 9, 16 May 2009, Hanazono, A5N.

Korea 17 - Japan 39, 26 April 2008, Incheon, A5N.

Japan 82 - Korea 0, 22 April 2007, Tokyo.

Japan 54 - Korea 0, 25 November 2006, Hong Kong, final 2007 RWC qualifying.

Japan 50 - Korea 14, 23 April 2006, Tokyo, 2007 RWC qualifying & 8^th Japan-Korea Cup.

Korea 31 - Japan 50, 15 May 2005, in Korea, 7^th Japan-Korea Cup.

Japan 19 - Korea 19, 16 May 2004, Tokyo, 6^th Japan-Korea Cup.

Japan (IRB rank 13, at 26 April 2010)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	27	180/115	11
2	Shota HORIE	Sanyo Wild Knights	24	180/104	3
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	24	178/122	11
4	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	31	192/105	38
5	Toshizumi KITAGAWA	Toyota Verblitz	29	195/110	26
6	Toetu’u TAUFA	Kintetsu Liners	29	183/108	10
7	Sione VATUVEI	Sanyo Wild Knights	27	189/100	1
8	Takashi KIKUTANI (c)	Toyota Verblitz	30	187/100	29
9	Fumiaki TANAKA	Sanyo Wild Knights	25	166/75	15
10	Shaun WEBB	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	28	180/90	17
11	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	24	176/85	1
12	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	30	192/100	18
13	Koji TAIRA	Suntory Sungoliath	27	185/95	18
14	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	29	186/90	26
15	Goshi TACHIKAWA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	33	182/94	15
16	Hiroki YUHARA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	26	173/105	1
17	Nozomu FUJITA	Honda Heat	25	191/115	1
18	Luke THOMPSON	Kintetsu Liners	29	195/108	19
19	Masakazu TOYOTA	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	23	189/108	6
20	Tomoki YOSHIDA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	28	172/78	20
21	James ARLIDGE	Newport Dragons (Wales)	30	187/93	17
22	Alisi TUPUAILEI	Canon Eagles	29	187/116	3

Head Coach - John Kirwan. (34^th test as coach, for 18 wins, a draw and 15 losses.)

Subs

16 subbed 2, 29 min 2H.

17 subbed 3, 20 min 2H.

18 subbed 4, 22 min 2H.

19 subbed 7, 32 min 2H.

20 not used.

21 subbed 10, 29 min 2H.

22 subbed 13, 16 min 2H.

Korea (IRB rank 25, at 26 April 2010)

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt
1	KIM Gwang Sik	Posco Steel	24	180/130
2	KIM Jong Wook	Posco Steel	26	174/98
3	PARK Jong Yeul	Yonsei Univ.	19	183/125
4	YOUN Kwon Woo	Sammu (Korean Army)	25	185/110
5	HAN Kun Kyu	Sammu (Korean Army)	23	187/108
6	KIM Jeong Min (c)	Korea Electric Power	27	180/90
7	PARK Yong Don	Posco Steel	30	185/103
8	LEE Kwang Moon	Korea Electric Power	27	188/100
9	PARK Wan Yong	Korea Electric Power	26	170/73
10	YUN Hi Su	Posco Steel	31	179/82
11	YOO Chul Kyu	Korea Electric Power	28	177/82
12	JEON Chi Do	Sammu (Korean Army)	23	180/93
13	KIM Jong Su	Posco Steel	28	183/93
14	CHOI Si Woon	Sammu (Korean Army)	24	185/85
15	CHAE Jae Young	Toshiba Brave Lupus (Jap)	26	183/85
16	JEONG Gyeong Won	Sammu (Korean Army)	23	178/115
17	KIM Heo Cheol	Koryo Univ.	20	186/110
18	LIM Jeong Min	Koryo Univ.	21	190/105
19	KIM Ho Bum		19	198/118
20	YANG Young Hun	Honda (Jap.)	29	176/80
21	OH Youn Hyung	Korea Electric Power	25	178/80
22	BAE Chang Whan	Sammu (Korean Army)	23	183/92

Coach KIM Myung Joo.

Subs

16 subbed 1, 27 min 2H.

17 subbed 3, 27 min 2H.

18 subbed 8, 22 min 2H.

19 subbed 6, 5 min 2H.

20 subbed 9, 29 min 2H.

21 subbed 10, 13 min 2H.

22 subbed 11, 35 min 2H.

In the opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 for Japan, hosts Korea stayed with their more fancied neighbours throughout the first half with the two sides going to the halftime break with Japan leading 19-3. Japan scored three first half tries through with hooker Shota Horie getting the Japanese on the scoreboard followed by five-pointers to diminutive halfback Fumiaki Tanaka and blockbusting wing Kosuke Endo. Centre Ryan Nicholas landed two of the three conversions to complete the scoring for the visitors. For Korea, five-eighth Yun Hi Su landed a solitary penalty goal.

The second stanza, however, was a contrast to the first half with the Japan side hitting their stride to run in a further eight tries through a tiring Korean defence. The hero of the afternoon for the victors was none other than wing Kosuke Endo who crossed for four second half tries to add to the one he scored in the first half to come away from the match with a total of five tries from the overall eleven Japan scored on the day. Before this test, Endo had managed five tries from his previous 25 tests, a relatively low strike rate for an international wing of his stature, but he well and truly improved his averages with this magnificent effort. The other try scorers for Japan were wing Yasunori Nagatomo who scored on debut, captain and No8 Takashi Kikutani who added to his previous thirteen test tries, veteran lock Hitoshi Ono and Toshiba replacement hooker Hiroki Yuhara who was also on debut. For Korea, fullback Chae Jae Young, who now plays his club rugby with Toshiba in Japan was the only try scorer for the home side while replacement five-eighth Oh Youn Hyung kicked the conversion and added a penalty.

For Japan it was the perfect start to the defence of their title as they now return home for three straight games in Tokyo against the Arabian Gulf next Saturday, followed by Kazakhstan and then Hong Kong on Saturday 22 May 2010. On the other hand, it is worrying times for Korea as they have had two losses from their two starts after going down to Hong Kong away last weekend. The Koreans have the bye in Week 3 but then have to travel to Dubai to play the Arabian Gulf before returning home to face Kazakhstan in their last game.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five Schedule & Results

Week	Date	Teams	Venue	Kick-off
Week 1	Saturday, 24 April 2010	Hong Kong 32 – Korea 8	HKFC, Hong Kong	16:00
		Kazakhstan 43 – Arabian Gulf 28	National University Stadium, Almaty	16:00
		Japan bye
Week 2	Friday, 30 April 2010	Arabian Gulf 16 – Hong Kong 9	Bahrain Sports Club, Bahrain	19:00
	Saturday, 1 May 2010	Korea 13 – Japan 71	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	2	1	1	41	24	17	2	6
Japan	1	1	0	71	13	58	1	5
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	43	28	15	1	5
Arabian Gulf	2	1	1	44	52	-8	0	4
Korea	2	0	2	21	103	-82	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 2 Preview

In the second week of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010, the Arabian Gulf are at home in Bahrain to take on Hong Kong, Korea host Japan and Kazakhstan have the bye.

In the opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five tournament in Hong Kong last weekend Hong Kong beat Korea 32-8 and they will be striving to maintain the momentum against the Arabian Gulf in this test to be played at the Bahrain Sports Club in Bahrain. On the other hand, the Arabian Gulf let a good first half lead slip against Kazakhstan to lose their opening match 43-28 in Almaty last Saturday. The Gulf side will be now trying to fully utilise their home ground advantage while hoping the travel and the environment affect the performance of Hong Kong in this Friday evening fixture. In the only other A5N match-up between these two sides to date, Hong Kong beat the Arabian Gulf 20-12 in Dubai in 2008 and this clash promises to be just as competitive.

After losing to Hong Kong 32-8 in the first round Korea will be looking to bounce back at home against Japan at the Gyeongsang Stadium in Daegu. The HSBC Asian Five Nations is now in its third season and Japan have taken the first two titles undefeated and as the defending champions they will be aiming to start their campaign with a win after the first round bye. There is a fierce rivalry between these two Asian neighbours and Korea can be expected to rise to the occasion, especially at home. In 2008 Korea went down to Japan 39-17 in Incheon while last year Japan won 80-9 in Osaka. However, Japan cannot afford to take this game lightly, especially with automatic qualification to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand the ultimate reward for winning the A5N title this year.

Kazakhstan have the bye in the second week.

Week 2 Wrap-up

The Arabian Gulf chalked up their first ever win in the HSBC Asian Five Nations when they held on to defeat Hong Kong 16-9 in Bahrain while reigning champions Japan entered the fray in Week 2 after their first up bye with an emphatic 71-13 win over Korea in Gyeongsang.

The Arabian Gulf 16 d Hong Kong 9

Date: Friday, 30 April 2010.

Venue: Bahrain Sports Club, Bahrain.

At the Bahrain Sports Club, the Arabian Gulf had the better of the first half scoring thirteen points through a try to halfback Jonny MacDonald and a conversion and two penalties to James Love. In the second half, Love and Hong Kong five-eighth Keith Robertson traded penalties but it was the home side that got the victory points in the end with a 16-9 final score line.

Japan 71 d Korea 13

Date: Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Venue: Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu.

Japan are one step closer to qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand after they overcame a slow first half to eventually overcome Korea 71-3 in Daegu. The hero of the day for Japan was blockbusting wing Kosuke Endo who ran in five of the eleven Japanese tries scored to double his test try tally accumulated over his previous twenty-five international appearances. Japan now return home for their final three games of the tournament in Tokyo while Korea have the bye in Week 3 before their final two gruelling games.

Kazakhstan bye

Camp

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 Monday 26 April, on the third day of camp, the Japan squad had both morning and afternoon training sessions at the Coca-Cola West Red Sparks ground.

A lot of the focus in the morning was again on defence, particularly in unit structures with variations in the defensive systems around the breakdown area also addressed. Attack drills also looked at decision making and reading the game. The forwards practised both lineouts and scrums along with driving maul patterns following lineouts while the backs worked on attacking plays from the set pieces.

The afternoon session was gym based.

In the evening, James Arlidge joined the squad from his club commitments with the Newport Gwent Dragons in Wales and is set to come up to pace with team training ahead of the game with Korea in five days time.

The Japan squad completed the camp at the Sawayaka Sports Ground in Fukuoka city in Fukuoka prefecture on Tuesday 27 April 2010 with a compact one hour morning session followed by final light training the next day on Wednesday 28 April. The players and staff transferred from Fukuoka to Pusan in Korea later in the day where they stayed the night.

In the morning of Thursday 29 April the players had a pool session in the morning to help counter the travel fatigue before setting off on the two hour bus ride to Daegu. Later in the day the match day squad was announced flanker Sione Vatuvei and winger Yasunori Nagatomo being named in the starting line-up to make their international debuts.

---

The 11^th Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010

The annual Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational 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.

After a welcome party for all the teams on Tuesday 27 April 2010, the on field rugby activities got underway the next day with the first of the pool games. In the tight scheduling arrangements all teams had to back up on Thursday 29 April for their second pool game.

With all teams now having played two of their three pool games with Friday 30 April a rest day the overseas schools are again the ones to beat. In Pool A, defending champion the Dax Landes High School from France sit on top with two wins while in Pool B, the Marais Viljoen High School from South Africa are also unbeaten. It is a similar story in Pool C with Hamilton Boys’ from New Zealand setting the pace while in Pool D, Truro College from England have also picked up maximum points from their two games. The final round of pool games will be played on Saturday 1 May 2010.

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)

---

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.

Japan U20 Squad (provisional)

Position	Name	University/School	Hgt/Wgt
Props	Ryutaro UEDA	Waseda Univ.	182/108
	Mao ENOKI	Meiji Univ.	180/110
	Shintaro ISHIHARA	Meiji Univ.	181/106
Hookers	Heiichiro ITO	Waseda Univ.	174/102
	Yoshikatsu HIKOSAKA	Tsukuba Univ.	177/96
Locks	Takumi MIKAMI	Tokai Univ.	192/94
	Genki KUDO	Tsukuba Univ.	188/107
	Kohei YAMAGUCHI	Waseda Univ.	186/97
	Tosei KUROKI	Waseda Univ.	185/87
Flankers	Kota YAMASHITA	Waseda Univ.	180/95
	Daisuke MUSHA	Hosei Univ	177/82
	Naoyuki TSUJI	Ryutsu Keizai Univ.	179/81
	Kazuki TAKAMORI	Ryutsu Keizai Univ.	178/88
Flanker/ No8	Kyosuke HORIE	Meiji Univ.	182/95
No8	Leonard AKE	Rissho Univ.	186/112
Halfbacks	Kazutaka ASHIDA	Kwansei Gakuin Univ.	172/78
	Takeru FUKUI	Nihon Sports Univ.	177/73
	Keisuke UCHIDA	Tsukuba Univ.	177/76
	Takehito NAMEKAWA	Teikyo Univ.	170/70
Five-eighths	Keisuke SAKAMOTO	Tokai Univ.	177/85
	Hirotomo ONO	Teikyo Univ.	175/75
	Kohei YOSHII	Waseda Univ.	164/62
Centres	Naoki SARUGAKU	Meiji Univ.	178/81
	Yuta HARUYAMA	Kwansei Gakuin Univ.	178/85
Centres/Wings	Tonishio VAIHU	Tenri Univ	178/90
	Masakatsu HIKOSAKA	Tsukuba Univ.	175/90
Wings	Yoshiaki TSURUGASAKI	Tokai Univ.	185/98
	Takumi ITO	Teikyo Univ.	180/82
	Takaaki NAKAZURU	Waseda Univ.	177/74
Fullback/Five-eighth	Kazuma MIYATA	Tokai Univ.	177/77

Staff

Ryuji Nakatake, coaching director, JRFU.

Yukio Motoki, head coach, Kobe Steelers.

Goshi Arimizu, forwards coach, Coach Twenty-one.

Masahiro Nakase, backs coach, Tokyo Gas.

Takashi Inoue, doctor, Takagi Hospital.

Takashi Arakawa, trainer, Tsukuba Univ.

Yuki Unno, trainer.

Yasuhiro Iijima, support staff, JRFU.

Yoshinari Inoue, support staff, Waseda Univ.

---

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 26 April 2010 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

The Think-tank:

Japan A Tour to Scotland and Spain

On 29 April 2010 the Japan Rugby Football Union details of the Japan A tour to Scotland and Spain over May and June 2010.

Under head coach Masahiro Kunda, Japan A will tour Scotland and Spain from 19 May to 7 June 2010 with games planned for 26 May against a Scottish club side, 1 June against a Scotland XV side at Murrayfield and finally, a game against a Spain President’s XV in Spain on 5 June.

Details of the 26-man Japan A tour squad will be available soon.

---

Looking Ahead

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

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.