RiJ May 2010

Vol.7, No.19

Contents:

¡ HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 3 Japan 60 d Arabian Gulf 5

¡ Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010 (final)

¡ IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010 - Squad

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 3 May 2010)

s The Think-tank:

¡ Looking Ahead:

s IRB JWT 2010; Japan A tour to Scotland and Spain; ANZ PNC 2010.

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HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 3

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 60 d Arabian Gulf 5

Japan 60 – Tries: Alisi Tupuailei 2, Takashi Kikutani 2, Kaoru Matsushita 2, James Arlidge, Kosuke Endo, Ryo Kanazawa, Koji Wada; Conversions: James Arlidge 4, Matsushita d.

Arabian Gulf 5 – Try: Sean Hurley.

Date: Saturday, 8 May 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Japan Test Number: 253.

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

Referee: Harry Mason (Singapore).

Conditions: Sunny, 25°C. Firm, fast ground.

Attendance: 5,328.

Halftime: Japan 26 – Arabian Gulf 0.

Yellow Cards: Shinsuke Nakamura (Japan No.3, 34 min 1H, repeated team infringements); Toshizumi Kitagawa (Japan No.5, 30 min 2H, punching).

Previous Encounters:

Before this test, Japan and the Arabian Gulf have played two official tests, with Japan winning on both occasions.

Japan 114 – Arabian Gulf 6, 3 May 2008, A5N, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Japan 82 – Arabian Gulf 9, 16 April 2006, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Japan (IRB rank 13 (70.59), at 3 May 2010)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	27	180/115	12
2	Hiroki YUHARA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	26	173/105	2
3	Shinsuke NAKAMURA	Suntory Sungoliath	22	190/115	3
4	Luke THOMPSON	Kintetsu Liners	29	195/108	20
5	Toshizumi KITAGAWA	Toyota Verblitz	29	195/110	27
6	Masakazu TOYOTA	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	23	189/108	7
7	Sione VATUVEI	Sanyo Wild Knights	27	189/100	2
8	Takashi KIKUTANI (c)	Toyota Verblitz	30	187/100	30
9	Tomoki YOSHIDA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	28	172/78	21
10	James ARLIDGE	Newport Dragons (Wales)	30	187/93	18
11	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	25	176/85	2
12	Ryo KANAZAWA	Ricoh Black Rams	28	174/86	1
13	Alisi TUPUAILEI	Canon Eagles	29	187/116	4
14	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	29	186/90	27
15	Kaoru MATSUSHITA	Toyota Verblitz	26	185/86	3
16	Takeshi KIZU	Tokai Univ.	21	183/110	2
17	Nozomu FUJITA	Honda Heat	25	191/115	2
18	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	32	192/105	38
19	Toetu’u TAUFA	Kintetsu Liners	29	183/108	11
20	Koji WADA	Toyota Verblitz	25	173/78	1
21	Ryohei YAMANAKA	Waseda Univ.	21	187/95	1
22	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	30	192/100	18

Head Coach - John Kirwan. (35^th test as coach, for 19 wins, a draw and 15 losses.)

Subs

16 subbed 2, 16 min 2H.

17 subbed 6, 34 min 1H to 5 min 2H as sinbin replacement; subbed 1, 5 min 2H.

18 not used.

19 subbed 7, 23 min 2H.

20 subbed 9, 10 min 2H.

21 subbed 10, 14 min 2H.

22 not used.

1 subbed 3, 26 min 2H.

The Arabian Gulf (IRB rank 44 (49.04), at 3 May 2010)

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Michael RILEY	Dubai Exiles	34	176/106	14
2	Rory POWER	Bahrain RFC	32	177/95	8
3	Nicholas CROKER	Doha RFC	38	178/104	3
4	Jason VOYCE	Muscat RFC	25	188/94	3
5	Michael COX-HILL (c)	Dubai Exiles	34	192/100	5
6	Karl SUTCLIFFE	Bahrain RFC	28	184/96	9
7	Byron KRAEMER	Dubai Dragons	25	177/93	4
8	David CLARK	Dubai Exiles	35	188/96	30
9	Jonathon MacDONALD	Cardiff Univ (UK)	21	176/80	5
10	Duncan MURRAY	Dubai Hurricanes	28	182/95	3
11	Steve SMITH	Dubai Hurricanes	34	184/91	1
12	Taif Al DEALMIE	Lansdowne FC (Ire)	24	174/84	5
13	Trent EASTGATE	Dubai Dragons	29	182/90	3
14	Joshua SHERRIN	Dubai Hurricanes	28	184/98	4
15	James LOVE	Hartpury College (UK)	22	182/86	3
16	Daniel HEAL	Dubai Dragons	33	176/92	5
17	Mark GATHERCOLE	Dubai Exiles	43	178/98	36
18	Steven LITTLE	Dubai Dragons	32	190/108	3
19	Edward Le PINE-WILLIAMS	Dubai Dragons	26	179/90	3
20	Sean HURLEY	Dubai Dragons	32	178/88	27
21	Paul BEARD	Dubai Exiles	23	176/92	11
22	Ross STAPLETON	Bahrain RFC	25	174/80	2

Head Coach: Bruce Birtwistle. Team Manager: Martin Warburton.

Subs

16 subbed 2, 25 min 2H.

17 subbed 3, 15 min 2H.

18 subbed 4, 25 min 2H.

19 subbed 6, 0 min 2H.

20 subbed 14, 18 min 2H.

21 subbed 11, 32 min 2H.

22 not used.

Preview

Head coach John Kirwan has made a number of changes to the side that beat Korea 71-13 last weekend in Daegu. Loosehead prop Hisateru Hirashima retains his place in the starting line-up though hooker Hiroki Yuhara is promoted from the bench for his first test start while Shinsuke Nakamura comes into the squad on the tighthead side for his third test. Toshizumi Kitagawa also remains in the starting line-up in the second row, though Luke Thompson and Hitoshi Ono swap places this week with the former starting and the latter moving back to the bench. It is a similar story on the side of the scrum with Masakazu Toyota and Toetu’u Taufa trading places with Toyota in the No.6 jersey and Taufa back on the reserves bench. Sione Vatuvei is on the open side for consecutive tests while captain and No8 Takashi Kikutani now has a monopoly on at least one of the backrow positions.

In the backs, the starting halfback from last week in Fumiaki Tanaka drops out of the XXII with Tomoki Yoshida coming up from the bench and Koji Wada taking his place in the No.20 jersey in anticipation of his first test start. The same scenario applies at five-eighth with Shaun Webb dropping out of the match day squad for the Arabian Gulf with James Arlidge moving up from the bench and Waseda University player Ryohei Yamanaka coming in as a reserve looking for his test debut. Yasunori Nagatomo and Kosuke Endo are again the wings though Ryo Kanazawa and Alisi Tupuailei are the new centre combination. Kaoru Matsushita is the new fullback for veteran Goshi Tachikawa.

In other changes on the bench, Tokai University hooker Takeshi Kizu is the back-up rake while Nozomu Fujita is again the reserve prop. Inside centre and goal kicker from the Korean test in Ryan Nicholas is also on the reserves list this week.

Wrap-up

Although Japan scored ten tries to one to come away with a comfortable win, the Arabian Gulf all but halved the deficit from the equivalent encounter two years at the same ground to add proof to the claim the Asian Five Nations tournament is helping to raise the overall standard of rugby across the vast Asian region. On this occasion, Japan won 60-5 compared with 114-6 two years ago and 82-9 in 2006.

In perfect spring conditions on a fast surface at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground in central Tokyo, the scorekeeper was not troubled until the fifteen minute of the first half when centre Alisi Tupuailei used his size and pace to break the defensive line in the Arabian Gulf red zone to cross for the first try of the match. Five-eighth James Arlidge was trusted with the kicking duties this week and he made no mistake with the conversion to open up a 7-0 lead. This was followed by additional first half tries to captain Takashi Kikutani in the twenty-second minute, Arlidge himself four minutes later and five try scorer from last week against Korea in wing Kosuke Endo late in the half. The teams went to the break with the home side leading 26-0.

Arlidge kicked off from the northern scoreboard end of the ground to get the second half under way and it was not long before Japan were in for their fifth try through 26-year-old fullback Kaoru Matsushita playing in his third international. In the tenth minute, test debutant Ryo Kanazawa from the Tokyo based Ricoh Black Rams club was well rewarded for a composed introduction to international rugby with a try of his own. Two minutes later, another debutant in replacement halfback Koji Wada was Johnny-on-the-spot when he pounced on loose ball in the Arabian Gulf in-goal. Wada had just come on for Tomoki Yoshida and got the touchdown in what must have only been his second touch of the ball. Matsushita, Kikutani and Tupuailei all picked up doubles but it was the Gulf that had the last say in the match with a last gasp try to replacement back Sean Hurley to close out the game 60-5.

Although the Arabian Gulf were well beaten, the side never gave up, a point taken up by flanker and captain Michael Cox-Hill at the post-match media conference. Head coach Bruce Birtwistle also helped to put things into perspective when he explained that the Gulf side has no more than fifty or so eligible players to choose from and that this result against Japan is about as good as it gets. On the other hand, Japan head coach John Kirwan was concerned that his side made to many unforced errors and that a lack of discipline and a need to listen to the referee cost his side and with two sinbinnings his side had to sort this out. Captain Takashi Kikutani acknowledged that with two wins so far in the Asian Five Nations, Japan were now on the doorstep of qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

In a positive note, Kirwan’s faith in new players and youth was well rewarded with Kanazawa who played out the whole eighty minutes at inside centre putting in a stirling performance in both attack and defence, while fellow debutants in halfback Wada and five-eighth Ryohei Yamanaka showed that they have the qualities required to play at international rugby with the time they were given on the field from the bench.

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 19 – Kazakhstan 15	HKFC, Hong Kong	16:00
		Japan 60 – Arabian Gulf 5	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	3	2	1	60	39	21	2	13
Japan	2	2	0	131	18	113	2	12
Kazakhstan	2	1	1	58	47	11	2	7
Arabian Gulf	3	1	2	49	112	-63	0	5
Korea	2	0	2	21	103	-82	0	0

Five points for win, three points for draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries or more and one for losing by seven points or less.

Week 3 Preview

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

In the opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five tournament Hong Kong beat Korea 32-8 at home but they could not maintain the momentum against the Arabian Gulf at the Bahrain Sports Club in Bahrain in Week 2 going down 16-9. On the other hand, Kazakhstan beat the Arabian Gulf in their opening match 43-28 in Almaty and then had the bye in the second week. Home ground advantage is proving to be a factor in results in the 2010 Asian Five Nations and so Kazakhstan will have to overcome the effects of long distance travel and environmental and cultural differences if they are to produce back-to-back wins.

In the other game in Week 3, Japan return home after an emphatic 71-13 win over Korea in Daegu last Saturday to face the Arabian Gulf. Japan had the bye in the opening weekend and with Korea the only away game in 2010 for the defending champions they are not too far away from securing qualification to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The much improved Arabian Gulf let a good first half lead slip against Kazakhstan in their first game to eventually go down 43-28, but they then fully utilised their home ground advantage against Hong Kong last Friday evening fixture to come up with a solid 16-9 win. It is going to be a tough task for the Gulf but the win over Hong Kong will be a strong motivating point.

After suffering two losses from their first two games Korea have the bye in Week 3 before taking on the Arabian Gulf away and Kazakhstan at home.

Week 3 Wrap-up

In Week 3 of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010, Japan were victors for the second week in a row with a 60-5 win over the Arabian Gulf in Tokyo while Hong Kong held on at home to defeat Kazakhstan 19-15.

Hong Kong 19 d Kazakhstan 15

Date: Saturday, 8 May 2010.

Venue: Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong hopes are still alive for qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup through the play-offs with this 19-15 victory over Kazakhstan at home in Hong Kong. Hong Kong scored tries though prop Nigel Hobler and centre Simon Hempel to run up a 19-5 lead at one stage in the second half before three later penalties to fullback Maxim Lifontov narrowed the final score line to 19-15.

Japan 60 d The Arabian Gulf 5

Date: Saturday, 8 May 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground Tokyo.

Japan are one step closer to qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand after beat the Arabian Gulf 60-5 in Tokyo following on from overcoming Korea 71-3 in Daegu the previous week. Japan scored ten tries to one with test debutants centre Ryo Kanazawa, replacement halfback Koji Wada and replacement five-eighth Ryohei Yamanaka all putting in fine performances. Japan now have their final two games of the tournament in Tokyo against Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.

Korea bye

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The 11^th Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament 2010

The annual Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament was 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 competed with eight top Japanese schools. The sixteen schools competed in four pools of four teams.

The Dax Landes High School from France returned 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.

In 2010, Hamilton Boys’ High School became the third New Zealand school to win the Sanix title after Christchurch Boys’ High School won in 2006 and 2005 and Rotorua Boys’ High School won in 2004 and 2003. In total, the New Zealand schools have won five of the eleven titles to date. Truro College (England) were runners-up and The Hills Sports High School (Australia) took third place.

Final Standings for 2010

1 Hamilton Boys’ High School (New Zealand),

2 Truro College (England),

3 The Hills Sports High School (Australia),

4 Marais Viljoen High School (South Africa),

5 Dax Landes High School (France),

6 Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka),

7 Toin Gakuen High School (Kanagawa),

8 Kyoto Seisho High School (Kyoto),

9 Ratu Kadavulevu (Fiji),

10 Saga Technical High School (Saga),

11 The British School (Uruguay),

12 Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba),

13 Fushimi Technical High School (Kyoto),

14 Osaka Korean High School (Osaka),

15 Kokura High School (Fukuoka),

16 Korea High School Select (Korea).

Schedule

Pool Games

Day 1: Wednesday, 28 April 2010.

Day 2: Thursday, 29 April 2010.

Day 3: Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Games were of 25 minute halves. Four points were 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.

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 Friday 30 April a rest day the overseas schools were again the ones to beat. In Pool A, defending champion the Dax Landes High School from France sat on top with two wins while in Pool B, the Marais Viljoen High School from South Africa were also unbeaten. It was a similar story in Pool C with Hamilton Boys’ from New Zealand setting the pace while in Pool D, Truro College from England also picked up maximum points from their two games.

The final round of pool games was played on Saturday 1 May 2010 with the end result being that the overseas schools dominated the top positions with Dax Landes heading Pool A, Marais Viljoen Pool B, Hamilton Boys’ Pool C and Hills Sports Pool D. The top four schools in each pool were joined by the second placed schools in the tournament deciders for places first though eighth. All other schools progressed to the tournament deciders for places ninth through sixteenth.

Play-off Games

Games were of 30 minute halves. The top two place getters in each pool played-off for places first to eighth while the remaining schools played-off for places ninth to sixteenth.

Day 4: Sunday, 2 May 2010.

In the first round of play-offs on Sunday 2 May, in the top half of the draw Truro beat Dax Landes, Marais Viljoen beat Toin Gakuen, Hamilton Boys beat Kyoto Seisho 103-3 and Hills Sports eliminated the 2009 runners-up in local favourites Higashi Fukuoka.

Day 5: Tuesday, 4 May 2010.

In the semi-finals stage on Tuesday 4 May, Truro beat Marais Viljoen 38-32 to progress to the final while Hamilton Boys’ defeated trans-Tasman rivals Hills Sports 18-0.

Day 6: Wednesday, 5 May 2010.

In the tournament final on Wednesday 5 May, the New Zealand school was too strong for their English counterparts with Hamilton Boys’ claiming the title with a 40-8 score line. Meanwhile, Hills Sports beat Marais Viljoen 57-7 to take third place.

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)

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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.

On 5 May 2010, head coach Yukio Motoki made the following comments: “Because of the limited time we have available to us to assemble our squad we have tried to choose players that are both mentally and physically tough enough to meet the challenges ahead. In the final pre-departure camp we are going to work on overall fitness as the final twenty minutes in matches is going to be crucial. For these reasons, the camp is going to be a real challenge for the players.”

The second camp will be conducted at the Ryutsu Keizai University ground from Saturday 8 May to Wednesday 12 May prior to departure for Moscow on Thursday 13 May 2010.

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 (vc)	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 (c)	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 (vc)	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.

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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 3 May 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.

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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.

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.