RUGBY IN JAPAN Vol.7, No.20

Contents:

¡ HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 4 Japan 101 d Kazakhstan 7

¡ Japan A - Squad

¡ IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010 - Squad

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 10 May 2010)

s The Think-tank:

¡ Looking Ahead:

s ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010.

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HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Week 4

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 101 d Kazakhstan 7

Japan 101 – Tries: Sione Vatuvei 2, Goshi Tachikawa 2, Koji Taira 2, Yasunori Nagatomo 2, Alisi Tupuailei 2, Shota Horie, Hitoshi Ono, Luke Thompson, Shaun Webb, Koji Wada; Conversions: Shaun Webb 11, James Arlidge 2 d.

Kazakhstan 7 – Try: Mihail Soloviyev; Conversion: Maxim Lifontov.

Date: Saturday, 15 May 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Japan Test Number: 254.

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

Referee: Anthony Lothian (Hong Kong).

Conditions: Fine, slight wind, low 20s, ground firm and fast.

Attendance: 6,243.

Halftime: Japan 33 – Kazakhstan 7.

Yellow Card: Mihail Soloviyev (Kazakhstan No.2, 38 min 1H, foul play).

Previous Encounters:

Prior to this test, Japan and Kazakhstan have met twice with Japan victorious on both occasions.

25 Apr. 2009, Japan 87 – Kazakhstan 10, Hanazono, A5N.

10 May 2008, Kazakhstan 6 – Japan 82, Almaty, A5N.

Japan (IRB rank 13 (70.59), at 10 May 2010)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	27	180/115	13
2	Shota HORIE	Sanyo Wild Knights	24	180/104	4
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	24	178/122	12
4	Hitoshi ONO (c)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	32	192/105	39
5	Luke THOMPSON	Kintetsu Liners	29	195/108	21
6	Sione VATUVEI	Sanyo Wild Knights	27	189/100	3
7	Toetu’u TAUFA	Kintetsu Liners	29	183/108	12
8	Masakazu Toyota	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	23	189/108	8
9	Fumiaki TANAKA	Sanyo Wild Knights	25	166/75	16
10	Shaun WEBB	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	28	180/90	18
11	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	25	176/85	3
12	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	30	192/100	19
13	Koji TAIRA	Suntory Sungoliath	27	185/95	20
14	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	29	186/90	28
15	Goshi TACHIKAWA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	33	182/94	16
16	Takeshi KIZU	Tokai Univ.	21	183/110	2
17	Shinsuke NAKAMURA	Suntory Sungoliath	22	190/115	4
18	Nozomu FUJITA	Honda Heat	25	191/115	3
19	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	23	192/110	2
20	Koji WADA	Toyota Verblitz	25	173/78	2
21	James ARLIDGE	Newport Dragons (Wales)	30	187/93	19
22	Alisi TUPUAILEI	Canon Eagles	29	187/116	5

Head Coach - John Kirwan. (36^th test as coach, for 20 wins, a draw and 15 losses.)

Subs

16 not used.

17 subbed 1, 21 min 2H.

18 subbed 3, 21 min 2H.

19 subbed 5, 10 min 2H.

20 subbed 9, 31 min 2H.

21 subbed 10, 26 min 2H.

22 subbed 12, 10 min 2H.

Kazakhstan (IRB rank 30 (54.05), at 10 May 2010)

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt
1	Evgeny ANTONOV	Almaty RFC	36	180/115
2	Mihail SOLOVIYEV	Almaty RFC	32	180/100
3	Vladimir CHERNIKH	CSKA	37	185/115
4	Roman SOROKODYUBA	Almaty RFC	21	193/105
5	Yevgeniy SHEKUROV	Almaty RFC	31	193/115
6	Grigoriy IVANCHENKO	Almaty RFC	25	194/104
7	Anton RUDOY	Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk	27	192/103
8	Timur MASHUROV (c)	Almaty RFC	28	192/103
9	Oleg GUSELNIKOV	Almaty RFC	21	170/75
10	Ildar ABDRAZAKOV	Almaty RFC	23	180/87
11	Sergey KONEV	Almaty RFC	22	173/76
12	Sergey HARLOV	Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk	27	173/88
13	Evgeniy ROMANOV	CSKA	23	172/70
14	Denis CHERKASHIN	Almaty RFC	31	170/85
15	Maxim LIFONTOV	Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk	23	190/95
16	Dmitriy TKACHENKO	Almaty RFC	29	175/95
17
18	Azat ABISHEV	Almaty RFC	28	185/112
19	Serik ZHANSEITOV	CSKA	29	192/105
20
21	Daulet AKYMBEKOV	Almaty RFC	22	185/90
22	Akhmetzhan BARATOV	Almaty RFC	24	169/71

Coach: Valery Popov.

Subs

16 subbed 1, 19 min 2H.

17

18 subbed 4, 39 min 1H to 8 min 2H as sinbin replacement for No.2; subbed 3, 11 min 2H.

19 subbed 16, 37 min 2H.

20

21 subbed 12, 4 min 2H.

22 subbed 9, 4 min 2H.

Preview

The team name associated with Kazakhstan is The Nomads and they are definitely a team on the move. Kazakhstan won all its five games in 2007 and shot up the IRB rankings 14 places as a result. The Kazakhstan Rugby Union was only formed in 1993 following on from rugby in the region dating back to the 1960s in the Soviet era, while the Union only joined the IRB in 1997. The official team colours are yellow jerseys, light blue shorts and blue and yellow socks, a reflection on the national flag. Rugby in the country has traditionally been based around the military, though it is starting to branch out into the general population as well. Irish born Luke O’Callaghan qualified for Kazakhstan after three years residency and he has been a window to the world for rugby in the country. Rugby in Kazakhstan also has an interesting twist to it in that the women’s side has been more successful on the world stage than their male counterparts.

According to IRB statistics, Kazakhstan has 21 clubs and 2,465 registered players (as of 12 May 2010). With such a small player base it is not surprising that the majority of the squad from Osaka last year is turning out for the team in Tokyo, although the squad for 2010 also includes a number of young players.

Head coach John Kirwan has continued to rotate a number of squad personnel for this clash with Kazakhstan. Although Hisateru Hirashima retains his place at loosehead prop, hooker Shota Horie and tighthead prop Kensuke Hatakeyama are back after missing the game against the Arabian Gulf. Hitoshi Ono and Luke Thompson are the locks with the former taking over the captaincy with regular captain Takashi Kikutani sidelined after coping a two-week ban following the test against the Gulf. Sione Vatuvei remains the blindside flanker while Masakazu Toyota moves from the openside to No8 with Toetu’u Taufa being promoted from the bench at No.7.

In the backs, Fumiaki Tanaka and Shaun Webb are the starting halves while in the centres the Suntory pairing of Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira are once again in place. Yasunori Nagatomo and Kosuke Endo are again the wings for the third test in a row while veteran fullback Goshi Tachikawa is back for his sixteenth test in an international career that started back in 1999.

On the bench, Tokai University’s Takeshi Kizu is the reserve hooker while Kirwan has picked two huge props in the form of Shinsuke Nakamura and Nozomu Fujita in a forwards heavy back-up list. Meanwhile, lock Shinya Makabe has been added to the bench as he hunts for his second test appearance. For Makabe, it will be a heart rendering return to the national team after his mother died on 3 May aged 50. Makabe made his debut from the bench against Canada last November and this will be his first run-on start in an international. The Suntory lock won the Top League rookie-of-the-year title last season while he has also captained Japan at the U19 level. Koji Wada is the back-up halfback after making his debut from the bench last Saturday while James Arlidge and Alisi Tupuailei will cover the rest of the backline positions.

Wrap-up

In only the third meeting between Japan and Kazakhstan, Japan put on a record score to defeat The Nomads 101-7 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday, 15 May 2010. In the equivalent encounter at the Hanazono Ground in Osaka last year, Japan were victorious to the tune of 87-10, while two years in Almaty Japan won 82-6. All tests to date between these two sides have been in the HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament.

In perfect spring conditions on a fast surface at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground in central Tokyo, Japan ran in fifteen tries in a decidedly one-sided afternoon in which the visitors were soon found to be far out of their league. The Cherry Blossoms brought up the ton for the first time in two years since they walloped the Arabian Gulf 114-6 in Osaka in another A5N game in May 2008 and had they been less mistake prone the score could have been even bigger. Although the A5N is certainly a godsend for rugby in Asia it does not necessarily help Japan head coach John Kirwan accurately gauge where his team is at as at no point in the 80 minutes of rugby were Japan put under any kind of real pressure. Japan pushed the Kazakhstan scrum around from pillar to post, stole opposition line-out ball when the Kazakhstan hooker managed to get it in straight and pilfered ball at the breakdown at will. All-in-all, Japan had everything going their own way, but a very high rate of unforced errors meant the game did not always flow as Japan strolled through a Kazakhstan defensive line that leaked like a sieve.

Again, like the previous two Saturdays, the first half was marked by dropped balls, passes not finding their mark in a stuttering forty minutes of play in which the home side still managed to run in five tries. Hooker Shota Horie opened the scoring when he ran in his third test try in only his fourth international in the second minute of the game followed by five-pointers to flanker Sione Vatuvei, fullback Goshi Tachikawa, centre Koji Taira and game captain lock Hitoshi Ono. To their credit, the Nomads managed to get on the board in the twentieth minute of the half from an attacking five metre lineout when the Japanese defence went to sleep at the front allowing hooker Mihail Soloviyev to virtually dot down untouched in the left hand corner. Fullback Maxim Lifontov added the extras in what turned out to be the only points for the visitors in the entire game. The act of scoring the try must have led to a brain explosion for Soloviyev as he was sinbinned late in the half when he caught a ball flying across the Japanese backline. The instinct of catching the ball must have been too much to resist but unfortunately for the hooker it was the wrong backline and he was about 20 yards offside as the loiterer was slowly trying to make his way back on-side. Referee Anthony Lothian saw the act as mischievous and did not hesitate in giving him his marching orders for a ten minute rest on the sideline. Japan took a 33-7 lead into the break.

After the break, things were never going to get any better for the tiring away side as Japan piled on a further 68 unanswered points through ten tries and nine conversions. Tachikawa, as the oldest player in the Japanese XXII at 33 years of age brought up his double before the Tokyo crowd of 6,243 even had time to find their seats and after that it was all but a procession as lock Luke Thompson got in on the try scoring act, Vatuvei added another, five-eight Shaun Webb crossed the whitewash, wing Yasunori Nagatomo scored twice as did replacement centre Alisi Tupuailei late in the game while Taira and replacement half Koji Wada completed the try scoring. Webb converted 11 of 12 attempts at conversion with James Arlidge added a further two when he took over the job late in proceedings.

It was a nice run in the afternoon sunshine for the Japanese as the win all but ensures they wrap up the A5N for another year and along with that a ticket to New Zealand next year for the World Cup as Asia’s representative.

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 21 – Korea 19	The Sevens, Dubai	19:00
	Saturday, 15 May 2010	Japan 101 – Kazakhstan 7	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
Japan	3	3	0	232	25	207	3	18
Hong Kong	3	2	1	60	39	21	2	12
Arabian Gulf	4	2	2	70	131	-61	0	10
Kazakhstan	3	1	2	65	148	-83	2	7
Korea	3	0	3	40	124	-84	1	1

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 4 Preview

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

The Arabian Gulf have the fatigue from travelling to and from Tokyo for the clash with Japan last round to contend with whereas Korea are coming off their bye. Two weeks ago the Gulf came up with their first ever A5N win when they beat Hong Kong 16-9. Home ground advantage is proving to be a factor in results in the 2010 Asian Five Nations and with Korea having their backs to the wall this is truly a must win came for them. The home side will be inspired by their win over Hong Kong and with a close away lose to Kazakhstan in Week 1 and a vastly improved performance against the might of Japan in only going down 60-5 the Gulf will be hunting for their second win of the tournament. Korea have two loses from their two games and a further loss this weekend will put them in contention for relegation, something they will be desperate to avoid.

In the other game in Week 4, Japan are again at home after an emphatic 71-13 win over Korea in Week 2 and a solid 60-5 win over the Arabian Gulf last Saturday to face Kazakhstan. 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. 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 before losing 19-15 to Hong Kong last week. This is the second game of a tough three week road trip for Kazakhstan as they move on to Incheon for their crucial clash with Korea in the final week.

Week 4 Wrap-up

In Week 4 of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010, on Friday evening the Arabian Gulf defeated Korea 21-19 at The Sevens in Dubai to chalk up their second win of the tournament  while Japan were victors for the third week in a row with a 101-7 win over Kazakhstan in Tokyo on Saturday while Hong Kong had the bye.

The Arabian Gulf 21 d Korea 19

Date: Friday, 14 May 2010.

Venue: The Sevens, Dubai.

After defeating Hong Kong 16-9 in Week 2 in Bahrain, the Arabian Gulf secured their second win in their fourth and final game this year when they beat Korea 21-19 at The Sevens in Dubai. With the fear of relegation motivating the visitors, Korea got out to a 14-6 lead at the completion of the first half with tries to halfback Wan-Yong Park and No8 Kun-Kyu Han though Gulf fullback James Love kept the home side in contact with two penalties. Five-eighth Duncan Murray scored the first try for the Gulf early in the second half and with an extra man advantage when Korea had a man in the sinbin centre Trent Eastgate touched down again for the hosts. Love extended the lead with a further penalty before Korea scored late in the game through wing Jae-Yong Chae but in the end it was not enough to overcome the Arabian Gulf lead.

Japan 101 d Kazakhstan 7

Date: Saturday, 15 May 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground Tokyo.

Japan are now on the verge of qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand after beat Kazakhstan 101-7 in Tokyo following on from overcoming Korea 71-3 in Daegu in Week 2 and the Arabian Gulf 60-5  the previous week. Japan scored fifteen tries to one with centre Koji Taira, replacement halfback Koji Wada and replacement centre Alisi Tupuailei among the scorers. Japan now have their final game of the tournament in Tokyo against Hong Kong next Saturday.

Hong Kong had the bye in Week 4 before playing Japan in Tokyo in the final round.

Camp News

After the win against the Arabian Gulf in Tokyo in Saturday 8 May 2010, the Japan squad transferred from Tokyo to Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu the following day to return to camp in the build up for the clash with Kazakhstan in Tokyo on Saturday 15 May 2010.

After a pool recovery session in the afternoon the squad was reminded by strength and conditioning consultant Martin Hulme that there were still two more games to go in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 tournament on the road to qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The day was generally a rest day for the squad to enable them to get over the fatigue of the test match and the travel.

On Monday 10 May 2010, there was a team meeting in the morning to review the test against the Arabian Gulf from Saturday. After viewing the video, head coach John Kirwan was generally happy that the team had produced a Japanese style game played at pace with good support and decision making but wanted the team to step up for the clash with Kazakhstan.

It was also decided that lock Hitoshi Ono would be the game captain for Saturday’s test against Kazakhstan. In other team news, centre Ryo Kanazawa was named the players’ man-of-the-match against the Arabian Gulf after a fine debut performance. Captain Takashi Kikutani, who was cited after the Gulf game and ultimately suspended for two weeks offered his full support for the team in the effort to secure World Cup qualification.

The day ended with a 90 minute afternoon training session in the rain.

On Tuesday 11 May 2010, although there was a level of general fatigue in the squad after the recent round of camps and the two tests to date, the squad was focussed on the two remaining A5N games against Kazakhstan and Hong Kong. With the weather improving throughout the day the squad went through a training session in the morning followed by weight training in the gym in the afternoon.

Wednesday 12 May 2010 was the final day of camp in preparation for the clash with Kazakhstan in Tokyo on Saturday. The day’s activities centred around a practice game against local Top League Fukuoka Sanix Blues. After the two teams warmed up together the game got under way. After the game, Sanix five-eighth Kosei Ono commented that the Japan unit worked well with good systems in place, while noting that the game was also good for his team as they successfully tried to put into place what they had been doing at their own training. Japan game captain Hitoshi Ono noted that Sanix put his team under a lot of pressure creating g a lot of unforced errors. In the afternoon, the squad and staff transferred to Tokyo with a rest day scheduled for Thursday ahead of the captain’s run at the Prince Chichibu Ground on Friday.

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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.

On 2 May 2010, Yoshitaka Nakayama had to withdraw from the squad and his place was taken by Young-Dae Kim from Ricoh.

On 9 May 2010, Hiroshi Yamashita and Chul-Won Kim had to withdraw from the squad due to injuries.

Japan A Squad (provisional)

Position	Name	Club/University	Age	Hgt/Wgt
LH Props	Hiroshige TEZUKA	Kubota	27	177/106
	Tateo KANAI	Suntory	25	176/110
Hookers	Hirotaka HIRAHARA	Coca-Cola	23	176/115
	Ryuhei ARITA	Waseda Univ.	21	176/103
TH Props	Hiroshi YAMASHITA	Kobe	24	183/120
	Takahiro Doi	NEC	23	182/120
Locks	Tomoaki TANIGUCHI	Toyota	27	190/124
	Hidetoshi MINE	Coca-Cola	26	187/100
	Eiri NAKADA	Waseda Univ.	21	193/110
Flankers	Yoshitaka NAKAYAMA	Toyota	27	184/106
	Koji SHINOZUKA	Suntory	26	196/109
	Yoichi IIJIMA	Sanyo	26	188/103
	Young-Dae KIM	Ricoh	26	179/94
No8s	Sioeli IONGI	NTT Docomo	24	187/117
	Timothy BOND	Teikyo Univ.	20	194/105
Halfbacks	Chul-Won KIM	Kintetsu	26	171/78
	Shuhei OSHIMA	Kanto Gakuin Univ.	21	179/77
Five-eighths	Masakazu IRIE	Sanyo	28	173/80
	Nathan ANDERSON	Kobe	25	170/75
Centres	Yuta IMAMURA	Kobe	25	178/95
	Takayuki YAMAUCHI	Toyota	23	180/85
	Aisea HAVEA	Tenri Univ.	21	176/100
Wings	Masahiro TSUIKI	Coca-Cola	26	176/88
	Kenichiro IWAMOTO	Toyota	26	185/85
	Paea Mifiposeti	Saitama IOT	22	176/108
Fullbacks	Kenji SHOMEN	Kobe	26	175/84
	Ayumu GOROMARU	Yamaha	24	185/98

Head coach: Masahiro Kunda, Toshiba.

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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.

Camp News

On Saturday 8 May 2010, the final Japan U20 squad to participate in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010 in Moscow later this month assembled at the Ryutsu Keizai University ground.

A lot of work to date has been on improving the level of the fitness of the squad to a world standard and fitness checks were again conducted to measure the improvements. Today was the first of five days of camp as the squad and staff set about the task of guaranteeing Japan wins the JWRT.

On Sunday 9 May 2010, in summer like conditions former Japan national coach Mitsutake Hagimoto joined the camp for two days as a spot coach. With only about a week till the start of the tournament every minute of training is being treated as precious as the squad practised both attack and defence drills throughout the day with head coach Yukio Motoki putting the emphasis on defence in the afternoon session.

On Monday 10 May 2010, the morning session of training focussed on attack, defence, the breakdown and area management. Furthermore, the training also tried to improve the levels of concentration required across the entire game in match conditions at the tournament itself. In the afternoon, there was a session on the leadership style required in Moscow.

On Tuesday 11 May 2010, with only 2 days of training remaining and a week till the start of the JWRT, the final domestic practice game was conducted against the Ryutsu Keizai University team, the host institution for the camp. The game kicked off at 5;00 PM in drizzly rain with the hosts holding a 7-5 lead on the scoreboard at the end of the first thirty minutes. With the rain easing, an almost entirely different team went out for the second half with the mission to up the ante. The message obviously got through with the U20s dominating the second thirty minutes to take the game 43-12. At the end of the day it was felt the team made far too many unforced errors in the first half and that overall this would not be good enough to win at international level.

On Wednesday 12 May 2010, with only one day to go till departure the U20 squad and staff thanked all at Ryutsu Keizai University and Ryugasaki city for hosting the camp. The mayor of Ryugasaki city wished the team well in Moscow to a rousing Japanese drumming performance. Furthermore, a student from a local primary school that the team took time off to visit during the camp also wished the squad well as did the manager of the Ryutsu Keizai University team. Finally head coach Yukio Motoki and squad captain Kota Yamashita thanked everyone concerned and vowed to do their very best in Moscow.

On Thursday 13 May 2010, the squad left Ryutsu Keizai University early in the morning  to make their way to Narita Airport. Before boarding the plane, captain Yamashita promised the side would come home with the winner’s trophy while coach Motoki thanked everyone for their support while firmly believing this group of players had the full potential to win the JWRT.

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 March Sumo tournament is under way in Tokyo with Estonia born Balto, wrestling for the first time as an Ozeki, the second highest rank in Sumo getting off to a good start with seven straight wins.

IRB ranking on 10 May 2010 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

The Think-tank:

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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.

Plan D, or is that E or F has Russia and also Samoa playing in Japan in November.