Rugby in Japan Newsletter

Vol.7, No.22

By Ian McDonnell

Contents:

¡ HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Wrap-up

¡ Japan A in Scotland – Game 1

¡ IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Moscow 2010 – Days 3 & 4 (Final)

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 31 May 2010)

s The Think-tank:

¡ Looking Ahead:

s ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010.

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HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 – Wrap-up

The HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 also doubled as the final Asian qualification round for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Japan as the top placed finisher qualified directly for New Zealand as Asian 1 and will join hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada in Pool A.

The HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 involving defending champion Japan, along with Korea, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and the Arabian Gulf was completed last weekend with Japan taking the title undefeated for the third year in a row with a maximum 24 points. In the final game, Kazakhstan defeated Korea in Incheon to take second place with 13 points from two wins and two losses. Meanwhile Hong Kong finished their 2010 campaign in third place on 12 points with two wins and two losses, one point behind Kazakhstan. The Arabian Gulf won promotion back to the Top Five division for 2010 and finished with a commendable ten points from two wins and two losses. With Japan winning all their games and three teams finishing with two wins and two losses Korea were the surprise package in 2010 when they finished with four straight losses. Korea will be relegated to Division One for 2012 with Sri Lanka winning promotion.

Kazakhstan as the runner-up still has a chance of qualifying through the final place play-off for a spot in Pool B alongside Argentina, England, Scotland and Georgia. The Kazakhstan will face a cross-continental play-off against Uruguay in July with the winner of that match progressing to the play-off final against the winner of Romania and Ukraine v Tunisia.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five Results (Final)

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 94 –Hong Kong 5	Prince Chichibu, Tokyo	14:00
		Korea 25 – Kazakhstan 32	Munhak Stadium, Incheon	14:00
		Arabian Gulf bye

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 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 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 94 d Hong Kong 5

Japan 94 – Tries: Alisi Tupuailei 3, Kosuke Endo 2, Fumiaki Tanaka 2, Koji Taira, Koliniasi Ryu Holani, Shaun Webb, Kaoru Matsushita, Hiroki Yuhara, Tomoki Yoshida and James Arlidge; Conversions: Ryan Nicholas 4, Shaun Webb 3, James Arlidge 5 d.

Hong Kong 5 – Try: Mark Wright.

Date: Saturday, 22 May 2010.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2010 Top Five Table (Final)

	Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
1	Japan	4	4	0	326	30	296	4	24
2	Kazakhstan	4	2	2	97	173	-76	3	13
3	Hong Kong	4	2	2	65	133	-68	2	12
4	Arabian Gulf	4	2	2	70	131	-61	0	10
5	Korea	4	0	4	65	156	-91	2	2

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.

Japan Players Used in the HSBC A5N 2010

Below is a list of the players used in the four HSBC A5N 2010 test matches.

The table lists the four tests in chronological order, that is, Korea, the Arabian Gulf, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong. This is followed by a total cap count for each player. Column numbers for the tests indicate jersey numbers worn by players. A number in brackets indicates unused reserve player and thus no cap awarded. A dash indicates the player did not play in that game. The captain for each match is indicated by (c).

Loosehead prop Hisateru Hirashima and wing Kosuke Endo were the only players to start in all four games. However, lock Luke Thompson, backrowers Toetu’u Taufa and Masakazu Toyota, five-eighth James Arlidge and outside back Alisi Tupuailei made appearances in all four games.

A total of 32 players were used across the four tests with 7 players making their international debuts in hooker Hiroki Yuhara, prop Nozomu Fujita, flanker Sione Vatuvei, halfback Koji Wada, five-eighth Ryohei Yamanaka, wing Yasunori Nagatomo and centre Ryo Kanazawa. Lock Hitoshi Ono is the most capped player in the current squad with 40 caps followed by No8 Takashi Kikutani on 30 caps while wing Kosuke Endo has 29 caps.

Position	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Kor	AG	Kaz	HK	Caps
Loose head props	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	27	180/115	1	1	1	1	14
	Naoki KAWAMATA	Sanyo Wild Knights	24	184/118	-	-	-	17	6
Hookers	Shota HORIE	Sanyo Wild Knights	24	180/104	2	-	2	2	4
	Takeshi KIZU	Tokai Univ.	21	183/110	-	16	(16)	-	2
	Hiroki YUHARA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	26	173/105	16	2	-	16	3
Tight head props	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	24	178/122	3	-	3	-	12
	Shinsuke NAKAMURA	Suntory Sungoliath	22	190/115	-	3	17	3	5
	Nozomu FUJITA	Honda Heat	25	191/115	17	17	18	-	3
Locks	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	31	192/105	4	(18)	4 (c)	4 (c)	40
	Toshizumi KITAGAWA	Toyota Verblitz	29	195/110	5	5	-	18	28
	Luke THOMPSON	Kintetsu Liners	28	195/108	18	4	5	5	22
	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	22	192/110	-	-	19	-	2
Flankers	Takashi KIKUTANI (c)	Toyota Verblitz	30	187/100	8 (c)	8 (c)	-	-	30
	Toetu’u TAUFA	Kintetsu Liners	29	183/108	6	19	7	7	13
	Michael LEITCH	Tokai Univ.	21	189/99	-	-	-	19	10
	Sione VATUVEI	Sanyo Wild Knights	27	189/100	7	7	6	-	3
No8s	Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI	Sanyo Wild Knights	28	188/111	-	-	-	8	9
	Masakazu Toyota	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	23	189/108	19	6	8	6	9
Halfbacks	Tomoki YOSHIDA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	28	172/78	(20)	9	-	20	22
	Fumiaki TANAKA	Sanyo Wild Knights	25	166/75	9	-	9	9	17
	Koji WADA	Toyota Verblitz	24	173/78	-	20	20	-	2
Five-eighths	James ARLIDGE	Newport Dragons (Wales)	30	187/93	21	10	21	21	20
	Shaun WEBB	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	28	180/90	10	-	10	10	19
	Ryohei YAMANAKA	Waseda Univ.	21	187/95	-	21	-	-	1
Wings	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	29	186/90	14	14	14	11	29
	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	24	176/85	11	11	11	-	3
Centres	Ryan NICHOLAS	Suntory Sungoliath	31	192/100	12	(22)	12	12	20
	Koji TAIRA	Suntory Sungoliath	27	185/95	13	-	13	13	21
	Alisi TUPUAILEI	Canon Eagles	29	187/116	22	13	22	14	6
	Ryo KANAZAWA	Ricoh Black Rams	28	174/86	-	12	-	-	1
Fullbacks	Goshi TACHIKAWA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	33	183/94	15	-	15	15	17
	Kaoru MATSUSHITA	Yamaha Jubilo	26	185/86	-	15	-	22	4

Head Coach: John Kirwan (NZ). (37 tests as coach, for 21 wins, a draw and 15 losses.)

Japan Point Scorers in the HSBC A5N 2010

Below is a list of the point scorers for Japan in the four tests played during the HSBC A5N 2010.

Five-eighth Shaun Webb and wing Kosuke Endo were the leading point scorers on 40 points each with the former scoring two tries and 15 conversions and the latter scoring eight tries.

Endo was the leading try scorer with eight 5-pointers to his name followed by Alisi Tupuailei with seven tries. A total of 50 tries were scored across the four tests, 38 of which were converted by the four goal kickers used.

Name	T	C	Total
Shaun WEBB	2	15	40
Kosuke ENDO	8	-	40
Alisi TUPUAILEI	7	-	35
James ARLIDGE	2	11	32
Ryan NICHOLAS	-	11	22
Kaoru MATSUSHITA	3	1	17
Takashi KIKUTANI	3	-	15
Koji TAIRA	3	-	15
Yasunori NAGATOMO	3	-	15
Fumiaki TANAKA	3	-	15
Hitoshi ONO	2	-	10
Shota HORIE	2	-	10
Hiroki YUHARA	2	-	10
Koji WADA	2	-	10
Goshi TACHIKAWA	2	-	10
Sione VATUVEI	2	-	10
Hiroki YOSHIDA	1	-	5
Luke THOMPSON	1	-	5
Ryo KANAZAWA	1	-	5
Koliniasi Ryu HOLANI	1	-	5
TOTALS	50	38	326

Cards

In the four tests of the HSBC A5N 2010, Japan received three yellow cards, while captain Takashi Kikutani was cited following the game against the Arabian Gulf and suspended for two matches. Fullback Goshi Tachikawa was red carded for punching late in the final game against Hong Kong.

Japan v the Arabian Gulf

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

Citing: captain and No8 Takashi Kikutani was cited and eventually suspended for two weeks for stamping in the game against the Arabian Gulf.

Japan v Hong Kong

Yellow Cards: Toetu’u Taufa (Japan No.7, 42 min 2H, repeated team infringements).

Red Card: Goshi Tachikawa (Japan No.15, 43 min 2H, punching).

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Japan A Tour to Scotland and Spain

On 29 April 2010 the Japan Rugby Football Union announced 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 on a three match tour from 19 May to 7 June 2010.

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

On 9 May 2010, prop Hiroshi Yamashita (Kobe) and halfback Chul-Won Kim (Kintetsu) had to withdraw from the squad due to injuries.

On 12 May 2010, wing Kenichiro Iwamoto (Toyota) withdrew with injury while prop Yusuke Nagae (Ricoh), centre Tomohiro Semba (Toshiba) and wing Tomoki Kitagawa (Sanyo) were added to the squad.

On 31 May 2010, prop Tateo Kanai (Suntory) and hooker Ryuhei Arita (Waseda Univ) were forced to quit the tour due to injury. Hooker Heiichiro Ito (Waseda Univ) was called into the squad at the completion of the U20 Junior World Rugby Trophy in Moscow.

On Wednesday 19 May 2010 the squad flew out of Narita for Edinburgh via Amsterdam and before departure manager Yuichi Ueno commented, “Although we have had very limited time to prepare the squad we expect them to give 100% on tour. The squad is mostly a mixture of university students, younger Top League players along with a number of more experienced players as we look to groom players for the next World Cup and beyond.” Head coach Masahiro Kunda also commented on the fact that there was only a short time to get the squad ready but added that the future of Japanese rugby rests on their young shoulders, as well as the likes of the current Japan U20 squad now competing in the IRB Junior World Trophy Tournament in Moscow. Finally, captain Masakazu Irie added, “Despite the lack of preparation time, this tour is not just for the experience but the team will be expected to be highly competitive against Scotland XV.”

Match Schedule and Results

Game 1:

Japan Select 35 d Currie 17

Date: Tuesday, 26 May 2010.

Venue: Malleny Park, Currie RFC.

Kick-off: 19:30 (local Scotland time).

Scottish Hydro Premier 1 champions and club of the season Currie took on a fast running Japan A side with the visitors scoring five tries to two to run out 35-17 victors. The amateur Scottish club side was up against it as first wing Masahiro Tsuiki then flanker Koji Shinozuka and No8 Sioeli Iongi scored first half tries with fullback Ayumu Goromaru landing two conversions and two penalties to take the A side to a 25-3 lead at the break.

Head coach Masahiro Kunda totally re-jigged the side for the second half to give as many players as possible a run though initially this allowed the home side to fight its way back into the game getting to 25-17 at one stage. However, the Japan Select side closed out the game 35-17 with two late unconverted tries to prop Hiroshige Tezuka and Nathan Anderson playing at halfback in the second half.

After the game, Kunda commented, “Given our limited preparation, this was a very pleasing win. However, we will have to raise the bar when we take on the Scotland XV side in our next game.”

Game 2:

Japan A v Scotland XV

Date: Tuesday, 1 June 2010.

Venue: Murrayfield.

Kick-off: 19:00 (local Scotland time).

Game 3:

Japan A v Spain President’s XV

Date: Saturday, 5 June 2010.

Venue: Spain (Details TBC).

Kick-off: TBC.

Japan A Squad

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
	Heiichiro ITO	Waseda Univ.	19	174/102
TH Props	Hiroshi YAMASHITA	Kobe	24	183/120
	Takahiro DOI	NEC	23	182/120
	Yusuke NAGAE	Ricoh	24	171/105
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 (c)	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
	Mefi PAEA	Saitama IOT	22	176/108
	Tomohiro SEMBA	Toshiba	27	183/97
	Tomoki KITAGAWA	Sanyo	26	174/80
Fullbacks	Kenji SHOMEN	Kobe	26	175/84
	Ayumu GOROMARU	Yamaha	24	185/98

Head coach: Masahiro Kunda, Toshiba.

Manager: Yuichi Ueno, Ryutsu Keizai University.

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IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Moscow 2010

18-30 May 2010, Moscow.

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

Moscow News

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 Kota Yamashita promised the side would come home with the winner’s trophy while head coach Yukio Motoki thanked everyone for their support while firmly believing this group of players had the full potential to win the JWRT.

On Friday 14 May 2010, in their first morning in Moscow the squad was still coming to terms with the after affects of jet lag and the time difference but training went ahead as scheduled. There was a 90 minute indoor training session in the morning consisting of stretching exercises and attack and defence drills. In the afternoon, a one hour conditioning session was held in an open space at the team hotel. Throughout the day, the various teams participating in the JWRT started arriving at the hotel.

Results for Japan

Pool B Games

Day 1: Tuesday, 18 May 2010, Russia 17-31 Japan, 18:15, Slava Stadium, Moscow.

Day 2: Saturday, 22 May 2010, Japan 20-20 Zimbabwe, 16:00, Fili Stadium, Moscow.

Day 3: Wednesday, 26 May 2010, Japan 38-17 Canada, 18:00, Slava Stadium, Moscow.

Play-off Final

Day 4: Sunday, 30 May 2010, Italy 36-7 Japan, Slava Stadium, Moscow.

Day Three Wrap-up

On Wednesday 26 May 2010, the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Russia 2010 played four day three games across two venues in Moscow. The eight team tournament is divided into two pools of four teams with Italy, Papua New Guinea, Romania, and Uruguay in Pool A and Canada, Japan, Russia and Zimbabwe in Pool B.

In Pool A, Romania outscored Papua New Guinea in the early game at the Fili Stadium running out comfortable 48-12 winners. Romania scored seven tries to two, including a double to captain and prop Petru Tamba, to control most of the game after PNG jumped out to an early 12-10 lead. PNG could not sustain the pressure throughout the entirety of the match, however, allowing Romania to eventually pull away on the scoreboard.

In the other Pool A game, Italy came from behind well into injury time to beat Uruguay 16-12 at the Slava Stadium. In fact, it was a penalty try awarded by Japanese referee Akihisa Aso that eventually got Italy home after Uruguay had collapsed a series of scrums on their own goal line. Uruguay were leading 12-9 after the fulltime hooter had sounded and looked like spoiling the party for the Italians, but the young Azzurri kept their composure, maintained the pressure and ultimately forced the penalty try.

In Pool B, Russia had to dig deep for their second win of the tournament when they got home 21-19 over a determined Zimbabwe at the Fili Stadium. Zimbabwe had the chance to steal the game at the death with a penalty, but five-eighth Farai Mupasiri failed to raise the flags thus handing the win to the hosts. Russia scored three tries to one but three missed penalties and a missed drop goal came back to haunt Zimbabwe.

In the other crucial Pool B match, Japan defeated Canada 38-17 at the Slava Stadium to top the pool on eleven points from two wins and a draw. Japan scored six tries to two with captain Kota Yamashita coming up with a double while wing Takaaki Nakazuru finished with a hat-trick. Japan used their pace around the field with a concerted effort either side of halftime securing the win. Japan now faces Italy in the final on Sunday.

Japan 38 – Tries: Takaaki Nakazuru 3, Kota Yamashita 2 and Masakatsu Hikosaka; Conversion: Hirotomo Ono; Penalties: Ono 2 d.

Canada 17 – Tries: Brett Beukeboom and Beau Parker; Conversions: Connor Braid; Penalty: Connor Braid.

Referee: Napolioni Locoloco (Fiji).

Halftime: Japan 22 – Canada 10.

Yellow Card: Hirotomo Ono (Japan No.15, 23 min 1H).

Japan: 1- Shintaro Ishihara, 2- Heiichiro Ito, 3- Ryotaro Ueda, 4- Takumi Mikami, 5- Masataka Tsuruya, 6- Naoyuki Tsuji, 7- Kyosuke Horie, 8- Kota Yamashita (c), 9- Takehito Namekawa, 10- Keisuke Sakamoto, 11- Takaaki Nakazuru, 12- Yuta Kim, 13- Tonishio Vaihu, 14- Masakatsu Hikosaka, 15- Hirotomo Ono.

Reserves: 16- Mao Enoki (subbed 3, 28 min 2H), 17- Junki Kamada (subbed 1, 38 min 2H), 18- Genki Kudo (subbed 4, 35 min 2H), 19- Daisuke Musha (subbed 6, 21 min 2H), 20- Keisuke Uchida, 21- Naoki Sarugaku (subbed 12, 6 min 2H) and 22- Kazuma Miyata.

Canada: 1- Admir Cevjanovic, 2- Liam Murray, 3- Adam Zaruba, 4- Brett Beukeboom, 5- Dakota Poole, 6- Jeff McKinnon, 7- Matt Kelly, 8- Andrew Crow (c), 9- Mathew Yanagiya, 10- Liam Underwood, 11- Kurtis Appeldoorn, 12- Tye Hamblin, 13- Jeffrey Hassler, 14- Beau Parker, 15- Connor Braid. Reserves: 16- Casey Cavers, 17- Scott MacLeod, 18- Ryan Fried, 19- Scott MacDonald, 20- Pat Fraser, 21- Patrick Parfrey and 22- Keaton Styles.

Japan topped Pool B to secure their place in the final of the JWRT 2010 along Italy who were undefeated in Pool A. In an impressive final pool game against Canada, the young Japanese scored six tries to two with captain Kota Yamashita coming up with a double while wing Takaaki Nakazuru finished with a hat-trick. Japan finished their three pool games on eleven points from two wins and a draw and that was enough to get them into the final against undefeated Italy who finished on fourteen points. The score could have even been greater had fullback Hirotomo Ono been on song with the boot, as he only managed to convert one of the six tries, though he did add a late penalty to well and truly put the icing on the win.

Day Four Wrap-up

Sunday 30 May 2010 saw the final play-off games of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Russia 2010 across two venues in Moscow.

In the final at the Slava Stadium in Moscow, Italy backed up their strong form in the pool stages of the tournament with a commanding 36-7 victory over Japan. Italy scored five tries to one in taking the title and at one point early in the second half the Italians led 29-0 before easing off over the final stages of the match. With the win, Italy will return to the Junior World Championship in 2011, which incidentally will be hosted by Italy. “We wanted to return to the JWC by right, not by default.” Said Italian captain Tommaso Benvenuti after the game who led by example with two tries in the final.

In the third place play-off between tournament hosts Russia and Romania at the Slava Stadium, the scores were locked at 20-all at the end of regulation time forcing the game into sudden death extra time. The match was ultimately decided in the second minute of the second half of extra time when Russian five-eighth Denis Kukishev landed the decisive penalty goal after his Romanian counterpart Gabriel Conache missed a penalty attempt in the first half of overtime. In the end, the score board read 23-20 to the home side.

In the fifth place play-off at the Fili Stadium, Uruguay had to come from behind late in the contest with Canada to secure overall fifth place in the tournament . With Canada holding a slender 11-10 lead heading into the final minute of the play-off Uruguay inside centre Agustin Ormaechea became the hero of his side when a late penalty raised the flags to hand his side a 13-11 win. Canada led 11-3 early in the second half but could not close out the game with a resilient Uruguay refusing to throw in the towel.

In the seventh place play-off, Zimbabwe proved too strong for Papua New Guinea with a six tries to three 46-22 win in a fast and open game. Zimbabwean captain Graham Kaulback noted after the match, “ I am really proud of our boys, who showed great spirit and attitude. We scored some good tries and showed what we could have done.” This was the only win of the tournament for the victors who drew with Japan and went down to Russia by two points in the pool stages.

Italy 36 – Tries: Tommaso Benvenuti 2, Antonio Denti, Michele Mortali and Gabriele Cicchinelli; Conversions: Alberto Chillon 4; Penalty: Alberto Chillon d.

Japan 7 – Try: Mao Enoki; Conversion: Hirotomo Ono.

Referee: Napolioni Locoloco (Fiji).

Attendance: N/A

Halftime: Italy 15 – Japan 0.

Italy: 1- Carlo Fazzari, 2- Antonio Denti, 3- Piermaria Leso, 4- Enrico Targa, 5- Filippo Cazzola, 6- Stefano Scanferla, 7- Nicola Belardo, 8- Gabriele Cicchinelli, 9- Alberto Chillon, 10- Tommaso Iannone, 11- Michele Mortali, 12- Sebastian Rodwell, 13- Tommaso Benvenuti (c), 14- Alberto Zorzi, 15- Ruggero Trevisan. Reserves: 16- Nicola Corbanese, 17- Ornel Gega, 18- Lorenzo Santelli, 19- Filippo Ferrarini, 20- Guglielmo Palazzani, 21- Alberto Benettin and 22- Luca Morisi.

Japan: 1- Shintaro Ishihara, 2- Heiichiro Ito, 3- Ryotaro Ueda, 4- Takumi Mikami, 5- Masataka Tsuruya, 6- Naoyuki Tsuji, 7- Kyosuke Horie, 8- Kota Yamashita (c), 9- Takehito Namekawa, 10- Keisuke Sakamoto, 11- Takaaki Nakazuru, 12- Yuta Kim, 13- Tonishio Vaihu, 14- Masakatsu Hikosaka, 15- Hirotomo Ono.

Reserves: 16- Mao Enoki (subbed 1, 14 min 2H), 17- Junki Kamada, 18- Genki Kudo (subbed 4, 30 min 2H), 19- Daisuke Musha (subbed 6, 18 min 2H), 20- Keisuke Uchida (subbed 9, 5 min 2H), 21- Naoki Sarugaku (subbed 12, 13 min 2H) and 22- Kazuma Miyata (subbed 13, 40 min 2H).

Japan were totally overwhelmed by Italy in the final of the 2010 Junior World Rugby Trophy in Moscow on Sunday 30 May 2010 going down to the tune of 36-7. Italy got out to a 15-0 lead at halftime on the back of tries to captain and centre Tommaso Benvenuti and hooker Antonio Denti with halfback Alberto Chillon adding a conversion and a penalty to complete the scoring. Things did not get any better for the U20 Japanese in the second half as additional tries to wing Michele Mortali and No8 Gabriele Cicchinelli pushed Italy out to a commanding 29-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the half. The game was all but gone at this point, though Japan posted a try to replacement forward Mao Enoki late in the match before Italy closed out the final with a second touchdown to Benvenuti at the death. After the match, Japan head coach Yukio Motoki noted that Italy were very strong and that his players had never experienced that kind of pressure in a match before. Captain Kota Yamashita said, “We wanted to win but after giving away those first half tries it was always going to be difficult. Although we could not win the final, I feel this was a very good Japanese side.”

Play-off Results

Day 4: Sunday, 30 May 2010

Final: Italy 36-7 Japan, 18:30, Slava Stadium.

Third Place Play-off: Romania 20-23 Russia, 16:15, Slava Stadium.

Fifth Place Play-off: Uruguay 13-11 Canada, 15:15, Fili Stadium.

Seventh Place Play-off: PNG 22-46 Zimbabwe, 13:00, Fili Stadium.

Final Pool Results

Pool A: Italy, Papua New Guinea, Romania, and Uruguay.

Day 1: Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Italy 74-0 PNG, 16:00, Fili Stadium.

Uruguay 12-15 Romania, 16:00, Slava Stadium.

Day 2: Saturday, 22 May 2010

Uruguay 42-14 PNG, 14:00, Fili Stadium.

Italy 30-7 Romania, 14:00, Slava Stadium.

Day 3: Wednesday, 26 May 2010.

Romania 48-12 PNG, 16:00, Fili Stadium.

Italy 16-12 Uruguay, 16:00, Slava Stadium.

Team	P	W	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
Italy	3	3	0	120	19	101	2	14
Romania	3	2	1	70	54	16	1	9
Uruguay	3	1	2	66	45	21	3	7
PNG	3	0	3	26	164	-138	0	0

Pool B: Canada, Japan, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Day 1: Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Russia 17-31 Japan, 18:15, Fili Stadium.

Canada 22-6 Zimbabwe, 18:30, Slava Stadium.

Day 2: Saturday, 22 May 2010

Japan 20-20 Zimbabwe, 16:00, Fili Stadium.

Russia 17-15 Canada, 16:00, Slava Stadium.

Day 3: Wednesday, 26 May 2010.

Russia 21-19 Zimbabwe, 18:00, Fili Stadium.

Canada 17-38 Japan, 18:00, Slava Stadium.

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
Japan	3	2	1	0	89	54	35	1	11
Russia	3	2	0	1	55	65	-10	0	8
Canada	3	1	0	2	54	61	-7	1	5
Zimbabwe	3	0	1	2	45	63	-18	1	3

Japan U20 Squad

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 – politics are grabbing the headlines this week with PM Yukio Hatoyama dumping Mizuho Fukushima from his cabinet after she refused to see eye-to-eye with the boss over relocation plans for the US Futenma base in Okinawa. Fukushima and her Social Democratic party subsequently withdrew from the three-party coalition government.

IRB ranking on 17 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.

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

Japan will fly out of Narita Airport on Saturday 29 May 2010 for New Zealand where they will play a warm-up game against North Harbour at the North Harbour Stadium in New Zealand on the evening of Friday 4 June 2010. From Auckland, the squad will transfer to Fiji on Saturday 5 June to prepare for their opening game against Fiji in Lautoka the following Saturday.

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 E has Russia and also Samoa playing in Japan in November.

Into the Future

With the IRB working towards re-introducing traditional long tours there will be spin-offs for Japan in the lead-up to this country hosting the 2019 RWC. Although it is not set in concrete, a bevy of tier one countries are pencilled in to tour Japan with Wales touring in 2013, Scotland in 2016, Ireland in 2017 and Italy in 2018.