RiJ Vol.8 No.5, 1 February 2011

Ian McDonnell at ianmcdo@apost.plala.or.jp

Contents:

¡ The 48^th National Championship: Round One

s Toshiba Brave Lupus (Top League) 21 d NEC Green Rockets (Top League Wildcard) 10

s Teikyo University (University 1) 74 d Tamariva (Club Champion) 3

s NTT Docomo (Top Challenger) 66 d Waseda University (University 2) 43

s Kobe Steelers (Top League Wildcard) 27 d Toyota Verblitz (Top League) 17

¡ Odds & Sods:

s IRB Ranking: 13 (13) (71.45, 7 February 2011).

s The Think-tank: The Case for Kyuden: a Cry for Second Division

¡ Looking Ahead:

s Final Top League Promotion and Relegation Play-offs

s Tokyo Sevens 2011

s 2011 A5N

s 2011 PNC in Japan

s 2011 RWC

RiJ covers the first round of the National Championship this issue. Three of the four matches went exactly to script with Kobe beating Toyota in the remaining game to add a bit of spice to the round. To put it bluntly, although the two games between the four Top League sides were good the other two were pointless in a competition that is seriously struggling for relevance in a constantly changing world. RiJ continues with this theme of the need for change again this week and how things could and should be done differently with a look at the regional leagues below Top League, with Kyuden a case in question and how a fully fledged second division could be put in place with very little difficulty.

Enjoy the read!

The 48^th National Championship 2011

Prior to 2009, the National Championship (NC) had an 8-team format for three years, but for 2009 the number of teams was increased to ten with the inclusion of two extra Top League sides. Thus, the NC now involves six Top League sides, the two top university teams, the winner of the Top Challenge Series and the Top Club team. The first round of the 48^th National Championship 2011 kicks off on Sunday, 6 February 2011.

For 2010 the Wildcard Tournament was introduced for the Top League sides that finished fifth to tenth on the final table. These six sides play off over two weekends to determine the final two Top League participants after the top four Top League finishers gain automatic qualification.

The two universities that participated in the 47^th National University Championship final gained admission to the NC. Teikyo University defeated Waseda University 17-12 in the final and consequently Teikyo as University 1 play Tamariva as the Club Champion in the first round while Waseda as University 2 play NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes as the team that finished first in Top Challenge One as the Top Challenger.

This year, Canon Eagles (Top East), NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (Top West), Kyushu Denryoku Voltex (Top Kyushu) together with Honda Heat as the winner of Top Challenge Two contested the Top Challenge One series with NTT Docomo as the winner gaining automatic entry to the NC as the Top Challenger.

Tamariva (Kanto 2) and Hokkaido Barbarians (Kanto 1) played the final of the 18^th National Club Championship at Chichibu in Tokyo on Sunday 23 January 2011 as a curtain raiser to the Sanyo - Toyota semi-final of the Top League Play-offs to determine the Top Club participant in the NC. In a game where the lead changed several times, the Barbarians held on to a 22-21 lead for most of the final twenty minutes only for fullback Kota Endo to kick a late penalty to secure a 24-22 win for the Kanagawa prefecture based Tamariva side.

First Round

Date: Sunday, 6 February 2011

Toshiba Brave Lupus (Top League) 21 d NEC Green Rockets (Top League Wildcard) 10

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka

Kick-off: 14:00

Attendance: 7,081

Preview

In an all Top League affair, Toshiba Brave Lupus play NEC Green Rockets in the first round of the 48^th National Championship 2011 at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. Toshiba finished the rounds of the Japan Rugby Top League 2010-11 season on 57 points from 11 wins and 2 losses to take top spot on the table. They then played Suntory who finished fourth on the table in the semi-finals of the Play-offs where they went down 17-12. On the other hand, NEC finished sixth on the table with 34 points from 7 wins and 6 losses. The Rockets then had to play through the Wildcard Tournament for Top League teams that finished fifth to tenth on the table where they beat Ricoh 38-33 to qualify for the Championship.

In the Top League rounds this season Toshiba beat NEC 47-3 back in round four in early October, while the season before that it was a similar story when the Brave Lupus won 29-6 in Kashiwa. It is five years since Toshiba and NEC last met in the Championship, stretching back to the 2006 final when the two sides shared the title after the decider was played out to a 6-all draw. Overall, Toshiba have taken the National Championship crown six times with the last one in 2007, whereas NEC have managed three national titles with the last one as joint title holders with Toshiba in 2006.

Wrap-up

Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated NEC Green Rockets 21-10 in their first round clash in the 48^th National Championship in Osaka on Sunday. Toshiba scored three tries to one but it was on the back of two quick tries mid way through the second half first to fullback Goshi Tachikawa and then wing Takehisa Usuzuki that got the Brave Lupus home. Most of the game was dominated by very physical defences on both sides with the two combatants going into halftime with the scores locked at 7-all. Five-eighth Bryce Robins missed an early second half penalty for NEC but halfback Kyohei Fujito eventually put the Rockets in front 10-7 with a penalty in the thirteenth minute. An upset win for NEC was shaping until a short burst from Toshiba produced two tries that had the effect of putting the game beyond NEC with Toshiba going on to record a 21-10 win to progress to the second round where they will meet Teikyo University.

Teikyo University (University 1) 74 d Tamariva (Club Champion) 3

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Kick-off: 14:00

Attendance: 8,178

Preview

Teikyo University beat Waseda University in the National University Championship final this season to take their second college title in a row after they beat Tokai University last season. Teikyo were runners-up the year before that to Waseda and so this will be their third appearance in a row though fifth time overall at the Championship. Last year, Teikyo beat club side Rokko Fighting Bulls 76-7 in the opening round before being eliminated by NEC 38-5 in the next round. In 2009, Teikyo were knocked out in the first round after they drew 25-all with Ricoh but lost on try count.

Although Tamariva failed to qualify last year for the Championship after Rokko Fighting Bull won the club final, they are back this year for the seventh time in the national tournament. However, it has never been a happy hunting ground for club sides at the Nationals as the top club side has never made it past the first round. The amateur Tamariva team is mostly made up of salaried workers who train and play in their available time off from work in a spirited club that is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The strong spirit in the club is epitomised by captain and halfback Satoru Hino who drives three hours one way from his workplace in Utsunomiya city in Tochigi prefecture to Kanagawa prefecture where the team is based for training and games.

Wrap-up

Teikyo University qualified for the National Championship as the college champions this season and their superior speed and fitness proved too much for top club side Tamariva with the students running in twelve unanswered tries to win 74-3. Tamariva were still in the contest at halftime after Teikyo scored three first half tries to lead 19-3 but it was over the second half that the students pulled away on the scoreboard with a further nine tries. Outside centre Shohei Kurokawa was one of the stars for Teikyo as he crossed for three tries to help his side progress to the next round where they will face the might of Toshiba Brave Lupus.

NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (Top Challenger) 66 d Waseda University (University 2) 43

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Kick-off: 12:00

Attendance: 7,675

Preview

Waseda University have qualified for the National Championship for the nineteenth time this year after missing out last year. Waseda have won the national title four times in the past and in fact were the last university side to capture the crown, back in 1988 when they beat Toshiba 22-16. Waseda were also the last student side to claim a win over a Top League outfit when they beat Toyota 28-24 in the quarterfinals in 2006.

The experience of playing at the Championship for Waseda contrasts with NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes who have made their way to the national titles for the first time after winning top spot in the recent Top Challenge One series. The Red Hurricanes have also qualified to play in Top League for the first time next season and they will be out to show what they are made of on the big stage against Waseda. NTT Docomo have been something of a surprise package in the 2010-11 season with strong performances to win the Top West regional league and then win all three games in the Top Challenge One series. With players such as former national captain and No8 Takuro Miuchi now in the ranks they will fancy their chances against the students from Waseda.

Wrap-up

In a high scoring game in which over a century of points were scored, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes defeated Waseda University 66-43 in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon in the first round of the 48^th National Championship. NTT Docomo scored nine tries to seven with five-eighth Hamish Gard landing all nine conversions. In a free flowing game Waseda grabbed a 19-17 lead at the half hour mark but two NTT Docomo tries over the closing stages of the half, including one to former national captain Takuro Miuchi helped the Red Hurricanes to a 31-19 lead by the end of the first forty minutes of frantic play. The running game plans of both sides continued in the second half with Waseda getting to within two points at 45-43 at one stage only for Miuchi to cross the Waseda try line again to spur his side to add another two five-pointers to centre Naoki Miyazato to close out the game. NTT Docomo now go on to meet Kobe Steelers in the second round.

Kobe Steelers (Top League Wildcard) 27 d Toyota Verblitz (Top League) 17

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka

Kick-off: 12:00

Attendance: 5,996

Preview

In another all Top League show down, Toyota Verblitz play Kobe Steelers in the early game at Hanazono in Osaka. Toyota finished on the same 55 points from the same 12 wins and 2 losses as Sanyo but were pushed into third place on the final Top League table on differential whereas Kobe finished the rounds of the 2010-11 Japan Rugby Top League season in fifth place on 36 points from 7 wins and 6 losses. Along the way this year, Toyota beat the Steelers 16-7 in round three in mid September in Nagoya and so Kobe will be out for revenge as they not only lost to the Verblitz in the rounds last season but also went down 36-19 at the same stage of the National Championship exactly twelve months ago. On paper at least, Toyota will go into this clash with the favourites tag but with their pride hurt Kobe will be a dangerous prospect.

Toyota are playing in the National Championship for the sixteenth time with titles in 1987, 1978 and 1969. On the other hand, Kobe are at the Championship for the fifteenth time with a high strike rate of nine titles, including 7 years in a row between 1989 and 1995, then again more recently in 2000 and 2001.

Wrap-up

Although both sides scored two tries apiece, four penalty goals to five-eighth Peter Grant and centre Daisuke Yamamoto got Kobe Steelers over the finish line 27-11 against Toyota Verblitz. Along the way this year, Toyota beat the Steelers 16-7 in round three in mid September in Nagoya and so Kobe were out for revenge as they not only lost to the Verblitz in the rounds last season but also went down 36-19 at the same stage of the National Championship exactly twelve months ago. On paper at least, Toyota went into this clash with the favourites tag but with their pride hurt Kobe were in no mood for another loss to the Verblitz. An upset this may well be as the Steelers booked their place in the second round where they will meet NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes.

Second Round

Date: Sunday, 13 February 2011

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Toshiba Brave Lupus (Top League) v Teikyo University (University 1)

Kick-off: 14:00

NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (Top Challenger) v Kobe Steelers (Top League Wildcard)

Kick-off: 12:00

Semi-finals

Date: Saturday, 19 February 2011

Sanyo Wild Knights (Top League) v xxxx

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Kick-off: 14:00

Suntory Sungoliath (Top League) v xxxx

Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka

Kick-off: 14:00

Final

Date: Sunday, 27 February 2011

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Kick-off: 14:00

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:

IRB ranking on 7 February 2011 - Japan were 13 (71.45).

The Think-tank: The Case for Kyuden: a Cry for Second Division

Kyushu Electric Power Company Inc. Rugby Football Club, or put more simply Kyuden played in Top League for three consecutive seasons from 2007-8 to 2009-10 but were relegated back to the Top Kyushu competition after finishing last in their final season. In their first season in Top League in 2007-8 Kyuden finished a commendable tenth on 21 points with 4 wins and 9 losses, then they dropped to twelfth on 18 points with 3 wins and 10 losses in 2008-9 before finishing last in 2009-10 on 4 points with 13 straight losses.

Kyuden are based in Kashii in Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu and relegation put them back in the extremely weak Top Kyushu A competition. To illustrate just how weak the seven team Top Kyushu A competition is, Kyuden beat JR Kyushu 80-0, Kagoshima Bank 128-0, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 87-17, Yamagataya 90-12, Mazda 55-0 and Chugoku Power Company 58-14. Now, over six games Kyuden racked up a total of 498 points while only conceding 43 with the average result being 83-7.

And that is it! The season for Kyuden consisted of six games with an average score line of 83-7. And that is it? And that is how Kyuden managed to top the Top Kyushu A competition and thereby qualify for the Top Challenge One series as the best team in Kyushu as they then set about taking on the best in Top West and Top East.

Kyuden played their final Top Kyushu A game on 27 November 2010 and then had to wait around till 15 January 2011 for their first Top Challenge game, an incredible seven weeks of training, a couple of trial games and more training and waiting. So what happened in Top Challenge One? The short answer is they got beaten in all three games. Honda Heat beat them 34-19 in Tokyo in the first game, Canon Eagles beat them 32-13 in their own backyard in Fukuoka while NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes continued to hammer the nails in the coffin with a 50-7 thrashing in Osaka.

Although Kyuden proved to be uncompetitive in the Top Challenge series finishing winless at the bottom of the table, at the time of writing they still have one last chance to make it back into Top League. The final Top League promotion and relegation games pit eleventh placed Yamaha Jubilo against Kyuden as the fourth placed team in Top Challenge while NTT Communications (Top League 12) play Canon Eagles (Top Challenge 3) in the other game.

After playing their last Top Challenge game on 29 January 2011, Kyuden only have to wait two weeks this time, but they do have to travel to Yamaha Stadium in Shizuoka for their final game of the season on 12 February 2011.

Perhaps it is a case of chicken and egg, but is it a case whereby Kyuden just are not up to it or is there more to the story? RiJ for one would like to think that circumstance and environment have been contributing factors in the poor form of Kyuden in the Top Challenge series and that their prospects of beating Yamaha away surely must be very low.

With such a low standard in Kyushu, Kyuden are behind the eight ball from the start in their effort to not only get back into Top League but to be reasonably competitive if and when they do get there.

In Top Kyushu A, Kyuden are not challenged as they run up cricket scores against poor opposition with Mazda Zoomers the only other likely force in that league, albeit Kyuden still managed to beat Mazda 55-0!

The situation is not any better in the five team Top West A competition in the Kansai area. Yes, a five team competition in a season that consists of four games with Honda Heat crushing the Red Evolutions 140-7. What kind of a bad joke is that! Admittedly, the top four teams then “play-off” to work out the final pecking order giving each team a total of seven games for their season. Wow! Honda Heat and NTT Docomo have both won promotion to Top League for next season and although Toyota Jido Shokki have been relegated back to Top West the competition is in complete and utter disarray.

Now for the good news, Top East consists of twelve teams giving each side eleven games for the season. However, just to throw the “RiJ Theory” out the window, both Canon Eagles and Tokyo Gas as the top two sides in this competition lost out to sides in the Top Challenge series from Top West and Top Kyushu. Hard to fathom, but sadly true!

About this time every year RiJ puts together a proper looking national “Top League Second Division”, and here we go again…

From Top Kyushu, take Kyuden and Mazda. From Top West take Toyota Jido Shokki and From Top East take Kubota, Canon, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Dynaboars, Kamaishi, Kurita and Yokogawa. There we have a somewhat reasonable ten team second division. With only three sides from outside the Kanto area and the number of teams reduced overall the cost factor really does not appear to be an issue. However, to increase the competitiveness of the competition and better prepare sides for Top League two rounds of home and away over eighteen games would be necessary, perhaps with a top four play-off series at the end to come up with a clear winner.

On merit, only the top side would gain promotion with the bottom finisher in Top League dropping back to second division. That way, all of those weird and far from wonderful Top Challenge and promotion and relegation games could be done away with completely to further justify and cover the costs of the existence of the second division. To be even more honest, fourteen teams in Top League is at least two teams too many, and so by dropping two sides back to second division there could be two synchronised twelve team competitions.

RiJ gets so angry when Top Kyushu and Top West are looked at and gets so frustrated that no move is ever made towards creating a national Top League second division out of the three regional leagues that directly feed into the top division. The situation is so ridiculous it is laughable but the status quo is maintained year after year.

Looking Ahead

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

Final Top League Promotion and Relegation Play-offs

Yamaha Jubilo (Top League 11^th) v Kyuden Voltex (Top Challenge One 4^th)

Date: Saturday 12 February 2011

Venue: Yamaha Stadium, Shizuoka

Kick-off: 13:00

NTT Communications Shining Arcs (Top League 12^th) v Canon Eagles (Top Challenge One 3^rd)

Date: Saturday 12 February 2011

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo

Kick-off: 14:00

Tokyo Sevens 2011

With a view to promoting and strengthening Sevens ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, an international Rugby Sevens tournament will be held at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo over the weekend of 16-17 April 2011. It is ten years since an international Sevens tournament of this scale has been held in Japan when Japan hosted a leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in 2000 and also 2001. A total of twelve teams will take part in the 2011 tournament including representative sides from host Japan, Australia, China, Fiji, France, South Korea, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Tonga and the USA.

IRB Junior world Rugby Trophy 2011

The Japan U20 side will take part in the 8-team IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2011 to take place in Georgia from 24 May to 5 June 2011. Japan as the Asian qualifier will be joined by such countries as Uruguay, as the South American representative, Oceania representative Samoa, relegated after the Junior World Championship 2010, African champions Zimbabwe and Georgia as the host nation. Russia will also join the tournament after reaching the final of the FIRA European U19 Championship.

This will be the first time for the Georgian Rugby Union to host a major IRB tournament. The eight participating teams will be split across two pools of four teams with double headers at two venues in the capital of Tbilisi on Tuesday 24 May, Saturday 28 May, Wednesday 1 June and Sunday 5 June 2011. The winner of the tournament will be promoted to the IRB Junior World Championship for 2012.

The venues, pools and match schedules are set to be confirmed in January 2011.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2011

This year, 2011 will be the fourth edition of the HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament with Japan having won the first three events. In the Top Five division for 2011, Japan will be joined by Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sri Lanka won Division One in 2010 and were promoted to replace relegated Korea while rugby in the Gulf region has been reorganised with The Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) being disbanded in favour of individual national Unions. The first Union established, the United Arab Emirates Rugby Association (UAERA) will participate in the Top Five in 2011. The tournament will be held on consecutive weekends from 23 April to 21 May 2011.

Round	Date	Team	Score	Team	Venue
1	Sat. 23 April 2011	Sri Lanka	-	UAE	Sri Lanka
		Kazakhstan	-	Hong Kong	Kazakhstan
2	Fri. 29 April 2011	UAE	-	Kazakhstan	UAE
	Sat. 30 April 2011	Hong Kong	-	Japan	Hong Kong
3	Sat. 7 May 2011	Kazakhstan	-	Japan	Bangkok
		Sri Lanka	-	Hong Kong	Sri Lanka
4	Fri. 13 May 2011	UAE	-	Japan	Dubai
		Kazakhstan	-	Sri Lanka	Kazakhstan
5	Sat. 21 May 2011	Japan	-	Sri Lanka	Tokyo
		Hong Kong	-	UAE	Hong Kong

ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2011

On 6 November 2010, Osamu Ota, the general manager of the Japan national side announced that Japan will host the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2011.

Full details were released by the IRB on 16 December 2010 with the three rounds involving Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga to be played on Saturday 2, Friday 8 and Wednesday 13 July 2011. All games are to be played as double headers at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo.

Round	Date	Team	Score	Team	Kick-off
One	Saturday 2 July 2011	Tonga	-	Fiji	17:10
		Japan	-	Samoa	19:10
Two	Friday 8 July 2011	Tonga	-	Samoa	17:10
		Fiji	-	Japan	19:10
Three	Wednesday 13 July 2011	Samoa	-	Fiji	17:10
		Japan	-	Tonga	19:10

In other news, a 40-man Japan squad will be announced on 28 February and over the course of the HSBC Asian Five Nations, camps in Hokkaido in June and the Pacific Nations Cup in July the squad will be whittled down to thirty for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand over September and October 2011.

Rugby World Cup Warm-up Tests

Saturday, 13 August 2011, Italy v Japan, Trieste.

Sunday, 21 August 2011, Japan v USA, Tokyo.

2011 Rugby World Cup , New Zealand

Japan are in Pool A along with hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

France v Japan

Date: Saturday, 10 September 2011

Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Auckland

Kick-off: 18:00

New Zealand v Japan

Date: Friday, 16 September 2011

Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

Kick-off: 20:00

Tonga v Japan

Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Venue: Northland Events Centre, Whangarei

Kick-off: 19:30

Canada v Japan

Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Venue: McLean Park, Napier

Kick-off: 17:00

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.