Welcome to the Unofficial Japanese Rugby Website (in English)
You are Visitor No. since 14 May 2017.
This site is maintained by The Laird of Kitakyushu
The opinions expressed here are my own.
My videos about RWC 2023 are on my YouTube channel and I also have another Rugby playlist.
Eight Steps to Build an Invincible Team: A Rugby Coaching Bible from Japan (published August 2023)
The City of Kitakyushu on the island of Kyushu in the Southwest of Japan is honoured to be the home of the Mikuni World Stadium ("Mikusta", capacity 15,300) officially opened in March 2017, which hosted Japan's first ever round of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens series on April 22-23, 2017, and the second round on April 21st and 22nd this year. Also the new stadium's opening event was Sunwolves v Top League Allstars before about 11,500 rugby fans on February 18, 2017. Mikusta hosted one Top League game last year: Munakata Sanix Blues (MSB) v Toyota Shuttles (13.00, December 24, 2017). Stadium access: There are few car parks near the stadium, but JR Kokura station which has Shinkansen and regular trains is only seven minutes walk away. There are two airports nearby: Fukuoka and Kitakyushu.
Kyushu played an important role in the Rugby World Cup 2019, both as regards base camps for several nations and with three stadia (in Fukuoka, Oita and Kumamoto prefectures) hosting games. The Laird is a member of Genwaku RFC , a veteran club based in Kitakyushu. When he first came to Kitakyushu he played for Drunkers RFC. (One of his teammates from those days is now the rickshawman at Kokura Castle!!)
FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
Q.E.D. ;-)
Mikuni World stadium (Mikusta) in Kitakyushu is proud to be home of the Japan stage of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series; Sunwolves and Leicester Tigers Japan training camps; Top League games; Fukuoka prefecture high school games; and the main Welsh base for the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2019. (The Laird took this unusual photo on May 27, 2018 from a car leasing lot on the other side of the water from the stadium.)
Sunwolves v Top League Allstars at Mikusta on February 18, 2017
Thank you for coming! 😺
You can contact The Laird by e-mail here.
“Lang may yer lum reek!”
(May Your Chimney Smoke for a Long Time... and may you be responsible for many conversions, both to and in the great game of Rugby!) ;-)
Forthcoming Rugby Internationals (Worldwide)
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2019 COUNTDOWN
Eddie Jones now has a column in The Japan Times. He writes "I’ve got a calendar here and it says 495 days, four hours, five minutes and 23 seconds to the World Cup. We track it very closely." (But do you track it as closely as the counter above, Eddie? ;-)
Welsh Boys Shane Williams and Andy Powell are Big in Japan!
2018
October 2nd. Kyushu set to play key role in RWC build-up.
Tambo rugby making a splash!
British Ambassador in Tokyo Paul Madden can catch a ball nicely! ;-)
August 25th. The Laird has become an administrator of the Sakura Sevens Supporters group on Facebook. Please join us if you want to support them in their quest for an Olympic gold medal!!
August 20th. Yesterday the first game in the new stadium at Kamaishi (the only one built for RWC2020) was played between Kamaishi and Yamaha, with the latter winning an exciting contest 29-24.
In the evening we had a Welsh language and culture class in Kitakyushu,
part of our diligent preparations for the Welsh coming here for the RWC! ;-)
August 13th. Nagasaki Select v Scottish schools - Facebook album
Welsh in Kitakyushu - Facebook album
August 1st. The Welsh Rugby Union boys and girls(!) are here in Kitakyushu. They are working very hard to get to know the city and make friends (and gather support!) here. Very encouraging to see. Success is not an accident in Rugby! The Laird is impressed by the Welsh effort and though he doesn’t support them in the Six Nations will happily support them in RWC2019, together with Scotland and Japan! 😉 🏉
between Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia (April 28th - June 2nd)
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series :
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco
(July 20th-22nd)
Japan's Test Match Schedule 2018
Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2018
JAPAN vs Italy; Oita Bank Dome, Oita: 9 June (KO 2.45pm) WON 34-17
JAPAN vs Italy, Noevir Stadium, Kobe: 16 June (KO 2.00pm) with public viewing throughout Japan! LOST 22-25
JAPAN vs Georgia, Toyota Stadium, Aichi: 23 June (KO 2.45pm) WON 28-0
JAPAN vs New Zealand: Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo: November 3rd
JAPAN vs England: Venue TBD: November 17th
BLEDISLOE CUP on October 27th at Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Kick Off 3pm. Tickets on public sale in Japan from July 28th, from 7,000 yen to an eye-popping 30,00 yen!!
Is there a song for the Wolfpack (Sunwolves supporters) to sing in order to show and express their support? If not, the Laird thinks somebody should make one...
They played the Reds in Tokyo on Saturday, May 12th in their last game in Japan this season. And they got their first win of the season, and first ever over Aussie opposition!! Saumaki got a hat trick, Hayden Parker was perfect with the boot, and they won 63-28!!
Hong Kong (May 19th v Stormers) and Singapore (June 30th v Bulls) also count as home games.
Remaining Sunwolves games: Round 15: May 26, Sunwolves 13 Rebels 40 (AAMI Park, Melbourne, 18.45); Round 16: June 3, Sunwolves 31 Brumbies 41 (GIO Stadium, 15.05); Round 17: June 30, Sunwolves 42 Bulls 37 (Singapore National Stadium, 20.55); Round 18: July 7, Sunwolves 25 Waratahs 77 (Allianz stadium, 18.45); Round 19: July 13, Sunwolves 27 Reds 48 (Suncorp, 18.45).
Awwooooo!! 🌞🐺🐺🐺!! 😉
Leicester Tigers Training Camps in Japan: Kitakyushu, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Global Arena (Munakata)
Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC) Tour to Japan in 1953 including the souvenir program and photographs sent to me in 1997 by my prep school Headmaster W.P. ("Phil") C. Davies who played centre for Cambridge, Harlequins, England and the British Lions in South Africa 1955 (tour drawn). Phil passed away on January 25th this year (2018). In Japanese terms he was my senpai (senior) at Cambridge. He helped me a lot at critical times in my life, not just at school. A wonderful man. When will we see his like again? RIP.
Rich Freeman on Twitter and he has a new column in the Japan Times: "Adding the Extras".
JRugby Podcast on Twitter with a podcast (Episode 3) featuring the Laird here - from about 21 minutes 50 seconds, and briefly on this discussion of "bukatsu" (club activities) (Episode 9) from about 45 minutes.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (painted c. 1503-1517) offers conclusive proof that women were playing Rugby Union long before young William Webb Ellis allegedly picked up the football and ran with it at Rugby School in 1823. 😉
2018 and older news
July 22nd. Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Jamie Farndale is the Flying Scotsman with a 118m run! Credit also the assistant referee steaming up the touchline, albeit in a straight line. Perhaps Farndale could have passed to him? ;-)
After a fantastic win ground out by sheer guts and huge effort over Fiji in the Challenge Cup Final where Captain Chiharu Nakamura scored in the last minute to win 15-14, the Sakuras went down in the final 32-5 to a relaxed looking England team who had an easier route to the final, beating China on the way. Knock-ons did not help them, and they seemed tired, as was to be expected. Congratulations to NZ's Black Ferns for winning the title again! Outstanding by them!
July 8th. A tough day at the office for Sunwolves, as Tony Brown and Yutaka Nagare admit in the press conference.
In much better news, the World Rugby Women's Sevens series is coming back to Kitakyushu next year, April 20-21, 2019!!
Also the Japanese squads (men and women) for the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco on July 20th-22nd were announced today, with comments from the respective head coaches (Iwabuchi and Inada) and all the players.
July 6th. After their great win over the Bulls in Singapore last week the Sunwolves play the Waratahs in their penultimate game of the season tomorrow. Preview.
World Rugby have produced a film to explain their elite training programme for the Pacific Islanders of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. While it is good that the islanders are being brought together and a pathway into Super Rugby is being created, the Laird would like to see a combined Pacific Nations team which could take on the Lions and other teams... Whatever happened to the Pacific Islanders (2004-08) by the way? As for the training process, it is very scientific and not a barrel of laughs!
June 29th. Joseph is optimistic after the Georgian game, but to get to the quarter-finals presumably Japan has to come ahead of either Ireland or Scotland in the pool stage? Yes it's doable, but not a walk in the park. Both countries are currently above Japan in the world rankings. Meanwhile Tony Brown has announced the Sunwolves line-up for tomorrow's game with the Bulls. And Rich Freeman is worried about the legacy of RWC2019.
June 25th. A video of Japan v Georgia with commentary in Japanese is here. The only other available commentary was in Georgian, and the Laird doesn't even have an O-level in that! The Laird really likes the new Smart Japan image with the players playing tireless and dynamic "Salaryman Rugby" all day long!
Meanwhile it has been a big weekend for Northern Hemisphere rugby, with Ireland beating Australia 20-16, England beating South Africa 25-10 and Scotland beating Argentina 44-15 - all away games. France lost by an undeservedly high margin of 49-14 to the All Blacks in Dunedin, with one x-rated decision where the referee got in the way of their defence going against them - laughed off by Steve Hansen in the presser after the game.
June 23rd. Japan 28 Georgia 0. And in all honesty the Laird thought Georgia were lucky to get zero. They spurned three easy penalty chances in favour of two lineouts and one scrum, none of which produced the desired try. It really seemed as if "Take the points on offer" (a common rugby saying and wisdom born of humility) has not been translated into Georgian yet! But Japan were really good value, both in defence and attack. They matched the much-vaunted Georgian scrum, and weights were 112kg per man on average for both scrums. There was outstanding straight running, and Wimpie van der Walt was the Laird's Man of the Match. Well Done, to the Brave and Smart Blossoms!! The Laird watched the game at the public viewing site in Kitakyushu, Riverwalk. It was a real pleasure to see the Blossoms in full bloom today! 😉
June 20th. Until quite recently there has been a good deal of negativity about Japanese Rugby, with one foreign pundit claiming that "Japanese Rugby is dying." The Laird has never believed this somewhat sensational rhetoric, although there are indeed issues which should be addressed. Anyway, it is pleasing to report that - all of a sudden - the Rugby World Cup has begun to take hold in the imagination of ordinary people. This is particularly true in Oita prefecture, where five of Kyushu's ten World Cup games (eight pool games and two quarter-finals) will be played at the Oita Bank Dome, the venue of the first game between Japan and Italy on June 9th. Also Nagasaki is getting ready to welcome the Scots, and friendship goods are already on sale. Meanwhile Kitakyushu is gearing up to welcome the Welsh in their own language to their camp at Mikusta stadium... Kyushu will be ready!! Also Rugby World Cup 2019 stamps will be issued on August 20th.
June 17th. Japan 22 Italy 25. Yesterday was a disappointment for Japan supporters after the win in Oita last week. Michael Leitch had predicted a physical battle at the start of the test (NHK, Shibu Goji, Friday June 15th), and he was right about that. It was a pity that Japan effectively lost at that point, even though they did well to come back from 19-3(?) down to come close at the end. Or was it the case that it was lost in the head before the start, just as the previous week Leitch felt the game was won before it was played? Anyway, Conor O'Shea can claim honours are even over the two tests at 1-1, though the aggregate scores tell a slightly different story with Japan winning 56-42!! (It was O'Shea himself who said in the press conference after the first game that he was treating that result as the half-time score!) ;-)
The Laird watched the game at the public viewing site in Riverwalk Kitakyushu, where the screen was too high up to make viewing from a seated position comfortable, so he stood at the back throughout! There will be another public viewing at the same place next week (Japan v Georgia). To go or not to go? That is the question.
June 15th. Japan have made one change for tomorrow to the team that was victorious in Oita with Yoshitaga Tokunaga coming into the back row on the blindside, as Kazuki Himeno shifts to No.8 and Amanaki Mafi drops to the bench.
Italy team as reported on JRFU website
June 12th. Jamie Joseph speaking in the post-match press conference was pleased with the result last Saturday from his young team. But Italy will of course be after revenge this weekend in Kobe!
June 11th. Congratulations once again to Sakura Sevens who won the Fair Play award for the season at the (self-congratulatory) World Rugby end-of-term party in Paris last night!! Unfortunately the Sakuras' coach Inada-san did not understand that his presence was requested on stage to receive the award, or what the award was for! A typical intercultural snafu of the type we know so well in Japan... Chiharu Nakamura (captain) went up to receive the well-deserved award for the team.
Portia Woodman was of course the player of the season, and she was very honest about her role in the Black Ferns, along the lines of "my team mates just give me the ball and I run fast..." to score no less than 43 tries this season!! Indeed that is how it looks to the Laird. Memo to Sakuras: Find someone who can run as fast as - or if possible faster than - Portia! ;-)
A good memory from the 2017-18 season -
Sakura Sevens came 9th in Langford, B.C., Canada, and won the Trophy. The Best is yet to come from this young and exciting team!!
June 10th. Terrific win for Japan, 34-17 over Italy yesterday in Oita. The Laird's album of the day is here. Japan stun Italy in opening test: Joseph delighted with Japan win.
Meanwhile Sakura Sevens beat Wales 17-12 to claim 11th place in Paris. This will not prevent them losing core status, though it was a well-deserved victory against a Wales using "industrial language" at half-time (well, one player did, picked up on the mike!) and whose coach told his players at half-time that they were better/fitter(?) than the Sakuras - which they clearly were not on the day. Not perhaps the best swansong for him, whatever his name is, as it was his last game in charge...
The Laird is an old-school bloke who left school in 1974, but he is still very proud of his school's Rugby, especially the unbeaten 2017 season which began with the school's first ever tour to Japan last summer. Lots of straight running and simple things done well. Well Done, Boys!! ;-)
John Leslie, the former Scotland international centre who also played for Sanix in Fukuoka, is back in Dunedin, New Zealand and is now providing custom rugby gear (balls etc.) and offering free downloadable coaching advice to amateur coaches. See LeslieRugby.
From memory the Laird believes it was the dual international (Scotland and South Africa) John Allan (uncle of Tommaso Allan who now plays for Italy) who once said that nobody could "outpassion" the Scots. It's an interesting, thought-provoking and thoughtful remark, and one which the Laird feels has more than a grain of truth, though Welsh and Irish friends might demur! There is no space here to delve deeply into Scottish history, but suffice it to say that being "in bed with an elephant" (England!) has always forced the Scots to more urgency and sense of crisis than most other nations. ;-) Of course raw passion on its own is no use without discipline and proper preparation in Rugby, but it can inspire the best possible performance from any well-prepared team. Japan has always been at some disadvantage in the international arena for lack of passionate songs or support, but this is now changing with the Sunwolves particularly. Cue howling wolfpack: Awooo!! ;-)
June 8th. The final leg of the World Rugby Women's Sevens starts in Paris today. Sakura Sevens will play USA, France and Spain in their pool (Pool C). Best of Luck! The Men's stage begins tomorrow, also in Paris.
Meanwhile the Laird is off to Oita (about 90 minutes by train) tomorrow to see Japan v Italy at the Oita Bank Dome... kickoff 2.45pm.
June 6th. Rugby Sevens (also called "The Scottish/Borders Game/Code" or "The Short Game", or "The Abbreviated Code") is the fastest growing area of the sport of Rugby. This began as a trend before the Rio Olympics of 2016, but that event gave the sport a massive boost. It is not hard to see why sevens (invented in Melrose, Scotland, in 1883 by the way!) has such a huge appeal. Games last a short time and there is much more open field/space running than in the fifteen-a-side game, simply because there are fewer players and thus more spaces. This allows sprinters to make full use of their talents. It is "fast and furious" and many of the more complex and congested aspects of 15-a-side (rucking etc.) do not really come into play so much.
Both Men's and Women's versions of the sport are increasingly popular. Scotland has a good men's team (the first ever to beat New Zealand in any form of Rugby - 24-21 in London in 2017 where they also took the title in that and the previous year!) but no women's team on the circuit at present. Japan has teams in both versions, (and the men have also beaten NZ - 14-12 at Rio!). They are now hovering in and out of core team status, i.e. around 12th in the world. Core teams get to appear in every stage of the series, which is held through each year - thus they have more chances to earn points and stay in the core group. It is conversely quite hard to break through the ceiling and achieve core status.
The Black Ferns from New Zealand are currently the top women’s sevens team in the world, with fantastic speed, teamwork and skills. Australia is not far behind, losing narrowly 12-17 in the final of the recent Commonwealth Games. The Japan leg (stage) of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series has been played in Kitakyushu at our wonderful new Mikuni World Stadium for the past two years, and we want by all means to keep it here! 😉
Meanwhile Italy hammered Yamaha Jubilo last Saturday in the first game of their Japan tour.
June 4th. A busy weekend just finished! Congratulations to Fiji for winning the HSBC World Rugby Mens' Sevens in London. The Sunwolves fought hard and well, but lost 31-41 to the Brumbies away in Canberra; and the World Rugby U20 championship continues in France. Meanwhile the Laird took part in the Kyuwaku Taikai on Saturday.
June 1st.
Rich Freeman tweets there are only three Japan-born players in the Sunwolves starting members to play Brumbies on Sunday, and only six in the squad of 23.
The next and penultimate stage of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series kicks off at Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch (Twickers) in London tomorrow! Can Scotland 7s make it three in a row?? They won this stage in 2016 and 2017!! Go, Laddies, Go!! Make an old man and the Laird of Kitakyushu - both of us in fact - proud of you!! ;-)
Meanwhile the Women's HSBC Sevens World Series final stage is in Paris, 8-10 June. Go, Sakuras!! But just remember what 10CC told us a long time ago in 1975... One night in Paris is like a Year in any other Place ;-) And by the way I'm Not in Love...except with your wonderful teamwork, work rate and Heads Up Rugby!! Ha ha
P.S. Rob Vickerman's expert advice on Sevens is always worth a look!
May 25th. Rich Freeman writes about how the Sunwolves' win in Hong Kong could be a catalyst for growth of the game in Asia. (Japan Times, May 23rd) Nice to get some upbeat news for a change!
The Sunwolves squad for today's game v Rebels in Melbourne is here.
May 24th. The Laird is (unusually for him) filled with disgust and anger - at Uchida, the former American football coach of Nihon University, who has now gone into hospital, the usual Japanese politician's escape route when things get a bit too hot. He just left the student who did the dangerous tackle on his instructions in the lurch. Shameful, shameful! That student had the grace and courage to go all the way from Tokyo to Kansai to meet the family of the Kwansei Gakuin student he tackled and apologize in person. I believe he should be forgiven in these circumstances. (Please play rugby instead, young man, we need more good people and excellent players like you!)
May 22nd. The Laird congratulates Kensuke Iwabuchi on his appointment as Head Coach of the Japan Sevens Men's team with effect from June 1st, while wondering what happened to the previous coach Damian Karauna who seemed to be getting good results on what - by some accounts - were rather limited resources. All the Best, Kenny, me old mate! Though you may not remember, or choose to remember, your wacky old senpai from Kitakyushu...?? Can't say I would blame you...much! LOL
Hmmm... turns out the two previous Head Coaches, Karauna and Segawa, were fired. Segawa got the team to 4th place in the Rio Olympics, and Karauna got them back to being a core team. Well, I guess Iwabuchi-san will now show us all how it's done?!?
May 20th. Veteran reporter on Japanese Rugby hails Historic Result for Sunwolves. Rich
Freeman brings Glad Tidings of Great Joy for the Patient (and Long-suffering!) Wolfpack!! Today is a Red Letter Day for sure. ;-) And the Boy from Oamaru was on fire again!
May 19th.
Update: FANTASTIC RESULT in Hong Kong. Hayden Parker kicks a drop goal in extra time for a thrilling finish, Sunwolves 26 Stormers 23. Hot day - Sunwolves finished more strongly and with a huge amount of guts. This is the first time in their short history the SW have had back-to-back victories. Awoooooo!!!
The Laird is looking forward to the Sunwolves v Stormers in Hong Kong today, the first ever Super Rugby game in that great city! Go Sunwolves!! He has also unearthed a Facebook album from the visit of his high school to Global Arena last August. Will ye no come back again? ;-)
May 14th. The Laird is delighted to report that the Sakura Sevens finished the fourth round of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens at Langford, British Columbia, Canada, by winning the Trophy and claiming ninth place, which is worth a vital four points and allows Japan 7s to move up to 11th place in the standings. After a disappointing Kitakyushu round when they came 12th, it is very much down to the hard work of the whole squad and the inspirational and intelligent leadership of captain Chiharu Nakamura, together with the coaches (Lesley McKenzie, Tokunaga-san and Head Coach Inada-san), that things have started to turn round so quickly. Congratulations, Ladies!! You are - as the man whom Winston Churchill once called "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador" Sir Harry Lauder might have said - The Lassies who Fought and Won. Just Keep Right On to the End of the Road, which is Tokyo Olympics 2020. ;-)
However, Rich Freeman has pointed out on Twitter that it will be hard for Japan to retain core status without an exceptional performance in Paris next month. The next team above Japan is currently Fiji with 21 points, so anything less than fourth place (14 points) with Fiji coming 12th (1 point) will certainly not do it. In post-tournament comment Captain Nakamura admitted this would be difficult, but said that hopes for a medal in 2020 remain undimmed. She was also rightly pleased that her team had beaten an intelligent Spanish team with strong fighting spirit, a rather subtle but entirely justified way of praising her own team! 😉 Meanwhile New Zealand's Black Ferns have won the tournament proving that once again God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world! ;-)(Their Facebook page is here.)
May 13th. The Laird's attention has turned to the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Round 4 at Langford, British Columbia, Canada. Sakura Sevens results in Pool B: v France Lost 7-33; v Russia Won 24-7; v USA Lost 7-28. Here's hoping this will be enough to get to the quarter-finals (Best Eight)! The Russian team had key players missing, and was frankly poor and inexperienced, and very poorly coached. UPDATE: The one win against Russia was not enough, and the Sakuras will play a very lively (quick!) Brazil team in the Trophy/Challenge Semi-final. Go Sakura Sevens!!
Draws for Day Two (Best Eight and Trophy/Challenge)
Best Eight: France v Ireland; Australia v Fiji; USA v Canada; New Zealand v England
Challenge: Japan v Brazil; Spain v Russia
Comment: At the risk of getting boring on the subject, having already stated this opinion (see below), the Laird thinks that the Sakura Sevens when playing larger foreign teams might profitably kick the ball a bit more than they do now, which is hardly ever. (Kick to the wide open spaces, of which there are many on a sevens rugby field. Then chase it with all possible force and speed, which you have in abundance! Make those big girls turn round and run backwards to defend! They won't like doing that, which is the best possible reason to do it... ;-)
World Series Rugby. The Laird is watching the inaugural game, Western Force v Fiji Warriors. Yes, it's a decent game of 'footy', and the Laird has sympathy with Western Force which was dumped in 2017 by the ARU from Super Rugby. Where he disagrees is in changing the rules to have 'Super' tries worth 7 points with two more for the conversion, and rolling subs. That is a recipe for chaos!! This is Kerry Packer territory. Hope there won't be a split like the Rugby League split from Union over 'broken time' payments back in 1895.
May 12th. Looking good for Sunwolves at half time, as they lead the Reds 29-14!! And they thoroughly deserve to be in front, even if one try had more than a hint of a forward pass!
Commentary team also playing a blinder! ;-)
FINAL SCORE: 63-28. The drought has been broken! A wonderful win, and the first for the 'Wolves over an Aussie side. Awoooo!!
May 11th. Sunwolves make 5 changes for last hurrah in Tokyo for 2018. Let's hope they win one at home at least. It is said that a man cannot serve two masters. The Laird feels that a man cannot be two masters either, or wear two hats simultaneously on one head. Jamie Joseph has had too much put on him.
May 10th. JRFU names 40-man World Cup training squad. Note that the squad for the upcoming tests will be announced in the week beginning May 21st.
May 7th. HSBC Canada Women's Sevens (Round 4 of five in the series) is coming up this weekend, May 12th-13th.
Twelve teams are in three pools. Pool A: New Zealand, Fiji, England, Brazil. Pool B: France, Russia, USA, Japan. Pool C: Australia, Spain, Ireland, Canada.
SANIX World Youth Rugby 2018 ended on May 5th. It gets better every year...
Boys' 15-a-side Tournament winners: Ratu Kadavulevu of FIJI
Girls' Sevens Winners: Iwami Chisuikan of JAPAN
May 4th. The Laird spent the whole day at Global Arena, enjoying the SANIX World Rugby Youth Tournament, and especially the Boys' 15-a-side semi-finals. Hastings Boys' HS (New Zealand) won their game against Osaka Toin quite easily, 48-15 I think. The second semi-final was much tighter between St Augustine's College (Australia) and Ratu Kadavulevu of Fiji. The latter squeaked home in the end 24-21. A fine contest indeed. Today's final (May 5th) should be a cracker between two great teams! Ratu Kadaveluvu came third in 2002, the only Fijian school on the winners lists so far. This year they have already surpassed that. Go Fiji!! ;-)
May 3rd. World Rugby YouTube report on Teikyo University.
Note pronunciation error: "Tikkyo" ;-) and also the mistranslation of the coach Masayuki Iwade where he says (correctly) that Keio University was the first Japanese university to play rugby, mistranslated as Tokyo University. But never mind... Teikyo University RFC have indeed become a real force in Japanese university rugby, and the team to beat. I hear Meiji University got revenge for the very close 2018 university final in Sapporo Dome recently, when they won 17-14 on April 30th.
The Sakura Sevens have been training and working very hard in Tokyo from May 1st after a disappointing Kitakyushu Sevens tournament, under new coaches Canadian Lesley McKenzie and Tsuyoshi Tokunaga from Fukuoka. (Hitoshi Inada is still Head Coach.) They fly to Canada on May 6th for the fourth round of the World Series at Langford B.C. on May 12th-13th. The Laird wishes them All the Best. He does not doubt their high work rate but thinks they need to make the ball work harder for them, by injecting more kicking into open play (kick passes, grubber kicks, high hanging 'garryowen' kicks that torment the opposition, kicking for territory etc.). The young South African men's sevens team have recently reminded us how useful kicking - if executed well - can be in sevens rugby (watch video from 1 minute 40 seconds). Whatever, he hopes they will play 'Heads Up Rugby' - in the sense of playing the opposition in front of them, looking for weaknesses and exploiting them intelligently. Prepared game plans should NOT be rigidly adhered to at all costs, but modified or even discarded if they are not working. Flexibility and unpredictability are very important. Rugby is not just a physical game, there is a huge mental element! Verb. sap. (A word to the wise is enough!) :-)
May 2nd. What is this new Power Try, with the goalposts flashing different colours?? The idea is "to speed up the game and make it more exciting"!!? All the Fun of the Fair! It's just razzmataz, show business, dumbing down. Rolling subs are another abomination, substitutes for injury only is much better. Billionaires are running and ruining the game in Australia. And World Rugby is letting them do it! (Do the words "over my dead body" mean nothing to you, Bill Beaumont? But perhaps it is unfair to blame you, as professionalism is a slippery slope down... to hell and damnation!) ;-)
* SANIX World Rugby Youth Tournament:
Semi-finalists: Hamilton Boys (NZ) v Osaka Toin (Japan); Ratu Kadavulevu (Fiji) v St. Augustine's College (Australia)
May 1st. Congratulations to the Nihon Taidai Women's team who won the Taiyo Seimei Women's Sevens Series Round One. And also to the Charity Girls (Sakura Sevens) who collected 146 cast-off jerseys, 57 rugby balls and 38 pairs of rugby boots to promote the spread of rugby in the Asian region!! They will be taken to the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in August. Does World Rugby and the rugby world know about this great effort made by Japan? And what about the Crowdfunding for Sri Lanka and India Rugby - a friendship match etc. - which has already achieved 97% of the target 3.2 million yen with 39 hours still to go?? UPDATE: Target achieved with 35 hours to spare!!
April 29th. Results of Taiyo Seimei Women's Sevens Day One of Two in Tokyo. Taiyo Seimei is the official sponsor of Sakura Sevens.
Results of Sanix Day Two: Boys Pools A to D; Girls Sevens.
April 27th. Hurricanes 43 Sunwolves 15 in Wellington. Ouch!
April 28th. SANIX World Youth Rugby Tournament began today in Munakata, Fukuoka prefecture, Kyushu, Japan!
And this year there is LIVE STREAMING on Youtube for the first time!!
Singapore Sevens Day One - Highlights - from the magnificent National Stadium in Singapore!
Coming Soon - SANIX World Rugby Youth Tournament (April 28th - May 5th). There are free shuttle buses from JR Akama station to Global Arena and back.
Taiyou Seimei Women's Sevens Series Round 1 of 4 rounds (12 teams) is happening at Chichibunomiya in Tokyo on Sunday April 29th and Monday April 30th. Details are in Japanese here, with participating teams and registered players here and pools and schedules here.
Round 2: Akita, May 26-27; Round 3: Shizuoka, September 8-9; Round 4: Mie, October 13-14.
April 27th. Rob Vickerman gives Expert Advice on sevens ;
April 26th. Whither Sakura Sevens?
April 25th. Rich Freeman has a new column in the Japan Times:
April 23rd. Is Portia Woodman coming to play in Japan?
Kamaishi's new stadium will open on August 19th.
April 21st-22nd
2018. April 21st-22nd. HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Round 3 in Kitakyushu at Mikusta stadium in Kitakyushu!!
Tickets from 2,000 yen for one day (advance) or 2,500 yen on the day. Teams include last year's champions at Kitakyushu New Zealand (Black Ferns), Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, USA, Russia, France, Fiji, Spain, China and Japan (Sakura Sevens). GO JAPAN!!
2017
Japan Games in 2017: June 10: Japan 33 Romania 21 (Kumamoto); June 17 v Ireland (Ecopa stadium, Shizuoka, 14.00); June 24 v Ireland (Ajinomoto stadium, Tokyo, 14.40); October 28 v World XV (Level 5, Fukuoka); November 4 v Australia (Yokohama); November 25 v France (in France)
2017 Oct. 27. Japan play a World XV at Fukuoka tomorrow, and Australia in Yokohama next week. Both matches will be live on JSports.
June 11. Japan 33 Romania 21. Japan scored three tries to Romania's two, in front of a good size crowd in the Egao Kenko stadium (capacity 32,000) in Kumamoto, Kyushu. The crowd was estimated between 25,000 and 28,000. Many were high school students who got in free - actual tickets sold said to be just under 18,000. Sitting among them, it was heartening to see how involved and enthusiastic the fans were... the Japanese public seem to be getting behind their team.
June 9. Rich Freeman on the Japan selection for tomorrow's game v. Romania. Understandably Jamie Joseph wants a strong final 10-20 minutes (something which has been lacking in recent Sunwolves games), so he has some of his best players on the bench. Also he probably wants to 'blood' some younger players against Romania, help them get more experience at this stage. So The Laird is not so surprised at this selection.
Japan team v Romania:
1. Koki Yamamoto, 2. Shota Horie (c), 3. Takuma Asahara, 4. Kotaro Yatabe, 5. Uwe Helu, 6. Michael Leitch, 7. Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 8. Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 9. Fumiaki Tanaka, 10. Jumpei Ogura, 11. Kenki Fukuoka, 12. Derek Carpenter, 13. Timothy Lafaele, 14. Akihito Yamada, 15. Ryuji Noguchi
Replacements:
16. Yusuke Niwai, 17. Keita Inagaki, 18. Heiichiro Ito, 19. Yuya Odo, 20. Hendrik Tui, 21. Keisuke Uchida, 22. Yu Tamura, 23. Kotaro Matsushima
June 4. Yesterday the Laird went to watch Japan (Brave Blossoms) practise at Sanix Blues Genkai ground in Munakata by the sea. Movies were not allowed, but photos were.
June 1. The names, clubs etc. of the Japan squad are given in English as well as Japanese here.
FORWARDS (18) Loose heads (PR1): Ishihara (Suntory}, Inagaki (Panasonic), Yamamoto (Yamaha); Hookers: Niwai (Canon), Hino (Yamaha), Horie (Panasonic); Tight heads (PR3): Asahara (Toshiba), Ito (Yamaha), Chinen (Toshiba); Locks: Kajikawa (Toshiba), Helu (Yamaha), Makabe (Suntory), Yatabe (Panasonic); Flankers: Tui (Suntory), Tokunaga (Toshiba), Matsuhashi (Ricoh); No. 8: Mafi (NTT Communications), Leitch (Toshiba).
BACKS (15) Scrum Halves: Uchida (Panasonic), Tanaka (Panasonic), Nagare (Suntory); Stand Offs: Ogura (NTT Comms.), Yu Tamura (Canon), Matsuda (Panasonic); Wings: Emi (Suntory), Fukuoka (Panasonic), Yamada (Panasonic); Centres: Carpenter (Suntory), Tatekawa (Kubota), Tupou (Coca Cola), Lafaele (Coca Cola); Full Backs: Noguchi (Tokai University), Matsushima (Suntory).
May 31. Japan squad of 33 announced for upcoming Romania and Ireland games. Loose head props - 3; Hookers - 3; Tight heads - 3; Locks - 4; Flankers - 3; No. 8s - 2; Scrum Halves - 3; Standoffs - 3; Wings - 3; Centres - 4; Full Backs - 2. Horie and Tatekawa are joint captains. The two blank squares in the photo are to distinguish forwards from backs - they are not vacant positions! ;-)
May 28. Very disappointing result at home for the Sunwolves yesterday. Absence of key players (Ed Quirk, Willie Britz, Shota Horie to name three) have certainly not helped!
May 25. Rich Freeman of Kyodo News previews the Sunwolves game against Cheetahs this weekend. Or rather he writes about the Sunwolves...
May 22. Scotland win the London Sevens!! Well Done, Guys!! Ned Haig would be very proud of you. And the Blitzbokke win the Series!! Well it's only Rugby Sevens (the fastest growth area in Rugby Union thanks to the Rio Olympics etc.), but for Scotland to beat England at Twickenham in any form of Rugby is a rare and special event.
London Sevens Day 2 Highlights (YouTube)
May 22. Thinking further about the Sunwolves and their tendency to lose close games (eg. recently vs. Jaguares and Sharks), it is clear that they have very good players. So what is missing? Putting it in alphabet terms, they have Attack and Basic skills. Maybe they lack a little in Confidence, Defence, Execution, Fitness and Guts? Well, the Laird would stress C and G at least. They need to go for it in the final ten minutes, the way Japan did against South Africa in RWC 2015. Hopefully they can get their second win of the season this week against the Cheetahs in Tokyo, quite a different challenge to the Sharks.
Go 🌞🐺🐺🐺!! 😉
Wolvy reports... Awoooo!! 😀
May 21. Sunwolves lose to Sharks 17-38 in Singapore, treated as a home game. Ouch! The Laird had a bad feeling when he saw how much space Sharks No. 10 April was given to run in counter-attack before the Sharks' first try. However, after 70 minutes it was still only 17-21 to the Sharks, which means the Toothy Fish from Durban, RSA closed out the game really well in the last ten, when Willie Britz, No. 8 of Sunwolves, was forced off due to a head injury... Attendance over 10,000. Good local support! Four games left this season, the next for the 'Wolves is vs. Cheetahs in Tokyo next week.
Go SunWolves 🌞🐺🐺🐺!! 😉
May 20. All three Japan games in June will be shown on terrestrial TV channels nationwide as follows:
June 10. Japan v Romania - Nippon TV
June 17. Japan v Ireland - NHK
June 24. Japan v Ireland - Nippon TV
This is a good sign that Rugby is becoming more popular. We do need Goromaru back though, valuable PR opportunities have been lost by his absence overseas as a household name for the sport.
NOTE BY WEBSITE CREATOR (THE LAIRD OF KITAKYUSHU)
Originally I started this website in 1996 on the university server, but have recently moved it to this private but free one. It had more than 100,000 hits at the time when the counter stopped working! Some of you may remember the original website, and I am trying to reproduce it as faithfully as possible here.
Please note also that this website is run entirely as a hobby and for no money at all.
You can contact The Laird by e-mail here.
(Please note that I am NOT a real laird, and Kitakyushu doesn't actually have a Laird, even though I believe it should, which is why I applied for the job and got it, there being no other applicants at the time. ;-)
In short, it's just a pen name I use for this page!)
