RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER: Vol.10, No.12

RiJ continues to look at the build up to the international season with Junior Japan now playing in the Pacific Rugby Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the Japan High Schools on tour in Italy and France. See below for details.

Enjoy the read.

Ian McDonnell lives and works in Japan. He can be contacted at ianmcdo@apost.plala.or.jp

CONTENTS

• Junior Japan at the Pacific Rugby Cup 2013
• Japan High Schools Tour of Italy and France 2013
• IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2013

Junior Japan at the Pacific Rugby Cup 2013

On 28 February 2013, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced a 30-man Junior Japan squad to participate in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2013.

The IRB PRC 2013 involves sixteen teams, namely, Waratahs, Fiji, Reds A, Tonga, Brumbies, Samoa, Brisbane Academy, Sydney Academy, Melbourne Rebels, Western Force, Highlanders XV, Blues XV, Hurricanes XV, Crusaders XV, Chiefs XV and Junior Japan.

Junior Japan Squad

Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
Kengo KITAGAWA	Doshisha University	20	178/109	-
Shohei HIRANO	Tokai University	19	178/120	-
Atsushi SAKATE	Teikyo University	19	180/99	-
Haruki OTA	Kintetsu Liners	26	176/97	-
Kazuhiro SHIBATA	Ricoh Black Rams	26	186/108	-
Koki YAMAMOTO	Kinki University	22	181/115	-
Takumi MIKAMI	Tokai University	22	192/105	-
Kazuki HIMENO	Haruhigaoka High School	18	187/100	-
Yuji KITAGAWA	Panasonic Wild Knights	26	195/108	6
Kazuhiko USAMI	Ritsumeikan University	21	195/106	-
Tsuyoshi MURATA	NEC Green Rockets	24	185/102	-
Kyosuke HORIE	Meiji University	22	182/102	-
Yoshitaka TOKUNAGA	Kwansei Gakuin University	20	185/98	-
Hayato NISHIUCHI	Hosei University	19	180/90	-
Takamichi SASAKI	Suntory Sungoliath	29	184/97	13
Hiroki YAMAMOTO	Tsukuba University	20	187/90	-
Takahiro OGAWA	Nihon University	21	172/72	-
Issei SHIGE	Josho Gakuen High School	18	170/76	-
Takuya YAMASAWA	Fukaya High School	18	178/82	-
Yosuke MORITA	NEC Green Rockets	24	177/88	-
Kenki FUKUOKA	Tsukuba University	20	175/83	-
Takaaki NAKAZURU	Waseda University	22	177/77	-
Yasuki HAYASHI	Panasonic Wild Knights	27	176/85	-
Yuya NOGUCHI	Panasonic Wild Knights	26	174/83	-
Daishi MURATA	Suntory Sungoliath	24	182/81	-
Tonisio VAIFU	Tenri University	22	176/101	-
Yoshikazu FUJITA	Waseda University	19	184/86	1
Sho TAKENAKA	Tsukuba University	20	176/87	-
Rikiya MATSUDA	Fushimi Technical High School	18	178/80	-
Yasutaka SASAKURA	Panasonic Wild Knights	24	186/88	-

Head coach Satoru Endo.

Schedule

Date	Team	Score	Team	Kick-off	Venue
Tuesday 12 March 2013	Brisbane Academy	76-26	Junior Japan	18:00	Ballymore
Monday 18 March 2013	Reds A	-	Junior Japan	18:00	Ballymore
Saturday 23 March 2013	Sydney Academy	-	Junior Japan	16:00	Griffith Oval
Thursday 28 March 2013	Blues XV	-	Junior Japan	18:30	Bell Park, Pakuranga RFC
Tuesday 02 April 2013	Highlanders XV	-	Junior Japan	16:30	Forsyth Barr Stadium
Sunday 07 April 2013	Hurricanes XV	-	Junior Japan	16:00	Community Trust Domain

Game 1:

Brisbane Academy 76 d
Junior Japan 26 – Tries: Takuya Yamasawa 2, Takaaki Nakazuru and Takumi Mikami; Conversions: Takuya Yamasawa 3

Date: Tuesday 12 March 2013.
Venue: Ballymore, Brisbane.
Kick-off: 18:00.
Halftime: Brisbane Academy 45 – Junior Japan 12.

Junior Japan: 1- Kengo Kitagawa, 2- Haruki Ota, 3- Kazuhiro Shibata, 4- Takumi Mikami, 5- Yuji Kitagawa, 6- Tsuyoshi Murata (c), 7- Kyosuke Horie, 8- Takamichi Sasaki, 9- Takahiro Ogawa, 10- Takuya Yamasawa, 11- Sho Takenaka, 12- Yasuki Hayashi, 13- Daishi Murata, 14- Takaaki Nakazuru, 15- Yasutaka Sasakura.

Reserves: 16- Atsushi Sakate (subbed 2, 6 min 2H), 17- Shohei Hirano, 18- Koki Yamamoto (subbed 3, 15 min 2H), 19- Kazuhiko Usami (subbed 5, 23 min 2H), 20- Yoshitaka Tokunaga (subbed 8, 23 min 2H), 21- Issei Shige, 22- Yosuke Morita (subbed 10, 33 min 2H), 23- Yoshikazu Fujita (subbed 14, 15 min 2H).

Comments by head coach Satoru Endo
We approached this game with the team slogan of playing attacking rugby for the full 80 minutes. In defence we tackled well around the set plays, however, a high error rate blew out the final score. We are not going to lose heart from this result and will go into our second game with the aim of playing our brand of attacking rugby.

Comments by captain Tsuyoshi Murata
We gave away a lot of points from our own mistakes. We couldn’t quite hold our shape in defence and this also contributed to the scoreline. In camp leading up to the tour we practised attacking rugby and we managed to produce some good phases of attacking play in this match which is a real positive for us. If we can find our form we will be able to move the ball, get across the gain line and score tries. If we can do what we practised we can win. In the up-coming games we have to work on performing under pressure situations. As captain I felt I did not lead from the front today, but there is no time to dwell on this as we have to move forward as a team on the whole. 

Japan High Schools Tour to Italy and France 2013

The Japan High Schools tour Italy and France from 9-26 March 2013.

27-man Japan High Schools Squad 2013

Position	Name	School	Height	Weight
Looseheads	Atsuteru HORIKIRI	Kugayama	180	105
	Kosuke HORIKOSHI	Toin Gakuen	173	98
	Kisato TORIHARA	Kagoshima Jitsugyo	180	108
Hookers	Shogo HIDAKA	Josho Gakuen	172	92
	Yuji TAKEI	Gose Jitsugyo	182	97
Tightheads	Takayuki WATANABE	Sapporo Yamanote	182	113
	KOO Ji-Won	Nihon Bunri Dai	184	115
Locks	Shoma MAKINOUCHI	Higashi Fukuoka	188	95
	Shinichi TANAKA	Kugayama	186	90
	Eishin KUWANO	Chikushi	190	93
Flankers	Tomohito MIYAKAWA	Akita Technical	190	80
	Tatsuya SUZUKI	Meikei Gakuen	180	90
	Takeo SUENAGA	Fukuoka	179	77
No8s	Sota OKETANI	Josho Gakuen	176	95
	Tevita TATAFU	Meguro Gakuin	183	98
Halfbacks	Taiki KOYAMA	Ashibetsu	165	67
	Atsushi Yumoto	Tokai Gyosei	164	59
Five-eighth	Genta WADA	Gose Jitsugyo	178	79
Five-eighth/centre	Toshiki HAMAGISHI	Tokyo	175	88
Centres	Keita SUZUKI	Meikei Gakuen	175	77
	Rio MIKASA	Fukaya	171	76
	Eito NAKANISHI	Josho Gakuen	173	86
Wings	Chihito Matsui	Josho Gakuen	180	76
	Seiya OZAKI	Fushimi Technical	172	72
	Shuhei NARITA	Akita Technical	174	67
Fullbacks	Ryuji NOGUCHI	Tokai Gyosei	178	72
	Shinya MORITA	Rakuhoku	170	70

 Staff
Manager: Yoshihiro Sakata (JRFU).
Assistant manager: Tomokazu Nogami (Josho Gakuen).
Head coach: Noriyuki Yokota (Fukaya).
Coach: Tomoya Takahashi (Kurosawajiri Technical).
Coach: Yoshihiko Yoshihara (Hachinohe Minami).
Doctor: Takuro Moriya (Chiba Rosai Hospital).
Trainer: Tetsu Oishi (Teikyo University of Science).
General: Satoshi Komorita (Kobe City College of Technology).

Game 1:

Japan High Schools 27 d Italy U18 14
Date: Wednesday 13 March 2013
Venue: Centro Sportivo “Albonico”, Turin, Italy
Kick-off: 14:30 local Italy time (00:30, Thursday 14 March 2012, Japan time)
Halftime: Italy U18 14 – Japan High Schools 10
NB: 35 minutes halves

Japan High Schools: 1- Kosuke Horikoshi, 2- Shogo Hidaka, 3- Koo Ji-Won, 4- Shoma Makinouchi, 5- Shinichi Tanaka, 6- Takeo Suenaga, 7- Tevita Tatafu, 8- Sota Oketani, 9- Atsushi Yumoto (c), 10- Toshiki Hamagishi, 11- Shuhei Narita, 12- Keita Suzuki, 13- Eito Nakanishi, 14- Chihito Matsui and 15- Ryuji Noguchi.
Reserves: 16- Yuji Takei, 17- Atsuteru Horikiri, 18- Eishin Kuwano, 19- Tomohito Miyakawa, 20- Taiki Koyama, 21- Genta Wada, 22- Shinya Morita, 23- Kisato Torihara, 24- Tatsuya Suzuki, 25- Rio Mikasa, 26- Seiya Ozaki and 27- Takayuki Watanabe.

Scorers for Japan High Schools: Tries: Eito Nakanishi, Eishin Kuwano, Tevita Tatafu and Tomohito Miyakawa; Conversions: Ryuji Noguchi 2; Penalty: Ryuji Noguchi.

Comments by Head Coach Hideyuki Matsui
We talked about a strong defence for this first game on tour and our successful low driving tackles produced a lot of turnover ball. That is one of the strong points of this team. Furthermore, I believe our high tempo in attack lead to a number of good tries. However, there are still things for us to work on at the set pieces and we also need to reduce our handling errors on attack. With both sides agreeing to squads of 27 players we were able to give everyone a run in this game. We have spent a lot of time on strength and conditioning and this paid off with the boys running at full tilt to the end. We want to produce this same form in our next game and again come away with a win.

Comments by Captain Atsushi Yumoto
With this being our first game on tour we were a bit nervous in the first half. However, we found our rhythm in the second half with our driving defence at the heart of the win. Both the forwards and the backs stood up in attack and especially defence today. We felt good at the end of the first half and we then found our legs in the second half. We were out-sized by our opposition but we managed to use our speed to get in their faces and disrupt their rhythm. We have a few things to work on ahead of our second game like reducing the amount of unforced errors in the backs on attack.

Game 2:

Italy U18 v Japan High Schools
Date: Sunday 17 March 2013
Venue: Impianto VII Rugby Torino, Turin, Italy
Kick-off: 14:30 local Italy time (22:30 Japan time)

Game 3:

Paul Espoir U18 Selection v Japan High Schools
Date: Wednesday 20 March 2013
Venue: Rugby Stadium Robert Crepieux, Chaponnay, France
Kick-off: 16:00 local France time (23:00 Japan time)

Game 4:

France U18 v Japan High Schools
Date: Saturday 23 March 2013
Venue: Church Stadium, Saint Savin, France
Kick-off: 16:00 local France time (23:00 Japan time)

IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Chile 2013

Pools and Match Schedule

All matches at Circuito Deportivo Ciudad de Antofagasta 

Pool A	Pool B
Italy	Japan
Portugal	Tonga
Chile	Canada
Namibia	Uruguay

Day 1: Tuesday 28 May 2013
Italy v Namibia
Japan v Uruguay
Tonga v Canada
Chile v Portugal

Day 2: Saturday 01 June 2013
Portugal v Namibia
Japan v Canada
Tonga v Uruguay
Chile v Italy

Day 3: Wednesday 05 June 2013
Canada v Uruguay
Italy v Portugal
Japan v Tonga
Chile v Namibia

Day 4: Sunday 09 June 2013
4^th Pool A v 4^th Pool B
3^rd Pool A v 3^rd Pool B
2^nd Pool A v 2^nd Pool B
Final: 1^st Pool A v 1^st Pool B