This leads me to the next thing I want to blog about – the future of rugby in Japan. The nominees for the World Rugby Team and Coach of the Year 2019 accolades have been revealed with Rugby World Cup 2019 hosts Japan and their coach Jamie Joseph joined by the four semi-finalists in England, South Africa, Wales and New Zealand on the shortlists. Excitingly, not only for us, but for Japanese rugby in general, the boys were able to draw the series with Scotland under 19s.

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He was part of the Japanese team that won the 2011 and 2014 Pacific Nations Cups. The experienced hooker made his debut back in 2009 against Canada and has seven Test tries to his name. Japanese rugby authorities failed to build on the team’s success in 2015 but, as a groundbreaking home tournament draws to a close, there are signs the boom may not turn to bust Published: 9:20 AM Foreign-born players uniting Brave Blossoms at Rugby World Cup ... players who don’t look like Japanese being on the Japan team, but rugby is … Read more:Rugby World Cup 2015 LIVE: Matt Giteau tips England and Wales are urged to go 'all in' against Uruguay Unlike Wales, 10 of Japan… Of the 23 players who earned Japan's historic first appearance in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals on Sunday, only 11 were born to Japanese… This is the page for Japan.

A Richly Diverse Team Flies the Flag for Japan: That’s Rugby Sports Sep 3, 2019 The members of the Japanese national rugby team hail from all corners of the world. Hello! So, even though baseball, soccer, basketball or even golf may be more popular than rugby, I was surprised to see that it is a sport that is actually well-known in Japan, whereas in Spain it is not. A trail-blazer in Japanese rugby, Shota Horie was the first player from the Brave Blossoms to play in Super Rugby when he joined the Melbourne Rebels in 2013. Luke Thompson qualifies for Japan on residency grounds.

The Japanese captain talks about a classic victory in what was an emotional day for the hosts. Like tennis star Naomi Osaka and NBA player Rui Hachimura, Japan's rugby team offers a diverse and slightly different look for an insular but changing country.

If anyone actually made it to the end of this blog, look forward to that in the near future.