RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER Volume 9, No.29

RiJ has been working back through the history of Japan tests and this week looks at the New Zealand Universities tour to Japan in 1967. Meanwhile, Eddie Jones took the Japan squad to Sugadaira for summer camp this week.

Enjoy the read.

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

CONTENTS

• Japan Test Match & Player History Project:NZ Universities tour to Japan 1967
• Japan Squad: Sugadaira Camp

The Japan Test Match & Player History Project

For nine years now RiJ has been documenting Japanese rugby across various levels of the game. More recently, however, RiJ has recognised the need to accurately document the history of Japanese test match rugby and the players that have represented Japan down through the years. With this in mind, RiJ has embarked on a project to write the history of Japanese international rugby, detail every test that Japan has played and profile every player that has represented Japan.

New Zealand Universities Tour to

Japan 1967

In February and March 1967 New Zealand Universities toured Japan playing nine games on tour winning all nine.

Game 1: New Zealand Universities 38 d All-Waseda University 0, 26 February 1967, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Game 2: New Zealand Universities 63 d Japan Universities 15, 1 March 1967, Mizuho, Nagoya.

Game 3: New Zealand Universities 35 d Kanto Universities 14, 5 March 1967, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Game 4: New Zealand Universities 53 d All-Doshisha University 6, 8 March 1967, Nishi-Kyogoku, Kyoto.

Game 5: First Test.

Game 6: New Zealand Universities 62 d Oita Prefectural Teachers 3, 15 March 1967, Oita.

Game 7: New Zealand Universities 56 d Kyushu 11, 17 March 1967, Heiwadai Stadium, Fukuoka.

Game 8: New Zealand Universities 49 d All-Hosei University 12, 19 March 1967, Chichibu, Tokyo.

Game 9: Second Test.

Japan 3 – New Zealand Universities 19. Sunday, 12 March 1967, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.23, Japan Game No.40)

Japan 8 – New Zealand Universities 55. Tuesday, 21 March 1967, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.24, Japan Game No.41)

In 1967 NZU visited Japan for the second time with the first visit way back in 1936. The pre-war tour consisted of seven games with two tests against the full Japan side. On that occasion NZU won six games and drew one while the visitors won the first test in Tokyo 16-8 and drew the second test in Osaka 9-all. Furthermore, in between these two tours by NZU, the Junior All Blacks also toured Japan in 1958 on a nine match tour that included three tests with the JAB going through the tour undefeated.

The 1967 tour was also a long one with nine games including two tests with the New Zealanders once again winning all nine games. The touring party contained a number of current and future All Blacks, including fullback Mick Williment who had played against the British and Irish Lions the previous year, halfback Chris Laidlaw who debuted against France in 1964 eventually playing 20 tests for the All Blacks, five-eighth Earle Kirton who would make his international debut against England in London later in the year and centre Gerald Kember who would earn one cap against South Africa in 1970. The captain of the touring party was flanker Gary Hermansson who played over 100 first-class games for Manawatu, Wellington and NZU while he also represented NZU at cricket as wicketkeeper. Hermansson would go on to have a prominent career in counselling and sports psychology. The legendary former All Black fullback Don Clarke was the tour manager.

Although it had been about four years since Japan last played a test match, against British Columbia in Vancouver in April 1963, the Japan Union had embarked on a programme of strengthening the national side through regular camps over the previous three years in an effort to make Japan more competitive on the international stage. Tetsunosuke Onishi became Japan coach number eight when he was engaged as the new head coach after several successful stints as coach at Waseda University and he would continue in the role for a total of twelve tests in a row through to 1971.

Furthermore, with a four year gap between tests, the Japan side that ran out against NZU in the first test in Osaka contained twelve players on debut, while the other three players were only playing in their second tests. Nevertheless, with the Japan national side making something of another brand new start, there were a number of players that turned out against NZU in these two tests in 1967 that would form the nucleus of Japan sides for the next number of years. Prominent among them was left wing Yoshihiro ‘Demi’ Sakata who became the first Japanese inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame (Inductee No.51) in June 2012. As well as earning 16 caps for Japan he also spent time playing rugby in New Zealand where he made a name for himself going on to represent Canterbury, NZU and the New Zealand Barbarians. Moreover, inside centre Akira Yokoi was another player of the future going on to play 17 tests, 12 as captain, as well as five-eighth Tadamasa Fujimoto (14 caps) and flanker Yoshiharu Yamaguchi (13 caps).

After four easy wins, the first test played in Osaka on Sunday, 12 March 1967 was the fifth game on tour. NZU scored three tries to none and ran out 19-3 winners but the inexperienced Japanese side put up stiff resistance and were far from out-played. Hosei University fullback Tsutomu Katsuraguchi as the youngest player in the Japanese side at 21 years of age scored the only points for his country with a second half penalty goal. Outside centre Masayoshi Ozaki was captain in this test, becoming Japan captain number 17.

Between the two tests NZU played a further three matches for soft wins with the tour culminating in the second test in Tokyo on the holiday Tuesday, 21 March 1967. The side from the first test was chopped and changed with another eight players making their debuts for Japan in Tokyo. However, the move backfired and Japan could not repeat the heroics of the first test going down 55-8 with NZU running in thirteen tries to one. Perhaps as a reflection of the result, ironically, of the eight test debutants in this test for Japan, none would make another test match appearance. Lock Eiji Okabe was captain in what was his second and final test, becoming Japan captain number 18 while flanker Takeshi Kato scored the try for Japan in his one and only test with Yokoi completing the scoring for the hosts with a conversion and a penalty.

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Japan Squad: Sugadaira Camp

The Japan Squad had a summer camp in the Sugadaira Highlands area of Nagano prefecture from 16-20 July 2012.

Pre-camp Comments by Head Coach Eddie Jones

Sugadaira has a lot of traditional as a rugby town in Japan and so it is a good place to build the future of Japanese rugby. The purpose of this camp is to tailor and then monitor appropriate training for individual players in order to improve their overall performances and make Japan a top ten country in the rankings. Strength, core skills and attacking strategies are the main focus of the camp.

For this camp we have picked players with a view to the future. Among these players, Yoshimitsu Yasue is there for his vitality, Takuma Asahara for his potential and lock Kazuhiko Usami for his jumping ability, while Takuya Yamasawa is a skilful young player and Jeffrey Ierome brings power to the squad. Furthermore, there were a number of other players we wanted to include on this camp but they were unavailable due to injury and study commitments.

As well as monitoring the performances of the players, we want to reinforce in the squad the mentality required to become a top ten ranked country in the world.

Position	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
LH Props	Hisateru HIRASHIMA	Kobe Steelers	29	180/110	27
	Yusuke NAGAE	Ricoh Black Rams	26	171/105	7
	Kosuke HASHINO	Canon Eagles	24	176/80	-
Hookers	Yusuke AOKI	Suntory Sungoliath	29	176/92	22
	Takeshi KIZU	Kobe Steelers	23	183/111	14
	Yoshimitsu YASUE	Kobe Steelers	27	175/106	2
	Ryuhei ARITA	Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	23	176/100	7
TH Props	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	26	178/111	34
	Hiroshi YAMASHITA	Kobe Steelers	26	183/121	13
	Takuma ASAHARA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	24	179/114	-
	Hidetatsu TSUBOI	Chugoku Electric Power	23	181/115	2
Locks	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	34	192/105	61
	Toshizumi KITAGAWA	Toyota Verblitz	31	195/110	41
	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	25	192/112	9
	Michael BROADHURST	Ricoh Black Rams	25	196/105	-
	Kazuhiko USAMI	Ritsumeikan Univ.	20	195/98	-
Flankers	Takashi KIKUTANI	Toyota Verblitz	32	187/100	51
	Takamichi SASAKI	Suntory Sungoliath	28	184/95	13
	Shoji ITO	Kobe Steelers	31	191/97	7
	Yuta MOCHIZUKI	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	184/105	7
	Daiki HASHIMOTO	Kobe Steelers	25	184/100	1
	Tsuyoshi MURATA	NEC Green Rockets	23	185/100	-
No8s	Michael LEITCH	Toshiba Brave Lupus	23	190/105	26
	Hendrik TUI	Panasonic Wild Knights	24	189/109	2
Halfbacks	Atsushi HIWASA	Suntory Sungoliath	25	166/72	15
	Jun FUJII	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	170/77	6
	Keisuke UCHIDA	Tsukuba University	20	177/81	2
Five-eighths	Kosei ONO	Suntory Sungoliath	25	171/81	12
	Harumichi TATEKAWA	Kubota Spears	22	181/93	7
	Yu TAMURA	NEC Green Rockets	23	181/87	3
	Takuya YAMASAWA	Fukaya HS	17	178/82	-
Wings	Hirotoki ONOZAWA	Suntory Sungoliath	34	180/85	74
	Kosuke ENDO	Toyota Verblitz	31	186/90	41
	Toshiaki HIROSE	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	173/81	8
	Sho TAKENAKA	Tsukuba University	19	176/88	-
Centres	Yuta IMAMURA	Kobe Steelers	27	178/90	33
	Tomohiro SEMBA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	183/97	7
	Jeffrey IEROME	Kintetsu Liners	30	180/99	-
	Male SAU	Yamaha Jubilo	24	183/98	-
Fullbacks	Ayumu GOROMARU	Yamaha Jubilo	27	185/97	18
	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	27	176/85	9
	Atsushi TANABE	Panasonic Wild Knights	34	170/73	3

On 15 July 2012, Jeffrey Ierome was forced to withdraw from the camp due to personal reasons.

On 16 July 2012, Hisateru Hirashima, Takeshi Kizu and Hiroshi Yamashita were forced to withdraw from the camp due to conditioning concerns.

On 16 July 2012, Hidetatsu Tsuboi, Ryuhei Arita and Atsushi Tanabe were added to the squad.

On 17 July 2012, Michael Leitch was forced to withdraw from the camp due to injury.

On 19 July 2012, Kosuke Hashino was added to the squad.