RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER: Vol.10, No.18

Congratulations RIJ Newsletter 10th Anniversary 2003-2013

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

CONTENTS

• HSBC Asia 5 Nations 2013 Week 2
• HSBC Asia 5 Nations 2013 Team Profiles
• HSBC Asia 5 Nations 2013 Week 1 Preview and wrap

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013 Week 2

Results Week 1
20.04.2013
Japan 121, Philippines 0 in Fukuoka (WCQ Asia 5 Nations)
Hong Kong 53, United Arab Emirates 7 in Hong Kong (WCQ Asia 5 Nations)

Week Two Preview and Wrap

South Korea 75 d United Arab Emirates 10
Date: Friday 26 April 2013
Venue: Al Ain RFC, Al Ain
Kick-off: 17:00

After going down 53-7 away to Hong Kong in their opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013, the United Arab Emirates return to home base to host South Korea. The Koreans had the bye in the first week and as the runners-up from last year they will be out to show that the standard of rugby is on the rise in their home country. In the corresponding game last season, Korea won 47-21 in Seoul and if the score is as close this time round the hosts will be hoping home ground advantage can get them across the line.

After having the bye in the opening week, South Korea made a strong statement of intent for 2013 with an emphatic ten tries to one 75-10 away win over the United Arab Emirates. Wing Kim Kwong-Min crossed the whitewash for four tries while on the other flank Jegal Bin picked up a double. Also etching his name on the scoresheet was five-eighth Oh Youn-Hyung who kicked seven conversions and two penalties for a personal haul of twenty points for the match. Centre Harry Woods was the sole try scorer for the UAE while the other centre in Ross Combe added the conversion and a penalty. Korea now have to face Japan in Tokyo next round while the UAE have the bye.

Bye: Philippines.

Japan 38 d Hong Kong 0

 Japan 38 – Tries: Toshiaki Hirose 2, Takeshi Kizu, Kosei Ono, Yuta Imamura and Yoshikazu Fujita ; Conversions: Ayumu Goromaru 4 d.
Hong Kong 0

Competition: HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013.
Date: Saturday 27 April 2013.
Venue: Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong.
Japan Test Number: 284.
Japan Game Number: TBC.
Kick-off: 16:03 local Hong Kong time (08:03 GMT).
Referee: Aaron Littlewood (Singapore). Assistant Referees: Gabriel Lee (Hong
Kong) and Patrick Kwok (Hong Kong).
Conditions: Cloudy and slight breeze. Surface conditions good.
Attendance: 3,500.
Halftime: Japan 14 – Hong Kong 0.

Head-to-head Encounters:

Japan and Hong Kong have met in 22 official tests since their first meeting in 1969. Japan have won 18 times and Hong Kong 4 times.

This year, 2013, marks fifteen years since Hong Kong last beat Japan during their third Pacific Rim Championship encounter at Chichibu in Tokyo when they scraped home 17-16. In fact, all four wins for Hong Kong over Japan came during the three year period they participated in the PRC with the three other wins all coming in a row when they won both home and away legs in 1997 with the 33-9 win in Aberdeen in 1996 their first win. Since that last win in 1998, Japan and Hong Kong have met nine times with Japan winning all nine tests.

The biggest win for Japan was 94-5 in May 2010 in the 4^th A5N at Chichibu in Tokyo, while the biggest winning margin was 89 points in the same test, just shading the 88 points difference in the 91-3 win at the same ground in May 2005. Japan have kept Hong Kong scoreless on three occasions, 16-0 in Hong Kong in November 1972 in the final of the third ARFU Asian Championship, 67-0 in the 5^th A5N at Chichibu in 2012 and 38-0 in the 6^th A5N in Hong Kong in 2013. The longest winning sequence for Japan is ten wins in a row between 1998 and 2013.

The biggest win for Hong Kong was 42-20 in 1997, while the biggest winning margin was 24 points in the 33-9 win in 1996. The longest winning sequence for Korea is three wins in 1966 and 1997.

Of the twenty-two tests played, twelve have been played in Japan, with ten of those at Chichibu, while eight games have been played in Hong Kong and two played on the neutral territory of Seoul and Singapore.

 

Official test results for Japan against Hong Kong

No.	Date	Result (Home – Away)	Venue	Tournament	Japan Test No.	W/D/L (For Japan)
22	27 Apr 2013	Hong Kong 0 – Japan 38	HKFC, Hong Kong	6th A5N	284	Won
21	19 May 2012	Japan 67 – Hong Kong 0	Chichibu, Tokyo	5th A5N	277	Won
20	30 Apr 2011	Hong Kong 22 Japan 45	HKFC, Hong Kong	4th A5N	261	Won
19	22 May 2010	Japan 94 – Hong Kong 5	Chichibu, Tokyo	3rd A5N	255	Won
18	2 May 2009	Hong Kong 6 – Japan 59	HKFC, Hong Kong	2nd A5N	243	Won
17	18 May 2008	Japan 75 – Hong Kong 29	Niigata	1st A5N	234	Won
16	29 Apr 2007	Japan 73 – Hong Kong 3	Chichibu, Tokyo	ANS	220	Won
15	18 Nov 2006	Hong Kong 3 – Japan 52	HKFC, Hong Kong	2007 RWC qualifying	217	Won
14	08 May 2005	Japan 91 – Hong Kong 3	Chichibu, Tokyo	2007 RWC qualifying	202	Won
13	31 Oct 1998	Japan 47 – Hong Kong 7	Singapore	1999 RWC qualifying	151	Won
12	07 Jun 1998	Japan 16 – Hong Kong 17	Chichibu, Tokyo	3rd PRC	145	Lost
11	23 May 1998	Hong Kong 31 – Japan 38	Aberdeen, Hong Kong	3rd PRC	144	Won
10	29 Jun 1997	Japan 23 – Hong Kong 41	Chichibu, Tokyo	2nd PRC	141	Lost
9	03 May 1997	Hong Kong 42 – Japan 20	Aberdeen, Hong Kong	2nd PRC	136	Lost
8	18 May 1996	Hong Kong 33 – Japan 9	Aberdeen, Hong Kong	1st PRC	130	Lost
7	11 May 1996	Japan 34 – Hong Kong 27	Chichibu, Tokyo	1st PRC	129	Won
6	18 Jun 1994	Japan 22 – Hong Kong 10	Sapporo		121	Won
5	26 Sep 1992	Japan 37 – Hong Kong 9	Seoul	13th AC	115	Won
4	07 Sep 1991	Japan 42 – Hong Kong 3	Edogawa, Tokyo		111	Won
3	30 Jan 1982	Japan 18 – Hong Kong 12	Chichibu, Tokyo		70	Won
2	11 Nov 1972	Hong Kong 0 – Japan 16	Hong Kong	3rd AC	37	Won
1	09 Mar 1969	Japan 24 – Hong Kong 22	Chichibu, Tokyo	1st AC	27	Won

A5N = Asian Five Nations.
ANS = Asian Nations Series (2007 only).
PRC = Pacific Rim Championship.
AC = Asian Championship.

Japan (IRB rank 15 (70.09), at 22 April 2013)

Pos.	Name (Test Player Number)	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Masataka MIKAMI (TBC)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	04/06/1988	24	178/113	2
2	Takeshi KIZU (534)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	15/07/1988	24	183/112	15
3	Hiroshi YAMASHITA (523)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	01/01/1986	27	183/120	17
4	Hitoshi ONO (445)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	06/05/1978	34	192/102	65
5	Shinya MAKABE (533)	Suntory Sungoliath	26/03/1987	26	192/110	11
6	Hendrik TUI (565)	Panasonic Wild Knights	13/12/1987	25	189/100	6
7	Michael BROADHURST (566)	Ricoh Black Rams	30/10/1986	26	196/110	4
8	Takeshi KIKUTANI (474)	Toyota Verblitz	24/02/1980	33	187/100	55
9	Atsushi HIWASA (545)	Suntory Sungoliath	22/05/1987	25	166/71	19
10	Kosei ONO (492)	Suntory Sungoliath	17/04/1987	26	171/82	16
11	Yuta IMAMURA (480)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	31/10/1984	28	178/93	34
12	Harumichi TATEKAWA (557)	Kubota Spears	02/12/1989	23	181/93	11
13	Male SAU (TBC)	Yamaha Jubilo	13/10/1987	25	183/98	2
14	Toshiaki HIROSE (c) (495)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	17/10/1981	31	173/80	12
15	Ayumu GOROMARU (467)	Yamaha Jubilo	01/03/1986	27	185/96	22
16	Yusuke AOKI (490)	Suntory Sungoliath	19/06/1983	29	176/95	24
17	Takuma ASAHARA (TBC)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	07/09/1987	25	179/114	2
18	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA (515)	Suntory Sungoliath	02/08/1985	27	178/116	38
19	Shoji ITO (553)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	02/12/1980	32	191/100	9
20	Justin IVES (544)	Canon Eagles	24/05/1984	28	196/100	10
21	Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI (512)	Panasonic Wild Knights	25/10/1981	31	188/111	24
22	Yu TAMURA (555)	NEC Green Rockets	09/01/1989	24	181/88	5
23	Yoshikazu FUJITA (562)	Waseda University	08/09/1993	19	184/86	2

Head Coach: Eddie Jones (AUS). (11^th test as head coach, for 8 wins and 3 losses)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 13 min 2H.
17 subbed 1, 15 min 2H.
18 subbed 3, 19 min 2H.
19 subbed 4, 18 min 2H.
20 subbed 5, 21 min 2H.
21 subbed 8, 28 min 2H.
22 subbed 10, 30 min 2H.
23 subbed 11, 28 min 2H.

NB: The IRB announced a number of global law amendment trials to start on 1 September 2012 in the northern hemisphere and 1 January in the southern hemisphere. One of these amendments is to permit international teams to nominate up to eight replacements.

Hong Kong (IRB rank 29 (55.69), at 22 April 2013)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Leon Wei	Kowloon	22	179/125
2	Alex Harris	Kowloon	24	178/95
3	James Cooper	DeA Tigers	27	186/122
4	Charles French	HKCC	29	197/110
5	Wil Hunt	HKFC	29	195/94
6	Alexander Baddeley	Valley	32	188/105
7	Matthew Lamming	HKCC	24	182/96
8	Pale Tauti	DeA Tigers	32	183/102
9	Peter McKee	HKFC	29	179/88
10	Niall Rowark	Valley	22	181/83
11	Alastair Maclay	Valley	33	191/107
12	Stewart Megaw	HKFC	27	181/91
13	David Whiteford	HK Scottish	27	193/96
14	Jonny Rees	Kowloon	25	175/80
15	Thomas McColl (c)	Kowloon	28	183/98
16	Stephen Nolan	HKFC	36	191/128
17	Thomas Bolland	HKFC	28	186/106
18	Daniel Watson	HKFC	34	200/112
19	Matthew Stockdale	Kowloon	29	185/120
20	Charles Cheung	DeA Tigers	23	178/84
21	Michael Glancy	HK Scottish	30	180/86
22	Sebastien Alfonsi	DeA Tigers	29	176/90
23

Head Coach: Leigh Jones (Wales).

Subs
16 subbed 2, 0 min 2H.
17 subbed 5, 13 min 2H.
18 subbed 3, 13 min 2H.
19 subbed 6, 0 min 1H.
20 subbed 9, 20 min 2H.
21 subbed 10, 20 min 2H.
22 subbed 13, 20 min 2H.
3 subbed 1, 28 min 2H.

NB: Hong Kong only had 22 players registered for this test.

Sources:
Statistics for Japan and Hong Kong from RiJ database and JRFU website.

Japan and Hong Kong played their twenty-second official test at the Hong Kong Football Club in Hong Kong on Saturday 27 April 2013 in the second week of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013 with the visitors claiming a hard-fought 38-0 victory.

After running in 18 tries to beat the Philippines 121-0 in Fukuoka last weekend racking up the highest score ever recorded in the A5N the Japanese machine was slowed down by a stoic, never say die Hong Kong defence as the hosts held the reigning champions to 12-0 at the break and then 21-0 by the hour mark before three further tries over the final quarter blew out the final scoreline to 38-0.

Big Kobe hooker Takeshi Kizu scored the first Japan try in the seventh minute of the first half in what was his fifteenth international appearance with goal kicking maestro Ayumu Goromaru adding the extras for an early 7-0 lead. Both sides ground out the next twenty minutes of play with neither team giving an inch before Hong Kong were presented their first scoring opportunity on the half hour mark. Unfortunately though, 22-year-old Valley five-eighth Niall Rowark failed to raise the flags in what would prove to be a scoreless afternoon for Hong Kong. His opposite number in Kosei Ono was next to trouble the score keeper when he crossed for his third test try in the 38^th minute with Goromaru slotting the conversion to eventually take the sides to the halftime break with Japan leading 14-0.

Left wing Yuta Imamura, in the starting line-up for the injured Hirotoki Onozawa scored the third Japanese try in the fourth minute of the second half with Goromaru converting the try to increase the lead to 21-0 but like in the first half neither side could add to the scoreboard over the next twenty minutes. Right wing and captain Toshiaki Hirose then led by example with tries in the 24^th and 27^th minutes to get the score out to 31-0 before replacement wing Yoshikazu Fujita closed out the game with a try in the 40^th minute.

After the game, Japan head coach Eddie Jones commented, “It was a tough game, we expected it. But what today’s performance showed was that we have a lot of work to do. This is after all only our second game this season.”

Namesake in Hong Kong head coach Leigh Jones said, “It was a courageous test of fortitude. One of the key areas was the breakdown and we managed to slow down their ball.”

On his team’s effort in defence, Hong Kong captain Tom McColl said, “It was a gutsy effort from the guys. We knew Japan would come out and throw the ball around and we knew that we would have to defend our hearts out and we did just that. I’m happy with our execution in defence but not so much with our attack.”

Japan wing Yuta Imamura attempts to tackle Hong Kong fullback Tom McColl.