RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER: Vol.10, No.19

Congratulations RIJ Newsletter 10th Anniversary 2003-2013

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

RiJ covers Week Three of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013 this issue with Japan enjoying a 64-5 win over South Korea to take the A5N title for the sixth year in a row. In the other match this week, Hong Kong had a 59-20 win over the Philippines in Manila.

Enjoy the read.

CONTENTS

• HSBC Asia 5 Nations 2013 Week 3 Japan v South Korea
• HSBC Asia 5 Nations 2013 Week 3 Hong Kong v Philippines

Japan 64 d South Korea 5

 Japan 64 – Tries: Kenki Fukuoka 2, Takashi Kikutani 2, Kosei Ono, Yoshikazu Fujita, Hendrik Tui, Ayumu Goromaru, Male Sau and penalty try; Conversions: Ayumu Goromaru 7 d.

South Korea 5 – Try: Oh Youn Hyung.

Competition: HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013.
Date: Saturday 04 May 2013.
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.
Japan Test Number: 285.
Japan Game Number: TBC.
Kick-off: 14:00 local Japan time (05:00 GMT/UTC).

Referee: Tobi Lothian (Hong Kong); Assistant Referees: Warren Needham (Hong Kong) and Aaron Littlewood (Singapore).

Conditions: Fine, warm, dry, little breeze. Surface well grassed and firm.
Attendance: 7,408.
Halftime: Japan 40 – South Korea 0.
Yellow Card: Oh Youn Hyung (South Korea No.10, 9 min 2H, repeated team infringements).

Match Points: Japan 6, South Korea 0.

Head-to-head Encounters:

Japan and South Korea have played 29 official tests since 1976. Japan have won 22, Korea 6 and there has been one draw.

This year, 2013 marks eleven years since South Korea last beat Japan. That 45-34 win for Korea was recorded at the fourteenth Asian Games played in Ulsan in October 2002. Since that test in 2002, Japan and Korea have met eleven times with Japan winning ten with one draw played out in Tokyo in May 2004 in what was the first test under new coach Mitsutake Hagimoto.

Given the fact that Japan and Korea have often met in the Asian Games or the ARFU Asian Championship, especially in the early tests, eleven games have been played on neutral territory, while ten games have been played in Japan and seven games played in Korea.

The biggest win for Japan was 90-24 in June 2002 in the home leg at the National Stadium in Tokyo of the home and away rounds of Asian Qualification for the 2003 Rugby World Cup that also involved Chinese Taipei, while the biggest winning margin was 83 points in the 86-3 win in Osaka in June 2003. Japan have kept Korea scoreless on two occasions, firstly, 54-0 in Hong Kong in November 2006 in the final round of Asian Qualification for the 2003 Rugby World Cup that also involved Hong Kong and the following game in Tokyo in April 2007 when Japan won 82-0. The longest winning sequence for Japan is eight wins in a row between 2005 and 2012, while the longest sequence without a loss is ten tests between 2003 and 2012 that includes the draw in 2004.

All six wins for Korea have occurred in either the Asian Games or the ARFU Asian Championship. The first four wins for Korea were in the Asian Championship in 1982, 1986, 1988 and 1990, while Korea won the two times the sides have met at the Asian Games in 1998 in Bangkok and 2002 in Ulsan. The biggest win for Korea was 45-34 in 2002, while the biggest winning margin was eleven points in the same game. The longest winning sequence for Korea is two wins in 1986 and 1988.

This test against Korea in 2013 is the twenty-ninth meeting between the two countries and it betters the record for the number of tests played against one country of 28 tests with New Zealand representative sides (including the All Blacks, New Zealand XV,  the New Zealand Maori, the Junior All Blacks, New Zealand Universities and New Zealand Colts), while Japan have played 27 tests against Canadian representative sides (including British Columbia). 

No.	Date	Result (Home – Away)	Venue	Tournament	Japan Test No.	W/D/L (For Japan)
29	04 May 2013	Japan 64 – Korea 5	Chichibu, Tokyo	6th A5N	285	Won
28	12 May 2012	Korea 8 – Japan 52	Seongnam Stadium, Seoul	5th A5N	276	Won
27	01 May 2010	Korea 13 – Japan 71	Gyeongsang Stadium, Daegu	3rd A5N	252	Won
26	16 May 2009	Japan 80 – Korea 9	Hanazono, Osaka	2nd A5N	244	Won
25	26 Apr 2008	Korea 17 – Japan 39	Munhak Stadium Incheon	1st A5N	231	Won
24	22 Apr 2007	Japan 82 – Korea 0	Chichibu, Tokyo		219	Won
23	25 Nov 2006	Japan 54 – Korea 0	HKFC, Hong Kong	2007 RWC AQ	218	Won
22	23 Apr 2006	Japan 50 – Korea 14	Chichibu, Tokyo	2007 RWC AQ	210	Won
21	15 May 2005	Korea 31 – Japan 50	Kangwon	2007 RWC AQ	203	Won
20	16 May 2004	Japan 19 – Korea 19	Chichibu, Tokyo	2007 RWC AQ	193	Drew
19	15 Jun 2003	Japan 86 – Korea 3	Hanazono, Osaka		186	Won
18	13 Oct 2002	Korea 45 – Japan 34	Public Stadium, Ulsan	14th AG	181	Lost
17	14 Jul 2002	Korea 17 – Japan 55	Dongdeamun Stadium, Seoul	2003 RWC AQ	179	Won
16	16 Jun 2002	Japan 90 – Korea 24	National Stadium, Tokyo	2003 RWC AQ	177	Won
15	13 May 2001	Japan 27 – Korea 19	Chichibu, Tokyo		169	Won
14	02 Jul 2000	Japan 34 – Korea 29	Aomori	17th AC	166	Won
13	18 Dec 1998	Korea 21 – Japan 17	Bangkok	13th AG	152	Lost
12	24 Oct 1998	Japan 40 – Korea 12	Singapore	1999 RWC AQ	149	Won
11	09 Nov 1996	Japan 41 – Korea 25	Taipei	15th AC	135	Won
10	29 Oct 1994	Japan 26 – Korea 11	Kuala Lumpur	14th AC	122	Won
9	27 Oct 1990	Korea 13 – Japan 9	Colombo	12th AC	107	Lost
8	11 Apr 1990	Japan 26 – Korea 10	Chichibu, Tokyo	1991 RWC AQ	104	Won
7	19 Nov 1988	Korea 17 – Japan 13	Hong Kong	11th AC	100	Lost
6	29 Nov 1986	Korea 24 – Japan 22	Bangkok	10th AC	92	Lost
5	27 Oct 1984	Japan 20 – Korea 13	Fukuoka	9th AC	82	Won
4	27 Nov 1982	Korea 12 – Japan 9	Singapore	8th AC	77	Lost
3	16 Nov 1980	Japan 21 – Korea 12	Taipei	7th AC	68	Won
2	25 Nov 1978	Japan 16 – Korea 4	Kuala Lumpur	6th AC	61	Won
1	20 Nov 1976	Korea 3 – Japan 11	Seoul	5th AC	56	Won

A5N = Asian Five Nations.
2007 RWC AQ = 2007 Rugby World Cup Asian Qualifier
AG = Asian Games
AC = Asian Championship

Japan (IRB rank 15 (70.09), at 29 April 2013)

Pos.	Name (Test Player Number)	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Takuma ASAHARA (TBC)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	1	Takuma	179/114	3
2	Hiroki YUHARA (537)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	21/01/1984	29	173/105	11
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA (515)	Suntory Sungoliath	02/08/1985	27	178/116	39
4	Hitoshi ONO (445)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	06/05/1978	34	192/102	66
5	Justin IVES (544)	Canon Eagles	24/05/1984	28	196/100	11
6	Takeshi KIKUTANI (c) (474)	Toyota Verblitz	24/02/1980	33	187/100	56
7	Michael BROADHURST (566)	Ricoh Black Rams	30/10/1986	26	196/110	5
8	Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI (512)	Panasonic Wild Knights	25/10/1981	31	188/111	25
9	Atsushi HIWASA (545)	Suntory Sungoliath	22/05/1987	25	166/71	20
10	Kosei ONO (492)	Suntory Sungoliath	17/04/1987	26	171/82	17
11	Kenki FUKUOKA (TBC)	Tsukuba University	07/09/1992	20	175/83	2
12	Harumichi TATEKAWA (557)	Kubota Spears	02/12/1989	23	181/93	12
13	Male SAU (TBC)	Yamaha Jubilo	13/10/1987	25	183/98	3
14	Yoshikazu FUJITA (562)	Waseda University	08/09/1993	19	184/86	3
15	Ayumu GOROMARU (467)	Yamaha Jubilo	01/03/1986	27	185/96	23
16	Yusuke AOKI (490)	Suntory Sungoliath	19/06/1983	29	176/95	25
17	Masataka MIKAMI (TBC)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	04/06/1988	24	178/113	(2)
18	Hiroshi YAMASHITA (523)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	01/01/1986	27	183/120	18
19	Shoji ITO (553)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	02/12/1980	32	191/100	10
20	Shinya MAKABE (533)	Suntory Sungoliath	26/03/1987	26	192/110	12
21	Hendrik TUI (565)	Panasonic Wild Knights	13/12/1987	25	189/100	7
22	Yu TAMURA (555)	NEC Green Rockets	09/01/1989	24	181/88	6
23	Yuta IMAMURA (480)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	31/10/1984	28	178/93	35

Head Coach: Eddie Jones (AUS). (12^th test as head coach, for 9 wins and 3 losses)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 10 min 2H.
17 not used.
18 subbed 3, 12 min 2H.
19 subbed 4, 12 min 2H.
20 subbed 5, 12 min 2H.
21 subbed 8, 2 min 2H.
22 subbed 10, 6 min 2H.
23 subbed 11, 23 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.

South Korea (IRB rank 26 (56.72), at 29 April 2013)

Pos.	Name	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt
1	KIM Kwang Sik	NEC Green Rockets (JPN)	08/11/1985	27	182/127
2	PARK Sung Ku	Kubota Spears (JPN)	22/07/1983	29	180/108
3	HEO Woong	NTT Docomo (JPN)	13/01/1985	28	185/115
4	LEE Kwang Moon	Toshiba Brave Lupus (JPN)	04/08/1983	29	188/105
5	YOUN Kwon Woo	Yokogawa Musashino (JPN)	23/01/1985	28	185/118
6	YOU Young Nam	Panasonic Wild Knights (JPN)	13/10/1983	29	192/100
7	PARK Soon Chai (c)	Suntory Sungoliath (JPN)	20/08/1985	27	190/105
8	HAN Kun Kyu	Korea Electric Power Co.	22/01/1987	26	186/105
9	PARK Wan Yong	Korea Electric Power Co.	02/06/1984	27	170/78
10	OH Youn Hyung	Korea Electric Power Co.	29/10/1984	27	178/82
11	KIM Gwong Min	Korea Electric Power Co.	02/04/1988	25	177/81
12	KIM Nam Uk	Sammu	05/02/1990	23	179/94
13	YOO Chul Kyu	Korea Electric Power Co.	13/04/1982	30	178/85
14	JEGAL Bin	Sammu	24/02/1990	23	182/92
15	KIM Keun Hyun	Korea Electric Power Co.	05/09/1981	31	182/92
16	KIM Min Kyu	Dankook University	19/03/1991	22	180/100
17	JUNG Sung Un	Honda Heat (JPN)	22/10/1981	31	180/113
18	CHO Jin Hyen	Akita Northern Bullets (JPN)	24/11/1988	24	182/120
19	KIM Jeong Min	Korea Electric Power Co.	15/03/1983	30	181/92
20	YANG Young Hun	Honda Heat (JPN)	03/12/1980	29	176/82
21	JANG Seong Min	Korea University	22/08/1992	20	187/95
22	KWON Jung Hyek	Fukuoka Sanix Blues (JPN)	05/02/1989	24	179/93
23	OH Seng Joung	Samsung	21/02/1986	27	184/100

Head Coach: PARK Ki Haeng.
Assistant Coach: SUNG Hae Kyung.
Assistant Coach: KIM Kwang Mo.

Subs
16 subbed 2, 33 min 2H.
17 subbed 3, 0 min 2H.
18 subbed 1, 33 min 2H.
19 subbed 4, 24 min 1H.
20 subbed 9, 6 min 1H.
21 subbed 15, 0 min 2H.
22 subbed 13, 0 min 2H.
23 subbed 8, 33 min 2H.

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

In perfect conditions for rugby in the Japan capital, Japan kicked off week three of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013 taking on the challenge of South Korea. Japan were coming off the back of a 121-0 win over the Philippines in Fukuoka in the opening round followed by a gritty 38-0 win over Hong Kong in Hong Kong last weekend. On the other hand, Korea had the bye in the first week then came out with guns blazing to claim a 75-10 win over the United Arab Emirates in Al Ain in week two.

In the twenty-ninth test between these two north-east Asian rivals the hosts extended their winning streak to nine wins in a row and eleven tests without defeat if the draw in 2004 is included with a commanding ten tries to one, 64-5 win to exemplify the widening gap between the two sides. The Koreans have enjoyed six wins over Japan down through the years but on this performance it will be a long time before they celebrate win number seven as they were totally out-classed right across the board. As runners-up in the A5N 2012 Korea have long held claim as the next best rugby nation in Asia behind Japan but there is now a lot of work to do to take their standard of rugby to the next level of world competitiveness.

Japan kicked-off the test and then immediately went on the offensive with five-eighth Kosei Ono sneaking over for the opening try in the first minute of play. The ever consistent boot of fullback Ayumu Goromaru made it 7-0 before he had even worked up a sweat sending a clear message to the Koreans that any lapses in defence throughout the afternoon would be severely punished by the skilful Japanese.

Rookie 20-year-old wing Kenki Fukuoka then got into the action in his first run-on start after making his debut against the Philippines in week one with back-to-back tries in the sixth and ninth minutes to help Japan blow out the score to 21-0 after only ten minutes of play. Then, at the other end of the experience spectrum, stand-in captain and blindside flanker Takeshi Kikutani also crossed for a double in the twenty-third and thirty-fourth minutes in what was his fifty-sixth appearance for his country to see the hosts out to 33-0 late in the half. Kikutani, who captained Japan at the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand was back as leader after regular captain in right wing Toshiaki Hirose was forced out of the line-up after suffering a hamstring strain in training during the week.

Japan had the last say in what was a scrappy first half with right wing Yoshikazu Fujita crossing the whitewash for his eight try in only three tests with Goromaru booting the extras to take the sides to the break with Japan leading 40-0. Fujita is still only a teenager in his second year at Waseda University but at 184cm and 86kg he has the size and build to fulfil the potential that many pundits believe he has at the international level of rugby.

Korea started the second half and although there was a renewed resolve in their defence as they tried their best to spoil Japanese ball and upset their rhythm with niggling tactics but that only seemed to delay the inevitable with replacement No8 Hendrik Tui bringing up the first score of the latter half with a try in the eleventh minute. Tui was on the field for starting No8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani who was forced off the field early in the half with what looked like a recurring knee injury. The tactics did not only work against Korea on the scoreboard but five-eighth Oh Youn Hyung was shown yellow early in proceedings for repeated team infringements.

Tui should have been over again in the twenty-ninth minute but Hong Kong based referee Tobi Lothian saw enough to award a penalty try to bring up the half century of points for Japan. Goromaru then showed his strength with ball in hand to touch down for the ninth Japanese try in the thirty-second minute and although he could not convert his own try Japan were on track to keep the opposition scoreless for the third week in a row on the back of a scoreline that read 59-0 with less than ten minutes to play.

However, that was not to be with Oh Youn Hyung redeeming himself for his sinbinning with a consolation try for Korea in the thirty-seventh minute and although he failed with the conversion the Koreans had managed to cross the Japanese try line where the Philippines and Hong Kong could not over the first two weeks of this tournament.

With the clock winding down, Japan still had time for one more try with outside centre Male Sau closing out the scoring with a five-pointer in the thirty-ninth minute. Goromaru missed his third conversion of the afternoon but that was of little concern as the Yamaha fullback picked up nineteen points from seven conversions and a try. Goromaru now has 245 points from his twenty-three tests and as he has finally established himself as the first choice fullback and goal kicker under Eddie Jones the Japan point scoring record of 413 points set by Toyota five-eighth Keiji Hirose is not that far away.

The third win in a row for Japan also meant the Japanese took out the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013 title with an unassailable eighteen competition points already in the bank. Japan still has one game in hand against the UAE and with two weeks of the tournament still remaining the Asian powerhouse has taken the A5N title for the sixth straight year.

After the match, Japan head coach Eddie Jones made the following comments, “We put in a good performance in the first half but we went a bit flat in the second half but then finished off the game with a great try. We still have one game to play put we have now achieved our aim of taking the A5N title and I am really pleased about that.”

Stand-in Japan captain Takashi Kikutani said, “Korea put more pressure on us than over the previous two weeks of this tournament and I believe we handled this quite well. We went a bit slow at times today and it is important we pick up the tempo at times like that as the season progresses.”

Korea head coach Park Ki Haeng said, “We wanted to play good rugby today but unfortunately we could not. We were also missing some of our regular players for this test, especially in the centres and this hurt us today in defence.”

Korea captain Park Soon Chai also said, “Back in Korea we scrutinised the Japan game and we thought we had prepared well, but in reality the game was far faster than we expected and so we really were under prepared in the end.”

Two-try hero Kenki Fukuoka.

Hong Kong 59 d Philippines 20

Date: Saturday 04 May 2013
Venue: Rizal Stadium, Manila
Kick-off: 19:00

The Philippines are playing in the top division of the HSBC Asian Five Nations for the very first time in 2013 and had a tough initiation in the opening week going down 121-0 to Japan. The Volcanoes had the bye in week two and that has given them plenty of time to prepare for this home fixture in Manila against Hong Kong. Along with Japan, Hong Kong are the only other side to have competed in all six editions of the A5N and that experience will count for a lot in Manila. On the other hand, every game is a World Cup final for the Philippines who will surely come out firing in front of their home fans.

Hong Kong had too much for hosts the Philippines in Manila winning 59-20 in week three of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2013. The Volcanoes were still in the game at 14-10 down at the break, but Hong Kong upped the ante with seven second half tries to blow out the final scoreline. After the match, Hong Kong head coach Leigh Jones said, “The scoreline flattered us in the end. I don’t think they deserved to shift 50 points, but I’m proud of my guys.” Wing Patrice Olivier and fullback Michael Letts were the try scorers for the Philippines.

Bye: United Arab Emirates.