“The miracle of Brighton” in 2015 helped propel Japan’s national men’s rugby team towards the upper echelons of world rugby. That famous win against South Africa in the Rugby World Cup in England was one of the greatest upsets in global sport and things got better four years later when they hosted the tournament and defeated the likes of Ireland and Scotland in the Pool stages. Japanese rugby was very much on the rise but could it be sustained?

Sadly, Japan is located in a remote part of the world compared to all the other powerhouse nations of the sport. Joining the Six Nations tournament in Europe was never really likely but the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship did seem a more likely proposition for helping the Brave Blossoms progress with regular top-tier matches. That has never materialised though leaving the country in a state of limbo where the chance of becoming a truly elite rugby-playing nation escapes them. That may have finally changed though with the introduction of a new biennial international tournament.

If the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon tennis tournament wasn’t enough live sport at the moment then there is now the World Rugby Nations Championship which began on July 4th featuring the top 12 international teams. Each nation will play a trio of matches in the southern hemisphere (and Japan!) in July followed by three in the Autumn in Europe. New Zealand hosted France in the inaugural match on Saturday and that was followed by the one I went to after work.

Italy were the visitors to Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Shibuya-ku for the first Japan match. It was certainly a lot closer to home than the last time I saw the Italians play. That was in the 2019 Rugby World Cup when they played South Africa in Shizuoka, a match I spent 5.5 hours in getting to by local trains from Tokyo.

Japan are currently ranked 12th in the world whilst Italy are tenth having had some notable victories in the last few years against England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Australia. Both teams have been fairly inconsistent though so it was expected that this match would be a good level check for where the Japanese national team find themselves at the moment.

Late to the match but made time for this photo opp!

The match was already underway, and Italy were 7-0 up by the time I got to the stadium. I’d opened up my e-ticket on my phone on the train journey from work but typically it had vanished by the time I rushed to the gate. I then had to wait about five minutes for the 5G to work and to log in to my mail account and so on. It was frustrating and I only just made it in to see Japan’s first try followed by the conversion.

On the TV highlights later, I could even be seen sneaking in late as I had to walk round about 75% of the stadium to take my place in the one stand I’d never been (or been able!) to enter before.

As clear as daylight! It’s me!

This was my 10th visit to the iconic home of rugby in Tokyo this year but the first time to see it from the terrace at one end. The last time I saw the Brave Blossoms play on this turf was in 2013. A lot has changed for rugby in Japan since then!

What was most noticeable on taking my place on the terrace was the sea of red and white in all four stands which is something I’ve never witnessed. I’d also never seen the stadium so packed and it was a wonderful sight.

On 15 minutes the Brave Blossoms scored a wonderful try but as it was at the opposite end to me it was difficult to appreciate it fully. Thankfully though there was a big screen behind my spot which I probably looked at far too much!

Celebrating when tries are scored is easy but atmospheres are really made by the noise created in between those moments and this occasion was the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Japan’s defense was immense for the seventy minutes of play I witnessed and looked pretty good with the ball in hand too.

They dominated in attack in the second half but often just struggled to get it over the line and no further tries were added to the scoresheet.

Every loser wins when Nik Berry is the referee!!

Japan added a late penalty to put the game out of sight, and it was a comfortable end to the match as I finally saw a win for the home side after multiple losses over the last two decades.

Final Score: Japan 27-10 Italy

Japan now face sterner tests against Ireland in Australia (July 11th) before returning to Tokyo for a match against France at the National Stadium. I will be at one of those matches but can you guess which one?!

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