Japan’s international rugby test match against Fiji last Saturday afternoon (October 24th) was the second time the two sides had faced off against each other in five weeks. Whilst this one was basically just an exhibition game to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), the previous one (September 19th) was arguably a greater battle as that was in the final of the Pacific Nations Cup.
The fact that Japan and Fiji met in the final really was no surprise given that they played against weaker opposition in the semi-finals in Osaka a week earlier by way of the USA and Canada respectively. Indeed, the two north American teams played against each other earlier that afternoon to decide who would get third spot in the competition, and it was Canada who reigned supreme with a hard fought 19-16 win.
I only managed to catch some of the second half as there was a huge downpour on my arrival at the stadium. Like many, I sheltered in the beer tent outside the ground who were watching it on a big TV screen. Eventually, I made my way inside to watch the remainder of the match, and both teams received a huge round of applause from the Tokyo crowd as they did a lap of appreciation.
One match a year is usually more than enough for my wife so having been to the France home game two months earlier, I didn’t expect her to be too interested in joining me but said she would if I couldn’t find anyone else. I asked a few people but soon gave up as it was a bit of a hassle and I was happy to have a rare evening out with her.
The stadium filled up a lot more for the final and indeed 17,421 tickets were sold for this double header. A very respectable attendance but still less than the Italy match in early July as part of the World Rugby Nations Championship.
Whilst watching teams play in all kinds of kits is fairly normal and accepted it just never quite feels the same to watch Japan in their away shirts instead of the distinctive and iconic red and white hoops.
It was a really close match with both sides taking turns in the driving seat as mid-game tactical adjustments and second half physicality played their part in the outcome. My wife was probably worried about the thought of extra time which was looming. However, with nine minutes remaining, the Japanese regained momentum and scored what proved to be the decisive try.
I didn’t think at the time that there was too much glory involved in winning this final but it seems that it was important as Japan hadn’t won it since 2019 and they broke their run of defeats to Fiji. It was also a big deal for returning boss Eddie Jones who has struggled a bit to make his mark on the team like he did during his first tenure between 2012 and 2015.
Final Score: Japan 20-15 Fiji
Due to work commitments, I was unable to watch the follow up match against Fiji last Saturday afternoon even though I had a ticket for it. The reason for that was that there were two matches taking place for the price of one. Yet again it was another closely fought contest but this time Fiji got sweet revenge with a 34-28 victory.
It’s never going to be possible to see every Brave Blossoms match so I wasn’t so fussed about missing this one but I did want to see the evening match involving Japan women’s team against Wales. Ahead of the 6:30 pm kick off, I was able to get my picture taken with the Webb Ellis Cup a.k.a. the Rugby World Cup.
If England can’t win it then let’s hope Japan can!
The wet and drizzly conditions sadly didn’t make for such a good game as there were handling errors aplenty and Sakura 15 never really troubled a resolute Welsh defense.
I’m sure there were reasons but it did seem a strange decision to put the women’s match on after the men’s rather than before. Given the Japanese propensity for getting to games early there could have been a huge crowd in the stadium for at least the second half of the women’s match.
It was no real surprise that around 60% (at a very rough guess) of the 16,177-crowd disappeared after the men’s match, especially in such torrid conditions.
It was the 100th test match for the women’s side and I have seen 4% of those! This was the first time I’ve seen them lose but, like with the men, it’s been really great to witness their growth over the years. They will play Wales again in Saitama next Saturday (31st October) and will be hoping it’s not another Halloween horror show.
Final Score: Japan 0-17 Wales
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