Japanese Rugby

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Highlights of the final



A very respectable attendance of 33,604.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Honda Heat from Div. 2 beat the Green Rockets in a relegation game, 24-22. But the announcer said the Green Rockets will remain in Div. 1 for the 2023 season.

The Green Rockets won on aggregate over the two legs. As did the Mitsubishi Dynaboars who got promoted against Izzy Folau's Shining Arcs. A bit of a shame as Shining Arcs are becoming a pro club with reportedly the largest budget, so being relegated is not the start they would have wanted to their new era next season.

I love relegation and promotional, for fairness, drama and keeping things interesting at the lower end of the league table. These highlights show guys on both sides blubbing away. You don't get that with ring fencing and closed shops (except maybe tears of frustration at being excluded).

 

[The Seeker]

The Tokyo-Bay Urayasu Shining Arcs changed their name to Urayasu D-Rocks. The rebrand coincides with their relegation to JRLO Division Two.

 

[stus768]

The Green Rockets won on aggregate over the two legs. As did the Mitsubishi Dynaboars who got promoted against Izzy Folau's Shining Arcs. A bit of a shame as Shining Arcs are becoming a pro club with reportedly the largest budget, so being relegated is not the start they would have wanted to their new era next season.

I love relegation and promotional, for fairness, drama and keeping things interesting at the lower end of the league table. These highlights show guys on both sides blubbing away. You don't get that with ring fencing and closed shops (except maybe tears of frustration at being excluded).

How does relegation work for the two leagues?

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

It seems to be a two leg playoff between the three top 2nd division sides against the three worst 1st Division sides rather than any sort of promotion tournament. I assume 10th in the 1st Division would get the easiest matchup against 3rd in the 2nd Div and 12th in 1st Division would get the 2nd Div champions.

Something similar was repeated between 2nd and 3rd divisions.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The Tokyo-Bay Urayasu Shining Arcs changed their name to Urayasu D-Rocks. The rebrand coincides with their relegation to JRLO Division Two.

View attachment 14536

Apparently the D stands for Dynamic, Delight and Dream. Three words that don't spring to mind with Greig Laidlaw at the helm. I like that even though they have a lot of money they are starting with a modest 5k stadium. It should get a good atmosphere. Being in the lower division may not be the worst thing. They are a merger of the two worst teams in the JRLO last season and, presumably due to contractual reasons, have kept loads of the players and failed coaching staff! Hopefully they can sneak a promotion and use this year to transition to something a bit more accomplished.

Urayasu officialise 18 arrivées

Urayasu D-Rocks a été présenté ce matin en conférence de presse. A cette occasion, le nouveau club professionnel d'Urayasu, qui succède aux Shining Arcs, a officialisé son effectif pour la saison 2023 de League One avec pas moins de 18 arrivées!En raison de la réorganisation des deux clubs du...

www.asierugby.com

 

[The Seeker]

Apparently the D stands for Dynamic, Delight and Dream. Three words that don't spring to mind with Greig Laidlaw at the helm. I like that even though they have a lot of money they are starting with a modest 5k stadium. It should get a good atmosphere. Being in the lower division may not be the worst thing. They are a merger of the two worst teams in the JRLO last season and, presumably due to contractual reasons, have kept loads of the players and failed coaching staff! Hopefully they can sneak a promotion and use this year to transition to something a bit more accomplished.

Urayasu officialise 18 arrivées

Urayasu D-Rocks a été présenté ce matin en conférence de presse. A cette occasion, le nouveau club professionnel d'Urayasu, qui succède aux Shining Arcs, a officialisé son effectif pour la saison 2023 de League One avec pas moins de 18 arrivées!En raison de la réorganisation des deux clubs du...

www.asierugby.com

I hope Israel Folau & Otere Black (both former Super Rugby) will return for Urayasu this coming season. They each played well for the Shining Arcs in 2022.

 

[Brigantine]

The squad going to Europe

I imagine the team vs England will be very similar to the one that played NZ. We'll find out soon

 

[The Seeker]

The new JRLO season began today.

【公式】NTTジャパンラグビー リーグワン 日程・結果（2024-25）

JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE（リーグワン）公式サイトでは試合速報、ニュースリリース、日程結果、順位、チーム/選手情報などをご覧いただけます。

league-one.jp

JAPAN: League One

JAPAN: League One

www.flashscore.com

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Blimey, that's an early start. Japan in the news for record snowfall at the moment but doesnt appear to be Tokyo judging by match highlights.

Some very encouraging looking crowds in the opening weekend. Blue Revs and Eagles last year were my picks due to having Japanese head coaches. Now Sungoliath, Wild Knights and Liners all have Japanese head coaches too, taking us to 5 out of 12 and a further step away from this being a holiday camp for Tier1 unions.

Week one results and attendances

BR Tokyo 8-34 Sagamihara (5,842 spectators)
Toyota 31-26 Shizuoka (12,213 spectators)
Saitama 22-19 BL Tokyo (10,557 spectators)
Tokatsu 36-34 Hanazono (3 150 spectateurs)
Tokyo SG 18-31 Tokyo-Bay (10,842 spectators)
Yokohama 39-30 Kobe (8,710 spectators)

I smell momentum for Japanese rugby. Even the lower leagues had four figure attendances for every match.

League One 2022/2023, 1ère journée: Résultats et classements

League One Division 1: BR Tokyo 8-34 Sagamihara (5 842 spectateurs)Toyota 31-26 Shizuoka (12 213 spectateurs)Saitama 22-19 BL Tokyo (10 557 spectateurs)Tokatsu 36-34 Hanazono (3 150 spectateurs)Tokyo SG 18-31 Tokyo-Bay (10 842 spectateurs)Yokohama 39-30 Kobe (8 710 spectateurs) Classement...

www.asierugby.com

 

[The Seeker]

Blimey, that's an early start. Japan in the news for record snowfall at the moment but doesnt appear to be Tokyo judging by match highlights.

Some very encouraging looking crowds in the opening weekend. Blue Revs and Eagles last year were my picks due to having Japanese head coaches. Now Sungoliath, Wild Knights and Liners all have Japanese head coaches too, taking us to 5 out of 12 and a further step away from this being a holiday camp for Tier1 unions.

Week one results and attendances

BR Tokyo 8-34 Sagamihara (5,842 spectators)
Toyota 31-26 Shizuoka (12,213 spectators)
Saitama 22-19 BL Tokyo (10,557 spectators)
Tokatsu 36-34 Hanazono (3 150 spectateurs)
Tokyo SG 18-31 Tokyo-Bay (10,842 spectators)
Yokohama 39-30 Kobe (8,710 spectators)

I smell momentum for Japanese rugby. Even the lower leagues had four figure attendances for every match.

League One 2022/2023, 1ère journée: Résultats et classements

League One Division 1: BR Tokyo 8-34 Sagamihara (5 842 spectateurs)Toyota 31-26 Shizuoka (12 213 spectateurs)Saitama 22-19 BL Tokyo (10 557 spectateurs)Tokatsu 36-34 Hanazono (3 150 spectateurs)Tokyo SG 18-31 Tokyo-Bay (10 842 spectateurs)Yokohama 39-30 Kobe (8 710 spectateurs) Classement...

www.asierugby.com

Unfortunately, it looks like The Rugby Network won't be streaming JRLO matches again like they did last season. And that's disheartening because I really enjoyed watching JRLO. I guess I'll have to settle for highlights.

Go Brave Lupus!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Attendances respectable this week but way down on last week. I wonder if the companies order employees (or hand out free tickets) for the opening weekend as a show of strength to rivals.

League One 2022/2023, 2ème journée: Résultats et classements

League One Division 1: Kobe 58-36 Hanazono (6 060 spectateurs) BL Tokyo 17-7 BR Tokyo (5 518 spectateurs) Sagamihara 27-25 Toyota (3 855 spectateurs) Yokohama 27-27 Tokyo-Bay (3 824 spectateurs) Shizuoka 14-15 Saitama (9 443 spectateurs) Tokyo SG 50-19 Tokatsu (3 769 spectateurs) Classement...

www.asierugby.com

 

[The Seeker]

Unfortunately, the Rugby Network is no longer streaming Japan Rugby League One games, so I haven't been able to watch any this season. But I have been watching the game highlights on the JRLO YouTube page. It's better than nothing.

And as of today the Wild Knights lead the standings, followed by the Spears, Goliath, Eagles and Brave Lupus.

JAPAN: League One

JAPAN: League One

www.flashscore.com

 

[The Seeker]

2023 JRLO Division 1 Playoffs

Semi-finals: Saturday, May 13 - Wild Knights vs Eagles and Sunday, May 14 - Spears vs Sungoliath

Third Place match: Friday, May 19 - Brave Lupus vs Verblitz or Blue Revs

Final: Saturday, May 20th

 

[The Seeker]

2023 JRLO Division 1 Playoffs

Semi-finals: Saturday, May 13 - Wild Knights vs Eagles and Sunday, May 14 - Spears vs Sungoliath

Third Place match: Friday, May 19 - Brave Lupus vs Verblitz or Blue Revs

Final: Saturday, May 20th

Third Place match will be Brave Lupus vs Verblitz.

 

[The Seeker]

Wild Knights beat the Eagles 51-20 and the Spears beat Sungoliath 24-18. The Wild Knights will play the Spears in the JRLO Final on Saturday, May 20th.

 

[The Seeker]

Spears beat the Wild Knights (17-15) in the 2023 Japan Rugby League One Championship.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Japan RWC squad. No Yu Tamura (he is 34 years old in fairness)

Left pillars: Keita Inagaki (Saitama, 48 caps), Craig Millar (Saitama, 12 caps), Sione Halasili (Yokohama, 0 caps)
Hookers: Shota Horie (Saitama, 71 caps), Atsushi Sakate (Saitama, 36 caps), Kosuke Horikoshi (Tokyo SG, 7 caps)
Right pillars: Asaeli Ai Valu (Saitama, 25 caps), Gu Ji Won (Kobe, 24 caps), Shinnosuke Kakinaga (Tokyo SG, 12 caps)
2nd lines: James Moore (Urayasu, 16 caps), Jack Cornelsen (Saitama, 15 caps)
3rd lines: Michael Leitch (BL Tokyo, 79 caps), Kazuki Himeno (Toyota, 28 caps), Ben Gunter (Saitama, 7 caps), Shota Fukui (Saitama, 1 cap)


1/2 scrums: Yutaka Nagare (Tokyo SG, 33 caps), Naoto Saito (Tokyo SG, 14 caps), Kenta Fukuda (Toyota, 0 caps)
1/2 openers: Rikiya Matsuda (Saitama, 32 caps), Lee Seung Sin (Kobe, 9 caps)
Centres: Ryoto Nakamura (Tokyo SG, 34 caps), Dylan Riley (Saitama, 13 caps), Shogo Nakano (Tokyo SG, 7 caps), Tomoki Osada (Saitama, 3 caps)
Wingers: Lomano Lava Lemeki (Tokatsu, 16 caps), Siosaia Fifita (Toyota, 12 caps), Semisi Masirewa (Hanazono, 4 caps), Jone Naikabula (BL Tokyo, 3 caps)
Fullbacks: Kotaro Matsushima (Tokyo SG, 50 caps), Jumpei Ogura (Yokohama, 4 caps)

I think Joseph will need to get these guys massively over performing to threaten England or the Pumas on even their worst day. But I will give Joseph the benefit of the doubt. He knows a damn site more about rugby than pretty much anyone.

A very negative assessment here essentially summarised as overlooking younger Japanese talent performing in successful JRLO sides and going with older, more conservative players with physical size on weaker teams rather than more creative options. 17 out of the 30 are Japanese developed (56%) which isn't great.

Le groupe des Brave Blossoms pour la coupe du monde de rugby de 2023 en France

La Japan Rugby Football Union vient d'officialiser le groupe japonais qui va participer à la coupe du monde de rugby de 2023 en France. Jamie Joseph convoque au final provisoire de 30 joueurs (15 avants et 15 arrières) dont 2 non capés (le "pilier" Sione Halasili et le 1/2 de mêlée Kenta Fukuda)...

www.asierugby.com

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Nearly 35K attended this top league game regular season game, and what a game it was

 

[The Seeker]

Brave Lupus Tokyo beat the Wild Knights 24-20 in the 2023-2024 Japan Rugby League One (Division 1) Championship. Congratulations Brave Lupus!