Pondering on rugby

At the last world cup Japan beat Canada and bagged for them a major win at the international level. This was something that made the Japanese elated while other nations started to talk about the defeat of Canada. Japan who has not been able to get many international wins against their name has to be very happy speaking about that one win at the last world cup. This is despite that Japan records an amazing 120,000 plus people registered as indulging in the sport?

This 120,000 plus players take part in about 30 to 40 amateur rugby leagues. Rugby is played in Japan in three leagues: corporate, university and amateur. The players at the corporate level are pros .The University players can be thought of pros in training. This is because the players for the corporate are picked from the universities, more for rugby than job skills. The amateurs are those who have played rugby sometime or other and now play it as a hobby. This has been a popular aspect of rugby playing which also keeps some of the former pros active. They also take part in smaller tournament in places such as Bangkok, Jakarta and the Philippines. Amateur rugby has been considered a good opportunity for keeping in contact with rugby enjoying social fun while keeping fit. As per the records the referee base in Japan is over 5000. The base of referees and players are comparable to New Zealand less than England and more than Australia.

Sri Lanka has on record a player base of over 90,000 and comes closer to Japan in Asia while being well over Korea (3000) Arabian Gulf (3150) Hong Kong (9000) Kazakhstan (2000) and China (3800).

The Sri Lankan story in Asia seems to be a closer comparison to Japan. Japan is not getting many wins that are required despite the numbers involved suggesting big following. In comparison Sri Lanka suffers a similar situation in not recording many more numbers of wins in the Asian circuit.

Are that entire are recorded “rugby players”; meaning are they the people needed to make the difference at the top level? Do we have that same introverted attitude and restrictive approach to the spirit of Rugby as in Japan? Do we crush the spirit and inertia that is seen on more successful teams? Does playing rugby mean buying the appropriate kit, turning up to team trainings, be seen in a club and or rugby matches and abiding by whatever rules the official throw at you. To succeed and to be at the top level require rugby player being a very supportive of a very particular set of gentlemen’s rules of conduct.

It is about fostering a sense of fun and camaraderie without compromising the manliness and strength of the game. Simply put, Rugby players are hard but fair. Are we up to it or are we failing in the quest pushed by short sighted club and or school centered objectives. This question comes to my mind as I read statements made with regard to disciplinary issues. At the end of the day does the indiscipline that goes unchecked have a bearing in winning matches at tournaments that are not domestic? What impact does the lethargic attitude to discipline in the schools rugby area have on the young players? A match we had all the chances of winning in the Junior championship played in Brunei was the one against Hong Kong. One factor that made us lose this match by a small margin was that we played with fourteen most of the time. On most occasions there was a player subjected the sin-bin.

Despite so many foreigners playing in the domestic tournaments in Japan they seem to aim at an all Japan rugby team for the 2007 world cup. To underline a Japanese ethos that may be even bizarre. They may go to the extreme. "Once the Tokyo Crusaders were kicked out of the top level amateur competition in Tokyo, for wearing mismatched socks. One week they were competing in the Tokyo Cup finals and the next they had been asked to leave the competition because some players were wearing different patterned hosiery. They were told officially that this was disrespectful to other teams and thus merited suspension". May be it is taking too far from a rugby angle but part of the culture of the Japanese.

Remember, petty bureaucracy is the death of Rugby wherever it is encountered; this goes for the “big” Rugby nations like NZ, Australia or South Africa too. We are planning to do well in the future and have the luxury of a big player base. The question is whether we have the right frame of mind to get there: which is up the ladder. Let us take the first cue from our participation in Hong Kong. We planned to have three sevens before the Hong Kong event. But it seems only two will come through.