Japan

Japan is set to be promoted to Tier 1 status by Bill Beaumont. The reelected World Rugby Chairman made the promise to Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), reports Nikkei Rugby. The upcoming announcement is expected within days. For Japan this is to represent a turning point, akin to when Argentina …

International competition is healthy within the Americas. The Americas Rugby Championship and Americas Rugby Challenge have enhanced test rugby within the region. The upcoming introduction of promotion and relegation will only advance rugby in the region further. A vital part of the international calendar are the incoming and outgoing tours, …

Ballymore at Brisbane, Australia, was the setting for the USA Eagles’ first ever RWC match. The game was a Pool 1 fixture against Japan in RWC 1987. With Australia and England also in the group, both the competition teams on the day were in a must-win encounter. In the build-up …

Kamaishi may yet host Canada vs Namibia. The Japanese city was to play host to the fixture on Sunday October 13, 2019. However, the match was cancelled as a result of Typhoon Hagibis. This saw both Canada and Namibia playing three rather than four pool matches each at RWC 2019. World …

Canada’s lead-in to Rugby World Cup 1999 began in Tokyo, where they took on hosts Japan in front of 13,000 fans at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium on May 1. It was the opening match of the revised Pacific Rim Championship, with six countries competing in the round-robin format that would …

USA international Andrew Durutalo has been named to an All-Time Sunwolves XV selected by Super Rugby. The team was chosen using the same statistical model employed for the competition’s weekly XVs, and ranked the former Eagles back row as the best openside flanker for the Japanese franchise. Durutalo spent just …

Despite what has been a gloomy week for sport – and society in general – there was still rugby news worth lauding. Thus our weekly ‘Up and Under’ continues…   UP Ceibos Ceibos are top of the SLAR with a perfect 10 competition points from two matches. The Argentine side …

RWC 2019 broke broadcast viewing records. World Rugby has confirmed that the Japan hosted tournament was the sport’s most watched event of all-time. This included 857 million viewers from around the world or a 26% increase from England and Wales 2015. Among the feats that RWC 2019 achieved are that …

Japan defeated Uruguay 5-0 in the final of the Montevideo Challenger Series. The outcome means that Japan and Chile are the two countries to have claimed the qualifying places in the next round of the World Sevens Series. Played on Saturday and Sunday at the Estadio Charrúa, Los Teros 7’s …

Day One of the Montevideo Challenger Series saw mixed results from the Americas’ competitors. Not he one hand, Chile, Jamaica and Uruguay all impressed and will compete in the Quarter Finals on Sunday. On the other hand, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay all lost all three of their matches. In Pool …