RUGBY JERSEY ~ Japan Rugby Test Match 2022 ~ Japan SAKURA 15 VS South Africa Springbok Women~ Round 2

(Author: Azul, July 31, 2022)

The Japan men’s national rugby team finished its season with a test match against France in July. Just when we thought we would not be able to see any rugby matches in Japan for a while. However, Japan Women’s National Rugby Team has scheduled 4 test matches in July and August. The schedule is as follows

July 24: Japan vs South Africa (Kamaishi, Iwate)

July 30: Japan vs. South Africa (Kumagaya, Saitama)

Aug. 20: Japan vs Ireland (Fukuroi, Shizuoka)

Aug. 27: Japan vs Ireland (Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Unfortunately, I could not go to the first match on July 24 because of my work schedule.

Then, I went to Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, to watch the second match on 7/30: Japan Women’s National Team; SAKURA 15 vs South Africa Women’s National Team; Springbok Women.

Since the new corona outbreak is currently underway in Japan, it was dangerous to go there by train, so I drove from my home. The distance from Hachioji City to Kumagaya City was 77 km. The one-way trip took about 90 minutes because the roads were a bit congested.

Kumagaya City is a town that competes for the highest summer temperature in Japan. On this particular day, it was a scorching 36 degrees Celsius. Rugby is normally played in the fall and winter, so in consideration of the health of the players, the kickoff time was 17:45 on this day.

Here, I have compiled the necessary information for watching women’s rugby.

First, here are the current world rankings by country. Please refer to the table below.

World　Ranking	2022.7.17
1	England
2	New Zealand
3	France
4	Canada
5	USA
6	Italia
7	Ireland
8	Australia
9	Wales
10	Spain
11	Scotland
12	Japan
13	South Africa

 Japan, the team playing today, is ranked 12th. South Africa, our opponent, is ranked 13th. (Incidentally, Ireland, the team Japan will play in August, is ranked No. 7. The rankings are quite different from the men’s team. The South African men’s team was the RWC 2019 world champion).

Next are the preliminary league pairings for the Women’s RWC, which will be held this October.

Pool　A	Ranking
New Zealand	2
Australia	5
Wales	9
Scotland	11

Pool　B	Ranking
Canada	3
USA	6
Italia	7
Japan	12

Pool　C	Ranking
England	1
France	4
South Africa	13
Fiji	21

The Japanese women’s national team, SAKURA 15, will play in Qualifying Pool B. All of the teams are ranked higher than Japan in the world rankings. SAKURA 15’s goal is to advance to the final tournament. Good luck, Japan national team!

Now, let’s continue with the spectator’s report.

We left Hachioji at 14:30 and arrived at Kumagaya City around 16:00. It took me a long time to find a parking lot there. The parking lot near the stadium had an advance ticket system and charged 1,800 yen for three hours, so we parked our car at the parking lot in front of the station. Here, the parking fee was 450 yen for three hours. From there I walked to the stadium. It took about 30 minutes.

This was only my second visit to Kumagaya Rugby Stadium. The last time I saw a game at Kumagaya was in 2019. I was surprised to see how much has changed around the stadium since then. This year’s League One champion, the Panasonic Wild Knights, have franchised the Kumagaya Rugby Ground, so the team’s grounds, various club facilities, and even a hotel are located right next to the ground.

The photo above shows the Wild Knights’ medical facilities.

The photo above is the team’s training ground and clubhouse, although it is a little confusing.

These various facilities are concentrated within 200 meters of the Kumagaya Rugby Stadium. Next time I come to Kumagaya to watch a game, I would like to stay here. The facilities are excellent, and I can see why the Wild Knights are so strong.

Now, let me introduce both teams that will play today.

First up is the Visitor Team, the women’s South African women’s national team.

Speaking of South African rugby, the men’s national team is the strongest team in the world, competing for the current No. 1 world ranking, but the South African women’s national team is a very young team with a short history, having been formed in 2004. Currently ranked 13th in the world, the South African women’s national team is almost on the same level as the Japanese national team. However, their style of play differs from that of the Japanese national team in that they are aggressive and physical. Like the men’s team, they play a physical game, but their physique is not as overwhelming as that of the men’s team. This is reflected in their current world ranking.

Today’s starting members are as follows.

Springbok Women
No.	Name	height	weight	age	South Africa Caps
1	Asithandile Ntoyanto	176cm	115kg	31	9
2	Lindelwa Gwala	163cm	79kg	25	15
3	Babalwa Latsha	175cm	95kg	27	14
4	Nolusindiso Booi	171cm	80kg	36	28
5	Rights Mkhari	176cm	72kg	27	6
6	Lusanda Dumke	156cm	68kg	25	19
7	Sinazo Mcatshulwa	177cm	76kg	24	13
8	Sizophila Solontsi	160m	72kg	29	10
9	Tayla Kinsey	164m	65kg	28	20
10	Libbie Janse van Rensburg	178cm	72kg	27	7
11	Ayanda Malinga	167cm	66kg	23	6
12	Aphiwe Ngwevu	167cm	86kg	23	10
13	Zintle Mpupha	161cm	72kg	29	12
14	Simamkele Namba	152cm	62kg	23	3
15	Nadine Roos	164cm	62kg	25	0

＊＊　 Players to watch 　＊＊

Libbie Janse van Rensburg. 178 cm, 72 kg, 27 years old. Position is SO. She is the tallest player in this test match, but she is the mainstay of the team, kicking well, running well, and judging situations well. Her kicking accuracy and distance, including PG, are as good as those of Japanese high school boys.

Next, I would like to introduce our home team, the Japanese women’s national team, SAKURA 15.

** History of Women’s Rugby in Japan **

1983: Japan’s first women’s rugby team was born (Setagaya Ladies)

1988: Japan Women’s Rugby Football Union was established.

Women’s RWC appearances: 1991, 1995, 2002, 2017, 2022 (scheduled)

Women’s rugby has attracted domestic interest since seven-a-side rugby was adopted as an official sport at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. This year, the women’s team once again attracted attention after a tour of Australia, where they defeated the Australian women’s national team, ranked No. 8 in the world. The team is expected to play well at the Women’s RWC to be held in October this year.

Today’s starting members are as follows

SAKURA 15
No.	Name	height	weight	age	Japan Caps
1	Makoto LAVEMAI	163cm	70kg	25	14
2	Nijiho NAGATA	162cm	79kg	21	5
3	Yuka SADAKA	167cm	91kg	27	9
4	Kie TAMAI	168cm	78kg	29	10
5	Masami KAWAMURA	173cm	70kg	23	1
6	Seina SAITO	164cm	72kg	30	28
7	Iroha Nagata	167cm	70kg	23	13
8	Mateitoga Bogidraumainadabe	170cm	96kg	38	13
9	Megumi ABE	147cm	53kg	24	7
10	Ayasa OTSUKA	163cm	63kg	23	6
11	Riho KUROKI	165cm	65kg	24	10
12	Minori YAMAMOTO	168cm	63kg	25	18
13	Mana FURUTA	167cm	69kg	24	12
14	Hinano NAKURA	170cm	75kg	25	8
15	Ria Anoku	160cm	60kg	25	5

＊＊　 Players to watch　＊＊

Megumi ABE. 147 cm, 53 kg, 24 years old. Caps for Japan = 7caps. Position is SH. The player on the right in the photo above is ABE. She belongs to the Arukas Queen club at Kumagaya. Her speed in grabbing the ball out of a tight pack and continuously developing it makes it hard to feel that she is a female player. In addition, she is strong enough to tackle hard and pull down a large FW player who tries to break through on the side. If she can use her box kick better, she could be a perfect player, and if she gains experience in RWC rugby, I think she will be called upon by foreign teams.

In this first test match, it was a close game, but the Japanese national team emerged victorious with a score of 15-6.

Let’s follow the match.

The match started at 17:45. As the world ranking shows, there is little difference in the ability of these two teams. How will they reflect the lessons learned from the first test match on this day?

5 minutes into the first half:.

The match started with the kick-off by SAKURA 15. The ball from the kickoff was knocked on by SO Rensburg of Springbok Women. SAKURA 15 got their own scrum deep in the enemy territory. From there, SAKURA 15 attacked continuously, mainly with their FWs, and SAKURA 15 attacked in succession, centering on the FWs, and came very close to the goal line. In the end, SAKURA 15’s SO Otsuka scored a try in the left side of the field after a dense battle. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 5-0.

24 minutes in the first half

Up until this point, SAKURA 15 had been able to keep the game almost entirely within their enemy’s territory. Springbok Women attacked and kicked the ball deep into their own territory. SAKURA 15 then made a counter attack. SAKURA 15 passed the ball from WTB to hooker Nagata, who ran through the left side of their own 10m line and advanced to the enemy’s 22m line. There, she passed to SO Otsuka, who knocked on. SAKURA 15 missed a great try opportunity.

The photo above is Nagata, the hooker who ran hard.

32 minutes in the first half:

From near halfway, Springbok Women’s SO Rensburg made a run play, got behind the enemy defense, made a big gain, and passed to WTB Malinga who ran up the left side of the field. Malinga got the ball free and ran in for a try, scoring just under the goal posts. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 5-7 in favor of Springbok Women.

34 minutes in the first half:

After the try, SAKURA 15 kicked off the ball, Springbok Women took the ball to the right, and when it passed to WTB Malinga running on the left edge, she took a handoff off the marked defender and ran through for a try in the left center. It was the second try of the day. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 5-12.

The first half ended with the score at 5-12, and SAKURA 15 was disappointed to score only one try and miss a chance to score a decisive try, even though they were in the enemy’s territory throughout the game.

The Springbok Women were able to connect in the final minutes of the first half, scoring back-to-back tries. The team hoped to carry this momentum into the second half.

And so the second half began. The time was almost 19:00, and it was now completely a Night Game.

As for SAKURA 15, they did not want to let the score get separate, so they put up a defensive struggle. In response, Springbok Women tried to break through around the FW and at CTB. SAKURA 15 responded with a thicker defense around the FW. The score did not move very much.

19 minutes into the second half:

Springbok Women attacked into the enemy territory, and SAKURA 15 was fouled in front of the goal near the 22-meter line. Springbok Women chose to go for the PG. The SO Rensburg converted the PG to make the score 5-15.

25 minutes into the second half

The WTB of SAKURA 15 Nakura, 170 cm, 75 kg, is a BK player with outstanding running and breaking ability, but unfortunately, the ball did not roll very well on this day.

When SAKURA 15 went deep into the enemy territory, they launched a series of attacks, and when they moved to the right, they were succeeded to be with a few extra players. Nakura received the ball at the end and tried to score in-goal at the right corner, but was pushed out by the opponent’s defense.

SAKURA 15 missed two great try opportunities on this day.

Second half, 34 minutes into the second half:

SAKURA 15 was successful in advancing the game in the enemy’s territory from start to finish, but they missed many crucial scoring chances. In this period, too, SAKURA 15 was attacking in the enemy’s territory when the ball was passed to Springbok Women, who counter-attacked. Springbok Women’s FB Roos, who joined the attack midway through the half, received the ball at top speed on a slant, slipped behind the enemy defensive line, and made a great gain. She then connected with WTB Malinga who scored a try in the right corner of the in-goal. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 5-20, giving Springbok Women a big lead.

40 minutes in the second half

With only a few minutes left in the match, already Springbok　Women’s victory was assured, but SAKURA 15 attacked in succession to score a final try. After a run play and an infringement by their opponents, SAKURA 15 came close to the goal line and finally, FL Saito scored a try in the middle of the left field of in-goal area. The conversion goal after the try failed. The final score was 10-20. Springbok　Women won the match. In total, Springbok Women won one game and lost one test match.

SAKURA 15’s next match is against the Irish women’s national team on August 20. We are looking forward to this match against the 7th ranked team in the world.

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Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine

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