Fresh 4 year rugby cycle begins

RWC 2023 has finished and a new cycle starts, building to RWC 2027 in Australia.

Rugby DNA runs deep.  How to break the mould?

Many, myself included, predicted a winner from the Northern Hemisphere this time round.  That did not happen and the current cumulative score is 9 wins from the Southern Hemisphere and still only 1 from the Northern Hemisphere.  Both South Africa and New Zealand lost games in the group stages but when it came to high pressure knock out rugby both teams made the final.  How do Northern Hemisphere break the mould?  I am lost for answers as this was a home World Cup for the Northern Hemisphere and the best chance to win.  The next two World Cups will be in Australia and USA and it is fair to expect New Zealand or South Africa to win those tournaments.  To me it was interesting to see countries like England and New Zealand stick to their rugby DNA through the tournament.  England focused on kicking possession away and often relied on scoring points with the boot rather than go for tries.  New Zealand focused on scoring tries and did not look to take three points so often with the boot to build scoreboard pressure.  If New Zealand had kicked their goals they could have won the final.

Japan - The boomerang coach?

Eddie Jones has resigned as Australia coach after a tough RWC in France.  He is currently in Japan and if the rumours are true he will become the next Japan national team coach.  He coached the Japan team in RWC 2015 to their famous victory in Brighton against South Africa and coached the England team in RWC 2019 to an outstanding semi-final win against New Zealand.  Will he really be the best choice for the next Japan coach?  In recent years he seems to have had a turnover problem with coaching staff on the teams he has coached.  There are surely other candidates that could be considered like Ludeke from Kubota, Foster, Schmidt and Crowley? Let's see who the JRFU back and how they manage this new cycle.

Japan Rugby League One - World Stars in action from December

Although Japan Rugby is often labelled as second tier, twelve starters from the World Cup final will be playing in Japan Rugby League One this season.  Players to feature include Faf De Clerk, Sam Cane, Cheslin Kolbe, Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea.  The first round of games is on the weekend of December 9th, access the fixture list in Japanese here.  Unfortunately my local team, NEC Green Rockets, got relegated and will be in Division 2 this season.  However they are coached by Wayne Pivac this season and his last job was coach of Wales so there is some hope.  The prize for unique team name goes to Kurita Water Gush Akishima in Division 3.  One of the challenges for the Japan National team is making sure players are getting enough playing time in Rugby League One, for example at Panasonic Wild Knights, Matsuda and Yamasawa both with national team experience at stand off.  In other teams key positions may be taken up by foreign stars and local players may struggle for minutes.  Hope to see you at a game some time soon.

And finally, a mention to NPO Mirai no Mori, it was great to wear my favourite green cycling shirt in October to raise funds for them in the cycling challenge organized by Knights in White Lycra.