Japan ranked

Having worn it 71 times, Luke Thompson knows the Japanese team’s jersey well. He notably played in four Rugby World Cups with the ‘Cherry Blossoms’, also called the ‘Brave Blossoms’. It is believed that an invisible element will be added In the next version in France : “goal in the back”. Because the Japanese, who reached the quarter-finals in 2019, have gained a new international status. “Nobody can take a nap against them,” warns this seasoned player in an interview with The Associated Press.

At the age of 42, this third streak, still playing in the Japanese championship, ended at the end of 2019 his twelve-year international career. He has seen the Japanese national team gradually climb the world ladder: 3 defeats and a draw against Canada in 2007 and 2011, 3 wins, including a historic success against South Africa in 2015 He won 4 matches in 2019, most notably against Ireland and Scotland, Which gave the Japanese their first qualification in the quarter-finals. That ended with a loss in Tokyo to South Africa (3-26), who would then win World Cup this organization in Japan.

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Born in New Zealand, Luke Thompson was one of the many foreign players who came to accompany Japan’s XV development. The lucrative domestic tournament attracts many players from Pacific nations, including Tonga. And since international regulations allow a player who has resided three years in a row in a country to join the national team—provided he has not previously represented another country—he has selected many Tongans, New Zealanders, South Africans, Fiji, Koreans and Australians. For twenty years to defend the colors of Japan.

Contribution of foreign players

The team that lines up for the 2023 World Cup will not be an exception to the rule as out of the 36 players pre-selected to prepare for this competition, 17 of them weren’t born on Japanese soil. Some of them have very strong ties to the Land of the Rising Sun, like Michael Leitch in Third Grade. This New Zealander came to Japan at the age of 15 to study. Then he was introduced to the youth teams of Japan before joining the senior selection in 2008. He was the captain of the team during the 2015 and 2019 editions of the World Cup and hopes, at the age of 34, to play for the team that France will welcome.

Japan coach Jimmy Joseph also knows New Zealand and Japanese culture. replace in All black In the 1995 World Cup Final against South Africa, he came into the game just before halftime of that meeting which the Springboks won. Jimmy Joseph had just honored his 20th and final selection with New Zealand. He then joined the Japanese Championship and was authorized to play for Cherry Blossoms with whom he participated in the 1999 World Cup.

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At the top of the Japanese roster since 2016, Jamie Joseph strives to find a balance between experienced players and young homegrown shooters. “Our strengths are our investment and the way we prepare. We also have a very attacking game that depends on our physical condition, our skills and our speed. It’s a less traditional game than our competitors,” coach Jamie Joseph analyzes. and insists on the “tremendous work ethic” of his players.

He has seen rugby transform in the archipelago with the launch, two years ago, of Japan’s Rugby League One, a semi-professional tournament. The latter brings together 25 teams divided into three tiers, with an elite group of 12 clubs that attract many world rugby stars. Often at the end of their careers they contribute to raising the level of competition that strives to attract more and more spectators and to develop the practice of this sport. There are currently around 125,000 players registered with nearly 3,600 clubs in the country, with a very strong presence in the world of business and academia.

High preparation

The staging of the World Cup in 2019, the first of its kind in Asia, has logically sparked unprecedented enthusiasm for this discipline in Japan. Japanese players are very popular at home, especially those who have managed to explode on the international scene. This is the case for the full-backs Ayumu Goromaru and Kotaro Matsushima, who developed in France in the top 14, respectively, with the clubs Toulon and Clermont. Solid third line Kazuki Himeno, who ran through the New Zealand Highlanders in 2021, could emulate them by joining a top European club in the coming months.

Kotaro Matsushima, who is in the preliminary selection for the World Cup, returned to play this season in Japan. He’s set to experience intense preparation there with his Brave Blossoms teammates interspersed with 5 matches: two against the All Blacks 15 and New Zealand B team, then three test matches against Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

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The Japanese will find Samoa in Group C of the world 2023, with a match on September 28 in Toulouse. Other opponents of the Japanese in the group stage will be Chile, the little thumb in the competition, and the formidable fifteenth of England and Argentina. The challenge promises to be met for the Japanese selection, which currently holds 10^H global place. And if in the recent past they were able to prove their ability to defeat better-ranked teams at the World Cup, this time they will not be able to benefit from the element of surprise as Japanese rugby players have shone in the last two matches. editions.