I think it could and this is something NZ and Oz rugby worry about both in the short and long term. Oz rugby is in a particular dire state and has been for at least a decade or more and with the departure of Saffa teams the Super brand has been seriously dented. I also think that with another World Cup qualifying spot being made available for Asia this strategic move will also help to grow the game in Asia and in particular China/Hong Kong (which is a lucratively smart move and one which will inspire passionate competition between Asian rivals). It certainly makes sense that there are untapped growth opportunties in the Asia Pacific region where a lot of money is there to be made. And with the money on offer, this will attract Kiwi, Ozzie and Pacific players. Whatsmore, if the US game grows, then this will only compound the pressure placed on Super rugby to retain top players. Not to mention the growing numbers that will contunue to go to Europe based on the now quite plausible belief that their competitions are increasingly being regarded as superior products to Super rugby. And, the truth is, at present, most Kiwis turn up for derby games. Not to see the Ozzies. No offence, Ozzie mates🙏
We also need to remember , Japan also spent years planning for those World Cup Games, they knew exactly what they needed to do against Ireland and Scotland,
@@Darkatronit’s hard to have a key focus when they don’t have access to a top competition. After the 2019 World Cup they should have been given access to the rugby championship in a new 6 team format.
As a Japan resident and rugby fan some counterpoints. The England game sold 44,000 tickets at the national Olympic stadium so was the equivalent of a full Eden Park. Saying 1/3 empty seats is a bit unfair. Saying that the running creative style of rugby in Japan isn't appropriate for international rugby is a very South Africa/Northern Hemisphere view. It is a reflection of the strong New Zealand and Australian coaching presence in Japan, and a style that plays to Japan's strengths. Super Rugby offers the same kind of contrasting style to grinding Northern Hemisphere rugby. On asking why the current team isn't performing like the 2019 team - it would be fair to mention that the current team is rebuilding. In fact the team that faced England included a number of university students that had never even played professional rugby even at club level. This is part of Eddie pushing to reform Japanese rugby to take up and "blood" university age talent before they graduate at the age of 22 or 23, which is what other countries do. So he threw a lot of young inexperienced players into the cauldron with England knowing what would happen, and the fans knew too. 44,000 turnout with expensive tickets for a surefire thrashing is still a good turnout. On Eddie, he's of course disliked in UK and hated right now in Australia, but is universally admired for life in Japan. He has shown of the international coaches of the national team, he is best able to get the best out of players here, and more than Australia the JRFU has expressed willingness to let Eddie take the time to get young players experienced to be competitive 4 years from now. He has nothing but goodwill at least for now based on his past record, although I will watch with interest how much he pushes for changes to free up University talent which is currently blocked from professional level experience. JRLO had a great year - entertaining games that seem to have been endorsed by players and fans. It went much better than I was expecting. Japan rugby continues to have a lot of unrealized potential and I think it is doing the right things to unlock that but it will take a couple of years. Simply characterizing Japanese rugby as a "problem" seems a bit unfair to me.
great comment, always loveto hear other points of view! 😃 when we say Japanese rugby is a 'problem' there's lots of ways to break that down. JRLO is a problem for super rugby and other rugby competitions because it can sign their best players. unlocking Japan's rugby potential is a 'problem' as in a 'puzzle' for the people running the game and the men's national side's decline in results is a problem because if they continue to lose to T1 opposition at they rate they are, they will begin to lose the goodwill from the rest of the rugby world. this isn't a 'take down' of Japanese rugby, if anything it's coming from a place of frustration that the results aren't coming. we're just asking some tough questions of a rugby nation that has had a lot of time and investment at this stage, same as we would for any other T1 nation (more videos to come over the summer about others!)
I just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of your channel. I'm from the Southern African region and since the super rugby restructure with South Africa leaving, it has been hard for me to stay up to date with everything rugby. This channel feels like a God send, and since it looks like a few suggestions are been thrown around I would like to say I am really excited by content featuring less well known/rising stars of the game. It would be nice to get an introduction into the players who potentially have a future at the top of world rugby.
thank you so much mate! lots of suggestions, still in the process of deciding whats in our wheel house and what isn't, there'll be a lot of time to kill over the UK summer so maybe we'll look at that sort of thing during that period
Also, if you look at japan, they don't play top teir competition . If they joined the rugby championship, it would have helped them get a stronger look at Argentina, for example
Well hopefully something in the pipeline Japan and USA start a super clubs championship (Japan League's 1 & 2 - Super Rugby Pasific's - Major League Rugby - Sth American clubs) 4 pools, 20 clubs
It is a pity that Japan got Eddie jones, after being sacked by England and sabotaging Australia in the last World Cup. I believe the reason why he did it was to get an early release to join Japan. Look at his record, he has been losing games after games sine he took over. The sooner Japan gets rid of him, the better.
Great video. Would be interested more in what is stopping their school graduates from joining professional development teams. Sounds like the Universities have some sway over the professionals. They have the talent just not the development pathway by the sounds of it.
If the Japanese yen continues to decline and global markets burst, which is a possibility in 2025 then that will be the end of the big spending Japanese domestic league for a few seasons. The other problem they have is balancing the national team with enough home grown players to keep the public’s interest. Still the growth of the game and the competitiveness of the national team since 2019 has been great to watch.
Nah they desperately need the lower intensity stuff. In fact they need to have mandatory 4 week beach holidays . . It’s getting better but 10 years ago we would go to Europe in November with a team that was mentally so drained they were conspicuously going through the motions (and losing to teams that were mediocre)
Japan peaked in 2019 and it hasn't reached that height again The thing is even if we accept they might need import players to be competitive the pipeline of import players don't seem to be there It's one thing they are.able to pull off one of results against T1 team, but if they play the same amount of T1 games like Italy (one marquee tournament and two tours each year) there is no guarantee they have the depth to sustain Having said they you can't deny the skill level they showed against England and I think we miss a trick in the marketing department to help promote the game Perhaps visiting teams could their players on TV and shows to raise the profile a bit in Japan
Hopefully their earlier success is an early sign of future success. The growth and results don't necessarily follow a smooth upward tragectory. They might, but not always. Japan should continue to improve as long as the $ comes in.
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast how is it that these 3 countries produce great rugby players but have rarely made the quarter finals and never gone beyond the quarter finals in the world cup
@@vinniechan Aside from that, brawn without brains (rugby smarts) and poor logistics preparations to assemble a competitive team from comps in Europe, League One and Super Rugby pretty much.
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast I totally get it. The RWC isn't the be all end all. They can't just take the best players away from their league for months. That delegitimates the league itself
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast : like i said michael leech put a lot of his knowlage into the training in 2019 & he was captain he's not now and it showed in the play , dont think Big Eddie is all he's made up to be ....
I watch that Eng game, Japan have not changed one bit from 2019 they have stagnated! They really need a coach that can use their strengths and continually look at developing, sorry but I don’t think Jones is the man for the job!!
Japan should have been put into the Rugbt championship (along with Fiji) imho. Make a kind of Southern 6 nations. And Japan would probably follow Argentina's path in improving after facing regular high end competition. But unfortunately world rugby essentially screwed Japan (and Fiji) by putting them into that Pacific cup. I cant see how playing rugby "powerhouses" like Canada and the US is going to do anything for their rugby. What a joke.
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast I also thought it was the most logical move. But then no one will ever accuse World Rugby of being either logical or competent.
Japan should match international standards, Japan only needs foreign born players in Locks and Flankers since they have all shapes and sizes in the rest ov positions, there's some good players playing lock with 1.88 metres and with a weigth of 100 kg, not the size for a lock, not the weigth for a Flanker if they switch this player to play as centre ther will have a powerfull japan born player in the back.
I'd love you to make a podcast on how many South Sea Islanders have been poached by New Zealand, can you imagine what side Fiji, Samoa, Tonga etc al would have if they weren't poached at a young age... Just a thought... Love your channel...
Thanks Jayne! i can tell you that 5 players who played in the bledisloe cup in 2016 now play for Tonga... tavatavanawai is a fijian who was playing for moana pasifika how move to highlanders and is more likely to represent the ABs morving forward according to some
I'm Samoan and I wouldn't say "poached" by Australia and New Zealand seeing as most of our boys were born or at least raised in Aus and NZ. Definitely poached by other countries such as Japan though.
You should watch the doco "Family Faith Footy" if you're interested in Pacifica rugby. It's brilliant. NZ has "poached" several players over the years but NZ also has a population of close to half a million Pacific people. Professional Rugby offers a huge opportunity to young athletes from the Islands and allows them to offer financial support to their families. NZ has been a pathway in the past but Japan is now offering pathways for young Pacifica rugby players to settle in Japan through University scholarships. The best thing that has happened in recent times is the change in eligibility criteria for national teams. It's so good to see players like Charles Piutau, Malakai Fekitoa and Steven Luatua able to play for Pacific countries now. (though Piutau and Luatua were both born in NZ they represent Tonga and Samoa on ancestry grounds) It was heartbreaking how these players were misunderstood and criticized for leaving NZ to play in Europe back in the day.
That’s like saying “how good would the African or Caribbean nations be at Football if their players hadn’t been poached by England, France, Holland etc”
Kinda seems like a parallel with the Premier League and the English national team of times past. Hugely succesfull skillful league awash with foreign players and a dismal national team that can't seem to click together.
Or even the football leagues in Saudi and China. They both threw bucketloads of money around to bring in big foreign imports. It increases the profile for a while, but it hasn't (so far) been beneficial to their national teams. Japan needs to stop relying on foreign players and developing their own.
rugby in Japan start it off in the kids and youth schools 7s and 15s boys and girls through to the high schools then on to the universities on to the clubs this is being grassroots rugby level in Japan is important onec that is establish then on too the Japan league rugby division 3 then 2 and the top league one rugby Japan Japan rugby union should send some of the top Japanese players and young Japanese players over too the top professional rugby championships around the world send them to the super rugby pacific teams and the super rugby Americas teams and too Gallagher English rugby priemiership rugby and the French top 14 to nz npc south africas curry cup the united rugby championship Major League Rugby and the rest of the rugby world and every country Japan players from overseas from all overseas and around the world mix it up combine with the local Japan players in the Japan league one rugby it will be a instersting rugby selection for the Japan rugby team the pink blossoms
Will the Japanese league overtake Super Rugby one day? Let us know your thoughts 👇
I think it could and this is something NZ and Oz rugby worry about both in the short and long term. Oz rugby is in a particular dire state and has been for at least a decade or more and with the departure of Saffa teams the Super brand has been seriously dented. I also think that with another World Cup qualifying spot being made available for Asia this strategic move will also help to grow the game in Asia and in particular China/Hong Kong (which is a lucratively smart move and one which will inspire passionate competition between Asian rivals). It certainly makes sense that there are untapped growth opportunties in the Asia Pacific region where a lot of money is there to be made. And with the money on offer, this will attract Kiwi, Ozzie and Pacific players. Whatsmore, if the US game grows, then this will only compound the pressure placed on Super rugby to retain top players. Not to mention the growing numbers that will contunue to go to Europe based on the now quite plausible belief that their competitions are increasingly being regarded as superior products to Super rugby. And, the truth is, at present, most Kiwis turn up for derby games. Not to see the Ozzies. No offence, Ozzie mates🙏
We also need to remember , Japan also spent years planning for those World Cup Games, they knew exactly what they needed to do against Ireland and Scotland,
Is it fair to say they’ve taken no learnings from that process? The physicality in particular they have not been able to maintain
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast More than a fair comment, its like they have no focus or key driver for them to build towards and have lost their meaning
@@Darkatronit’s hard to have a key focus when they don’t have access to a top competition. After the 2019 World Cup they should have been given access to the rugby championship in a new 6 team format.
As a Japan resident and rugby fan some counterpoints.
The England game sold 44,000 tickets at the national Olympic stadium so was the equivalent of a full Eden Park. Saying 1/3 empty seats is a bit unfair.
Saying that the running creative style of rugby in Japan isn't appropriate for international rugby is a very South Africa/Northern Hemisphere view. It is a reflection of the strong New Zealand and Australian coaching presence in Japan, and a style that plays to Japan's strengths. Super Rugby offers the same kind of contrasting style to grinding Northern Hemisphere rugby.
On asking why the current team isn't performing like the 2019 team - it would be fair to mention that the current team is rebuilding. In fact the team that faced England included a number of university students that had never even played professional rugby even at club level. This is part of Eddie pushing to reform Japanese rugby to take up and "blood" university age talent before they graduate at the age of 22 or 23, which is what other countries do. So he threw a lot of young inexperienced players into the cauldron with England knowing what would happen, and the fans knew too. 44,000 turnout with expensive tickets for a surefire thrashing is still a good turnout.
On Eddie, he's of course disliked in UK and hated right now in Australia, but is universally admired for life in Japan. He has shown of the international coaches of the national team, he is best able to get the best out of players here, and more than Australia the JRFU has expressed willingness to let Eddie take the time to get young players experienced to be competitive 4 years from now. He has nothing but goodwill at least for now based on his past record, although I will watch with interest how much he pushes for changes to free up University talent which is currently blocked from professional level experience.
JRLO had a great year - entertaining games that seem to have been endorsed by players and fans. It went much better than I was expecting. Japan rugby continues to have a lot of unrealized potential and I think it is doing the right things to unlock that but it will take a couple of years. Simply characterizing Japanese rugby as a "problem" seems a bit unfair to me.
great comment, always loveto hear other points of view! 😃
when we say Japanese rugby is a 'problem' there's lots of ways to break that down. JRLO is a problem for super rugby and other rugby competitions because it can sign their best players. unlocking Japan's rugby potential is a 'problem' as in a 'puzzle' for the people running the game and the men's national side's decline in results is a problem because if they continue to lose to T1 opposition at they rate they are, they will begin to lose the goodwill from the rest of the rugby world.
this isn't a 'take down' of Japanese rugby, if anything it's coming from a place of frustration that the results aren't coming. we're just asking some tough questions of a rugby nation that has had a lot of time and investment at this stage, same as we would for any other T1 nation (more videos to come over the summer about others!)
Indeed
I just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of your channel. I'm from the Southern African region and since the super rugby restructure with South Africa leaving, it has been hard for me to stay up to date with everything rugby.
This channel feels like a God send, and since it looks like a few suggestions are been thrown around I would like to say I am really excited by content featuring less well known/rising stars of the game. It would be nice to get an introduction into the players who potentially have a future at the top of world rugby.
thank you so much mate! lots of suggestions, still in the process of deciding whats in our wheel house and what isn't, there'll be a lot of time to kill over the UK summer so maybe we'll look at that sort of thing during that period
It makes more sense for New Zealand clubs to play against teans in a similar time zone than against South Africa/Argentina
These mini documentaries are appreciated 🙏🏿
our pleasure!
Eddie Jones only looks after Eddie Jones.
@@absoluteb22 accurate
Brillaint video, a good one would be on the rise and fall of Canadian Rugby :)
Oooft spicy!
Also, if you look at japan, they don't play top teir competition . If they joined the rugby championship, it would have helped them get a stronger look at Argentina, for example
good point! they tend to serve as warm up matches for big teams
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast same with the likes of Georgia etc
They have a competitive team no? Sunwolves
@seedyProfessor Sunwolves left Super Rugby before 2019
Japan to join Rugby Championship and Georgia to join Six Nations
Well hopefully something in the pipeline Japan and USA start a super clubs championship (Japan League's 1 & 2 - Super Rugby Pasific's - Major League Rugby - Sth American clubs) 4 pools, 20 clubs
id that a rumour?
You're talking about a "Champions Cup" between Oceania/Asia and the Americas there, very intriguing.
Great video mate I think a video on spains ineligibility issues would be good
thanks! it's in the file!
Really enjoyed this video. Would love to see more of these, great to see a bit of focus on the less spoken about teams
It is a pity that Japan got Eddie jones, after being sacked by England and sabotaging Australia in the last World Cup. I believe the reason why he did it was to get an early release to join Japan. Look at his record, he has been losing games after games sine he took over. The sooner Japan gets rid of him, the better.
Great video. Would be interested more in what is stopping their school graduates from joining professional development teams. Sounds like the Universities have some sway over the professionals. They have the talent just not the development pathway by the sounds of it.
thanks!
Going off what EJ said, it seems like the link just isnt there between universities and pro teams
What sport isn’t Japan becoming a problem in, those dudes are killing it in multiple sports
did'nt michael leech have a lot of training input in the 2019 era , he's not the captain anymore & it showed in the play .....
Oh wow... Didn't know Eddie Jones was half Japanese.
If the Japanese yen continues to decline and global markets burst, which is a possibility in 2025 then that will be the end of the big spending Japanese domestic league for a few seasons. The other problem they have is balancing the national team with enough home grown players to keep the public’s interest. Still the growth of the game and the competitiveness of the national team since 2019 has been great to watch.
@@bennwaters5851 during the research for this we heard stories of parent companies slashing budgets of teams
I sometimes wonder if some of the. Springboks who play in Japan are being tested enough in club rugby to peak for International rugby🤷🏿♂️
PSDT seems ok... :P
Nah they desperately need the lower intensity stuff. In fact they need to have mandatory 4 week beach holidays .
. It’s getting better but 10 years ago we would go to Europe in November with a team that was mentally so drained they were conspicuously going through the motions (and losing to teams that were mediocre)
Japan peaked in 2019 and it hasn't reached that height again
The thing is even if we accept they might need import players to be competitive the pipeline of import players don't seem to be there
It's one thing they are.able to pull off one of results against T1 team, but if they play the same amount of T1 games like Italy (one marquee tournament and two tours each year) there is no guarantee they have the depth to sustain
Having said they you can't deny the skill level they showed against England and I think we miss a trick in the marketing department to help promote the game
Perhaps visiting teams could their players on TV and shows to raise the profile a bit in Japan
Hopefully their earlier success is an early sign of future success. The growth and results don't necessarily follow a smooth upward tragectory. They might, but not always. Japan should continue to improve as long as the $ comes in.
fingers crossed
Roller skating got big in the 1970's I recall. Union is like that.
hahaha
Do one about Pacific Islands rugby (🇼🇸 🇹🇴 🇫🇯)
🤔
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast how is it that these 3 countries produce great rugby players but have rarely made the quarter finals and never gone beyond the quarter finals in the world cup
@@stormsailor83It's the economy
@@vinniechan Aside from that, brawn without brains (rugby smarts) and poor logistics preparations to assemble a competitive team from comps in Europe, League One and Super Rugby pretty much.
Great content. A well earned sub from me.
legend! thanks!
another great video
thank you!
They were never that good. They had an 8 month training camp just to prepare for the 2019 RWC, no ither team had that level of preparation
apparently the players refused to do the 2019 prep again, which is interesting
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast I totally get it. The RWC isn't the be all end all. They can't just take the best players away from their league for months. That delegitimates the league itself
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast : like i said michael leech put a lot of his knowlage into the training in 2019 & he was captain he's not now and it showed in the play , dont think Big Eddie is all he's made up to be ....
I watch that Eng game, Japan have not changed one bit from 2019 they have stagnated! They really need a coach that can use their strengths and continually look at developing, sorry but I don’t think Jones is the man for the job!!
fantastic work!
thank you!
Wish rugby was more popular in Asian countries other than Japan
Fingers crossed Hong Kong continue to do well and qualify for the WC
They need to be looking at joining the Rugby Championship in order to compete long term.
probably!
They've been very pursuant of that
Hiring a thrice sacked coach in Eddie doesn’t help
Japan should have been put into the Rugbt championship (along with Fiji) imho. Make a kind of Southern 6 nations. And Japan would probably follow Argentina's path in improving after facing regular high end competition.
But unfortunately world rugby essentially screwed Japan (and Fiji) by putting them into that Pacific cup. I cant see how playing rugby "powerhouses" like Canada and the US is going to do anything for their rugby. What a joke.
the southern six nations seems to be what everyone wants
@@ThePirateRugbyPodcast I also thought it was the most logical move. But then no one will ever accuse World Rugby of being either logical or competent.
Japan should match international standards, Japan only needs foreign born players in Locks and Flankers since they have all shapes and sizes in the rest ov positions, there's some good players playing lock with 1.88 metres and with a weigth of 100 kg, not the size for a lock, not the weigth for a Flanker if they switch this player to play as centre ther will have a powerfull japan born player in the back.
I'd love you to make a podcast on how many South Sea Islanders have been poached by New Zealand, can you imagine what side Fiji, Samoa, Tonga etc al would have if they weren't poached at a young age... Just a thought... Love your channel...
Thanks Jayne!
i can tell you that 5 players who played in the bledisloe cup in 2016 now play for Tonga... tavatavanawai is a fijian who was playing for moana pasifika how move to highlanders and is more likely to represent the ABs morving forward according to some
I'm Samoan and I wouldn't say "poached" by Australia and New Zealand seeing as most of our boys were born or at least raised in Aus and NZ. Definitely poached by other countries such as Japan though.
You should watch the doco "Family Faith Footy" if you're interested in Pacifica rugby. It's brilliant.
NZ has "poached" several players over the years but NZ also has a population of close to half a million Pacific people. Professional Rugby offers a huge opportunity to young athletes from the Islands and allows them to offer financial support to their families. NZ has been a pathway in the past but Japan is now offering pathways for young Pacifica rugby players to settle in Japan through University scholarships. The best thing that has happened in recent times is the change in eligibility criteria for national teams. It's so good to see players like Charles Piutau, Malakai Fekitoa and Steven Luatua able to play for Pacific countries now. (though Piutau and Luatua were both born in NZ they represent Tonga and Samoa on ancestry grounds) It was heartbreaking how these players were misunderstood and criticized for leaving NZ to play in Europe back in the day.
That’s like saying “how good would the African or Caribbean nations be at Football if their players hadn’t been poached by England, France, Holland etc”
@@GregS-vy6tu no it's not. Samoa has a tiny population, we count our "Samoan-ess" by bloodline and not where youre born.
Definitely not a tier 1 rugby nation yet
Rugby League is King is Southern Hemisphere
In Australia only pretty much
Just lost to Georgia
@@Mateperadze 2nd time ever
Btw - love the channel. Thanks and subbed.
thanks mate!
Kinda seems like a parallel with the Premier League and the English national team of times past. Hugely succesfull skillful league awash with foreign players and a dismal national team that can't seem to click together.
interesting!
Or even the football leagues in Saudi and China. They both threw bucketloads of money around to bring in big foreign imports. It increases the profile for a while, but it hasn't (so far) been beneficial to their national teams. Japan needs to stop relying on foreign players and developing their own.
Juan Rugby. Sifi Eddie Jone, from Iapani.
If Japanese want to best players. Should be going to player super rugby in 2026 and to learn more ,,as still longer ways to go
wouldn't rule it out!
A international pacific cup will work better, is not profitable for Japan and super Rugby a new sunwolves.
Meow
All the investment will pay off
Your mic during the webcam moments is really off. Sounds like a tin can. Just letting ya know
I let you know a somethings. ,,Japanese rugby player there was no enough,,,to the greast player or coaches,,
rugby in Japan start it off in the kids and youth schools 7s and 15s boys and girls through to the high schools then on to the universities on to the clubs this is being grassroots rugby level in Japan is important onec that is establish then on too the Japan league rugby division 3 then 2 and the top league one rugby Japan
Japan rugby union should send some of the top Japanese players and young Japanese players over too the top professional rugby championships around the world send them to the super rugby pacific teams and the super rugby Americas teams and too Gallagher English rugby priemiership rugby and the French top 14 to nz npc south africas curry cup the united rugby championship Major League Rugby and the rest of the rugby world and every country
Japan players from overseas from all overseas and around the world mix it up combine with the local Japan players in the Japan league one rugby
it will be a instersting rugby selection for the Japan rugby team the pink blossoms