Coach Damian Karauna keen to make friends with Top League clubs as sevens takes a back seat after the Olympics

Not even an Olympic semi-final berth has been enough to get sevens the attention it craves in Japan.

The Brave Blossoms languish at the bottom of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series table and, as was the case when Japan was last on the series in 2014-15, coach Damian Karauna is struggling to access players.

“We have to work on our relationships with the Top League sides and that’s what we want to do and are trying to do,” Karauna said.

“They have about a four-month pre-season, it’s tradition, and most of the players want to focus on their 15s.

“It’s just those barriers that we have got to break down and try to show that the sevens game, there is an importance to it and it puts us on the map.”

With everything geared towards the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and improving on last year’s fourth-placed finish in Rio, a consistent run on the World Series is crucial.

However, even that may not be enough to match or better Japan’s dream 2016 run that included victories over New Zealand and France.