Explainer | Japan’s Olympics rugby teams: biography, star players, shocking New Zealand and repeating dream World Cup run at Tokyo Games

Brave Blossoms hope to repeat stunning 2016 Rio Games outing, while the Sakura Sevens search for domestic recognition
Could a strong home performance reinspire a country that adored the sport during the 2019 World Cup?

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Andrew McNicol

Published: 1:46pm, 24 Jun 2021

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Japan’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games rugby teams have the opportunity to match the men’s 15s Rugby World Cup heroics of two years ago and further cement the nation as the next rugby hub.

Though the Brave Blossoms and Sakura Sevens automatically qualified for next month’s Games as the home nation, they have proven time and again to be one of Asia’s top teams and are certainly worthy of a spot.

Anticipation was red hot for rugby at the Tokyo Games, with fans well in the mood after the men’s 15s famous wins against Ireland and Scotland to reach the 2019 Japan World Cup quarter-finals. The men’s sevens team had experienced quite the anticlimax months earlier, though, after learning they were relegated as a World Rugby Sevens Series core member.

Since the Games’ postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is fair to say local excitement for rugby has – as with most things – dampened. But a successful home showing may just be the catalyst the Japan Rugby Football Union needs to get everyone back on the hype train.

Japan players celebrate their win at a Rugby World Cup pool B match against South Africa at the Brighton Community Stadium, England in 2015. Photo: AP

From Rio to Tokyo

The men’s sevens team arguably had its greatest-ever moment at the 2016 Rio Games, where they finished in an impressive fourth-place.

The 2006, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games gold medallists beat serial contenders New Zealand 14-12 in the pool rounds, and France in the quarters, before losing to titans Fiji in the semis and South Africa for the bronze.

Japanese players celebrate their win against South Africa in the women's sevens final at the 2017 Cathay Pacific HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in Hong Kong Stadium in 2017. Photo: SCMP / Edward WONG

The women’s team struggled to match that form despite being crowned Asia women’s sevens champions at the 2015 qualifiers. Having lost to Great Britain, Canada and hosts Brazil in the pool matches, they eventually finished in 10th, with Marie Yamaguchi their top try-scorer with three.

It is perhaps too much to ask for Japan’s women’s to snatch a dream medal at their home Games, but the extra year of preparation could help propel them to a result better than their Series tournament best of ninth-place.

Although the level of international rugby appears to have gone up a notch – as evident from the three remaining teams (two women’s, one men’s) qualifying via the World Rugby Sevens Repechage last weekend – very few would have expected Japan to beat the Kiwis five years ago.

Japan’s rugby refill

The men’s team is reportedly on a training camp in Hokkaido before returning to their regular Fuchu, Tokyo training ahead of the Games. Meanwhile, the women are travelling between Okinawa and Tokyo for their final competition preparations. Both sides last played at the Emirates Invitational Sevens training camp-tournament in Dubai in April.

Men’s head coach and Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi knows plenty about elite-level competition. The first Japanese player to play professional rugby in England cited upsetting South Africa at the 2015 World Cup and the men’s fourth-place finish at Rio 2016 as main contributors to the sport’s increased popularity across both genders.

“We have had the Japan Women’s Sevens competition in Japan for the last seven years. Before this, the female playing population in Japan was around 2,000 but now it is up to 5,000, which is over double in six or seven years,” he told World Rugby. Men’s rugby union captain Michael Leitch, who led the 2019 World Cup fantasy run, added that the Games would definitely be “another good boost” for the country.

Ones to watch

With former World Cup star Fukuoka Kenki opting to swap an Olympics call-up for medical studies, the men’s team will need to rely on old horses and inexperienced youngsters. It is a tough period for the sevens side, which has seen many of its best players opting for opportunities in the 15s World Cup and foreign leagues.

Captain Chihito Matsui and experienced Fujita Yoshikazu will lead the charge in what could be a story for the ages after the pair was cut from the final 2016 Games squad. Experienced Lote Tuqiri, who is the cousin of former Australia and Fiji international namesake Lote Tuqiri, may also be an important physical presence.

In Hare Makiri’s women’s team, co-captains Mayu Shimizu and Raichelmiyo Batiwakalolo bring much-needed experience and power to the side. But the X-factor may come in the form of Rinka Matsuda – daughter of former men’s World Cup regular Tsutomu Matsuda – who is no stranger to breaking both opposition lines and attacks.

Men’s Tokyo Games provisional squad

Kippei Ishida, Ryota Kano, Jose Seru, Kameli Soejima, Lote Tuqiri, Kazushi Hano, Masakatsu Hikosaka, Yoshikazu Fujita, Brackin Henry, Colin Bourke, Chihito Matsui, Naoki Motomura.

Women’s Tokyo Games provisional squad

Mei Ohtani, Marin Kajiki, Mifuyu Koide, Mayu Shimizu, Miyu Shirako, Honoka Tsutsumi, Hana Nagata, Wakaba Hara, Raichelmiyo Bativakalolo, Yume Hirano, Haruka Hirotsu, Rinka Matsuda.

The Olympic men’s rugby sevens event runs from July 26-28, and the women’s from July 29-31 at the National Stadium. Japanese men’s referee Noriaki Hashimoto is the only home referee at the tournament.