World Rugby is desperate to expand the sport and inviting the World Cup hosts into a long-established European competition would help do just thatI had a conversation with some Japan supporters a few days before the Scotland match and they asked me if I thought their team might be able to cause any more upsets at the World Cup. I can safely say that is not a conversation I will be having any more because the tournament’s narrative has changed. Japan are no longer causing upsets but producing world‑class performances, and they are making a mockery of their tier-two label.I want to start a different conversation. How about Japan joining the Six Nations? I may be inviting ridicule and there...
Eddie Jones’s team had few problems at start of tournament but quarter-final provides new challengeThe last time the All Blacks lost a World Cup match was in 2007. It was a match I do not have fond memories of, having played in it, but incredibly valuable lessons were learned considering New Zealand’s record in the tournament since. Two things stand out when looking at why we lost that match against France. Firstly, we tinkered with our game plan throughout the pool stages and we just didn’t quite get it right in the quarter-final. Secondly, we had not been tested at all in the pool stages and we came up against a team on a completely different level to anything we...
Japan’s stunning success as World Cup hosts show the Eagles what might await if their own domestic league takes root Gary Gold is softly spoken at the best of times. In the worst of times on Sunday, he might’ve struggled to sound convincing when he said he was “unbelievably excited” about the future of American rugby. Related: Japan show world their defiance and skill in face of typhoon destruction | Andy Bull All we can really do is squeeze every ounce of learning out of this experience. Hopefully, that can catapult the team Related: Japan captain Michael Leitch says victory ‘was about more than just us’ Continue reading...
Brave Blossoms proved their ability in the most difficult circumstances with a ferocious performance against ScotlandIt was a short silence, scarcely a minute, but there was so much in it. All the swirling, clashing, contradictory emotions of a match unlike any other that’s ever been played, just hours after Typhoon Hagabis had blown through Japan, while the floodwaters were still high around the ground, the rescue work not finished, the repair work not even begun. No one was even sure exactly who, or how many, the silence was for. They were still counting the victims, and had been all day. At dawn the tally was four, then it climbed to nine. By the time they started the game it was...
Global tournaments should not be dumping fixtures because of inclement weather – the game and its supporters deserve betterLet’s be kind to Jefferson Poirot and say his comments were lost in translation. But it was the France prop’s quote that his team were in the quarter-finals and that was all he cared about that really made me see red as I stared at the wad of 38,000 yen that was to be my spending money in Japan this weekend. Related: Italy’s Parisse hits out at ‘ridiculous’ All Blacks cancellation at Rugby World Cup Related: England’s fallow weekend is not the ideal preparation it may seem Continue reading...