日本語 Español
[Japan]
* The Japan national team won against South Korea and Hong Kong easily in the Asian Three-Nation Tournament. The New Zealand national alumni team came to Japan and attracted Japanese rugby fans through their competitive matches against the Japan national team.
* The IRB became a six-nation tournament by adding the Australia national A team from the 2nd Pacific Championship. The Japan national team fought well against strong teams, winning against Tonga, and held on against Fiji and Samoa to show their improvement.
* Just before participating in the RWC, the Japan national team had a send-off match against the Asian Barbarians, a test match against Italy and a strengthening match against Portugal, then headed for France.
Italy 36-12 Japan
* The 6th Rugby World Cup was held in France as the main venue, and the Japan national team led by head coach John Kirwan performed well. They fought a tough battle against Fiji and caught up with Canada in additional time that ended in a draw. But they were unable to get a win. After the RWC, the JRFU announced that John Kirwan would stay as head coach and asked him for continuous strengthening of the Japan national team.
[Japan Rugby Championship] In the 45th Japan Rugby Championship, the Sanyo Electric Wild Nights got revenge against Suntory Sungoliath 40−18.
[Top League] In the 5th Top League, the Sanyo Electric Wild Nights won all their 13 matches for the first time and came in first place with 60 points. But they lost to Suntory Sungoliath in the play-off final by a score of 14-10.
[University] In the 44th All-Japan University Rugby Championship, Waseda beat Keio in the final 26−6 claiming their 14th championship title and for the first time in two years. In the 78th Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, Waseda won all their seven matches claiming their 32nd tournament title for seven years in a row. In the 41st Kanto University Rugby League, Tokai had six wins and one loss, claiming their first tournament title. In the 79th Kansai University Rugby League, Doshisha claimed their 47th league title and for the first time in two years, with six wins and one loss. In Kyushu, the same teams met in the final four years in a row and Fukuoka University claimed the title.
[Women's Rugby] In October, in the Women's Asia Rugby Championship held in Konmei, China, the Japan women's national team lost to Kazakhstan in the first match 10-6. But they won against Singapore 20−7 finishing in third place.
[International] In April, NZU came to Japan for the 12th time, and had two wins and one loss: NAU 31-15 Japan U21, NZU 39-17 Japan U23, and Japan U23 35-32 NZU. In September, in the 10th UK-Japan University Matches, Cambridge was defeated by All-Kanto Gakuin 46-8 and by Waseda 47-19, showing poor performance. In July 2008, the Japan U18 national team toured abroad for the 33rd time to Australia with two wins and two losses.
[Japan]
* The Japan national team won against South Korea and Hong Kong easily in the Asian Three-Nation Tournament. The New Zealand national alumni team came to Japan and attracted Japanese rugby fans through their competitive matches against the Japan national team.
* The IRB became a six-nation tournament by adding the Australia national A team from the 2nd Pacific Championship. The Japan national team fought well against strong teams, winning against Tonga, and held on against Fiji and Samoa to show their improvement.
* Just before participating in the RWC, the Japan national team had a send-off match against the Asian Barbarians, a test match against Italy and a strengthening match against Portugal, then headed for France.
Italy 36-12 Japan
* The 6th Rugby World Cup was held in France as the main venue, and the Japan national team led by head coach John Kirwan performed well. They fought a tough battle against Fiji and caught up with Canada in additional time that ended in a draw. But they were unable to get a win. After the RWC, the JRFU announced that John Kirwan would stay as head coach and asked him for continuous strengthening of the Japan national team.
[Japan Rugby Championship] In the 45th Japan Rugby Championship, the Sanyo Electric Wild Nights got revenge against Suntory Sungoliath 40−18.
[Top League] In the 5th Top League, the Sanyo Electric Wild Nights won all their 13 matches for the first time and came in first place with 60 points. But they lost to Suntory Sungoliath in the play-off final by a score of 14-10.
[University] In the 44th All-Japan University Rugby Championship, Waseda beat Keio in the final 26−6 claiming their 14th championship title and for the first time in two years. In the 78th Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, Waseda won all their seven matches claiming their 32nd tournament title for seven years in a row. In the 41st Kanto University Rugby League, Tokai had six wins and one loss, claiming their first tournament title. In the 79th Kansai University Rugby League, Doshisha claimed their 47th league title and for the first time in two years, with six wins and one loss. In Kyushu, the same teams met in the final four years in a row and Fukuoka University claimed the title.
[Women's Rugby] In October, in the Women's Asia Rugby Championship held in Konmei, China, the Japan women's national team lost to Kazakhstan in the first match 10-6. But they won against Singapore 20−7 finishing in third place.
[International] In April, NZU came to Japan for the 12th time, and had two wins and one loss: NAU 31-15 Japan U21, NZU 39-17 Japan U23, and Japan U23 35-32 NZU. In September, in the 10th UK-Japan University Matches, Cambridge was defeated by All-Kanto Gakuin 46-8 and by Waseda 47-19, showing poor performance. In July 2008, the Japan U18 national team toured abroad for the 33rd time to Australia with two wins and two losses.