2013: 115th Season

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[JRFU]
The RWC 2019 Vision Determined
  The following four pillars toward the success of the RWC 2019 were presented: 1. Let's entertain people from the world with a strong Japan. 2. Let's make the RWC 2019 enjoyable for everybody. 3. Let's tell the public about the spirit of rugby. 4. Let's contribute to the development of global sports in Asia. While 48 cities and municipal governments showed their interest as competition sites, a former Japan national rugby player assumed the post as the event ambassador and started a promotional trip across Japan.
 * On November 3, Chairperson Emeritus Hiroshi Hibino was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.
 * Chairperson Yoshiro Mori received the ARFU Spirit of Rugby Award.
 * On November 18, Yoshiharu Yamaguchi received the IRB Spirit of Rugby Award. These awards were granted to those persons who made significant contributions to society through rugby and demonstrated the amazing power that sports have.
 * On 24 March 2014, the JRFU entered into a comprehensive partnership with the Scottish Rugby Union.
[Japan]
 * November 22: New Zealand 54-6 Japan
  Eddie Jones HC was hospitalised with a stroke. Despite such an accident, the Japan national team battled neck and neck for 20 minutes from the start of the game with the New Zealand national team at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium with a capacity crowd of more than 20,000 spectators. However, once they conceded a try, they lost the lead to New Zealand and the game ended with a huge margin of defeat.
  * European tour (November 9-23)
  This European tour ended with the results, Scotland 42-17 Japan, Gloucester 40-5 Japan XV, Japan 40-13 Russia, and Japan 40-7 Spain, leaving rewards as well as issues to to work on.
[Rules]
  The “scrum engagement process” was adopted as an experimental rule implemented in 2013. In the rugby competition rules, sections 20.1, 20.3, and 20.6 were revised. The purpose of this experimental rule was to reduce the scrum engagement impact by up to 25% and to establish safety measures for rugby players to prevent accidents during the game.
[Japan Rugby Championship]
  The Panasonic Wild Knights won the 51st Japan Rugby Championship by defeating the Toshiba Brave Lupus for the first time in four seasons.
Suntory Sungoliath, wanting to claim their third consecutive championship title, fell short by losing to the Toshiba Brave Lupus, 25-24, in the semi-finals.
[Top League]
  Panasonic Wild Knights Wins the League after Three Seasons: In this year, 16 teams participated in the Top League. In the final, the Panasonic Wild Knights developed their sober defence and securely stopped Suntory Sungoliath's thrusts. The Panasonic Wild Knights fully demonstrated their competitiveness, by defeating Suntory Sungoliath (45-22), and claimed the league title for the first time in three years. The semi-finals results: Panasonic Wild Knights 55-15 Toshiba Brave Lupus, and Suntory Sungoliath 27-19 Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers. Berrick Barnes was selected as the MVP, while Keita Inagaki (Panasonic) and Kyosuke Horie (Yamaha) were named the Rookies of the Year.
[University]
  Teikyo's Spectacular 5th Consecutive Title: With their iron-tight defence and tremendous work rate, Teikyo defeated Waseda 41-34, claiming their fifth consecutive title. Teikyo claimed the tournament title for the Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, while Ryutsu Keizai won the Kanto University Rugby League and Chuo placed second. In Kansai, Ritsumeikan became the champion, while Tenri placed second. Fukuoka Institute of Technology became the Kyushu champion, while Fukuoka Kyoritsu placed second.
[Rugby Sevens]
* June 28 to 30 - The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens (Moscow): The Japan men’s national team went down to Russia in the final of the bowl tournament and finished in 2nd place. The Japan women’s national team advanced to the bowl tournament after losing three matches in the qualification round, losing to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
* November 9 and 10: At the HSBC Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Singapore, they claimed the title by defeating Hong Kong 24-19.
* October 26 and 27: At the Asia-Pacific Rugby Women’s Sevens 2013, they defeated China 29-10 and claimed the title.
* March 22 and 23, 2014 - The 2014 Tokyo Sevens of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series: Fiji beat South Africa, 33-26, with amazing speed while making a lot of successful solo tries. Japan, with 2 losses and 1 tie, advanced to the bowl tournament, defeating Samoa 42-12. But they went down in defeat against Wales in the semifinals, 24-19.
* March 28 to 30, 2014 - The 2014-2015 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series (core team promotion): Japan was successfully promoted and became a member of the 15 core teams by defeating Italy in the final, 26-5.
[Women's Rugby]
  Japan Women's National Team Defeats China to Be the Champion: In the Asia-Pacific Women's Rugby Sevens 2013, held on October 26 and 27, the Japan women's national rugby sevens team defeated China 29-10 and claimed the title.
* In the ARFU Asia Women's Rugby Sevens Series 2013 in India, held on November 9 and 10, Japan claimed the series title by defeating China 19-14.
[International]
* The Japan U20 national team placed fourth in the IRGB Junior World Trophy 2013 in Chile.
* Tha Japan U18 national team toured Italy and France from 12 to 19 March 2014, returning home with total three defeats.
[Other]
  The 93rd national High School Rugby Tournament saw more than 100,000 spectators coming to the stadium to watch the battle between A seeds from west and east. Tokai University Gyosei High School claimed the tournament title by hanging on for the one-try victory over Toin Gakuen High School 19-14. In the 64th Regional Inter-University Rugby Tournament, Tokyo Gakugei University claimed their first-ever tournament title by defeating Nippon Bunri University. National Institute of Technology, Sendai College (Natori), won the 44th All-Japan College Rugby Tournament, claiming their 11th tournament title by defeating National Institute of Technology, Nara College, 5-0. The Hokkaido Barbarians won the 21st All-Japan Club Rugby Football Championship by defeating Nagoya RC Class Classico 38-19. In the 15th National High School Invitational Rugby Tournament held from 30 March to 7 April 2014, Higashi Fukuoka High School claimed their fourth tournament title for the first time in two years. In the National Athletic Festival, Tokyo won the adult class as well as the juvenile class.