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[JRFU]
Promotional Activities Begin across Japan as RWC is 1000 Days Away
* May: The JRFU decided to conduct a drawing for pool placements in Kyoto in May 2017.
* July: The JRFU kicked off the process to select the official training camp sites.
* March 31: Vice Chairperson, Tatsuzo Yabe, resigned.
* September 20: The official supporters club for the RWC 2019 was launched.
* September 20: A three-year-away event was held. The official RWC ambassador also made courtesy visits to the host cities.
* An executive board member, Seiji Hirao, passed away on October 20.
* December 24: As the RWC 2019 was only 1000 days away, promotional activities began in various locations across Japan.
* Daisuke Ohata was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He achieved 58 caps as a Japan national player.
* Applying for a special automobile license plates was started in February 2017.
[Japan]
* April 30-May 28: ARFU Rugby Championship 2016
Results: 1st match: Japan 85-0 South Korea; 2nd match: Japan 38-3 Hong Kong; 3rd match: Japan 60-3; 4th match: Japan 59-17 Hong Kong. Japan claimed the championship title by sweeping all their matches.
* June 12 - Canadian tour: Japan 26-22 Canada
* June 18 - Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2016: Scotland 26-13 Japan
* June 25 - Same as above: Scotland 21-16 Japan
* November 5 - Same as above: Argentina 54-20 Japan
* November 12 - European tour: Japan 28-22 Georgia
* November 19: Wales 33-30 Japan
* November 26: Fiji 38-25 Japan
[Sunwolves]
Debut in Super League: On 23 April 2016, the Sunwolves met the Jaguares and gained their first-ever victory in Super League, bringing a great excitement to about 15,000 spectators. Their first challenge ended with 1 win, 1 draw, and 13 losses throughout their 15 games, but made the season fruitful for them.
[Rules]
* November 5: The text of 3.12 (C) in the rugby competition rules was deleted, while the appendix “Temporary substitution and head injury evaluation” was added.
* On 2 2018, there was a notification about the experimental rules that would be implemented on a global scale by the IRB. The targeted portions included articles 3, 5, 8, 9, and 19.
[Japan Rugby Championship]
Suntory Sungoliath's 7th Title: In the 54th Japan Rugby Championship, Suntory Sungoliath defeated Panasonic 15-10 with five successful PGs made by SO Kosei Ono and with their tenacious defence against Panasonic's attacks, claiming their seventh championship title for the first time in four championships.
[Top League]
Suntory Sungoliath Sweeps All 15 Games to Claim the Title: Suntory Sungoliath claimed their fourth league title for the first time in four seasons, followed by Yamaha Jubilo with just a two-point differential. The round-robin tournament based on winning points went down the wire. Takaaki Nakazuru (Suntory) was selected as the MVP, and Shuhei Matsuhashi (Ricoh) was named the Rookie of the Year. The number of the spectators throughout the season reached about 460,000 (an average of 5,000).
[University]
Teikyo's 8th Consecutive Title: In the 52nd All-Japan University Rugby Championship, Teikyo defeated Tokai 33-26, claiming their eighth consecutive championship title. Teikyo's HC Masayuki Iwaide said: “I felt toughness in our players, and they completely showed Teikyo's tenaciousness.” Teikyo won the Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, while Waseda placed second. Tokai won the Kanto University Rugby League and Ryutsu Keizai placed second. In Kansai, both teams in the final swept their games, but Tenri defeated Doshisha 34-12 and claimed the title. Fukuoka Institute of Technology became the Kyushu champion. Chubu University won the 67th Regional Inter-University Rugby Tournament.
[Rugby Sevens]
* August 6-11: Summer Olympics Rio 2016
In the qualification round, the Japan men’s national team won against New Zealand 14-12 and Kenya 31-7. They successfully advanced to the final round and defeated France 12-7 in the quarterfinals but lost to Fiji 20-5 in the semifinals. In the third-place match, they suffered a big defeat at the hands of South Africa, 54-14. They missed gaining a medal just by a hair. But no one actually expected this great result, a fourth-place finish. Fiji won the gold medal.
The Japan women’s national team was swept by Canada 45-0, the UK 40-0, and Brazil 26-10 during the qualification round. In the consolation final, they won against Kenya 24-0, but lost 33-5 to Brazil, finishing in 10th place. Australia won the gold medal.
* April 8 to 10 in Hong Kong - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series (core team promotion): Japan was successfully promoted as a member of the 15 core teams by winning all the four qualification round matches. They claimed the title by winning over Zimbabwe in the semifinals, 22-0, and Hong Kong in the final, 24-14.
* April 16 and 17 - The 2015-2016 HSBC World Men’s Rugby Sevens Series, 8th round in Singapore: Japan finished the qualification round with 1 win, 1 loss, and a tie. In the quarterfinals of the bowl tournament, they went down to Portugal 14-7 and they also narrowly lost to Russia in the shield tournament final, 17-15.
* July 30 and 31 - The Asia Rugby U20 Men’s Sevens Series: Although with 4 wins in the qualification round, Japan went down to South Korea, 24-19, in the cup tournament. They finished 3rd after defeating Malaysia in the third-place match.
* April 7 and 8 - The 2016 Hong Kong Women’s Sevens: The Japan women’s selection team advanced to the cup tournament with 3 wins and 1 loss in the qualification round, but went down to South Africa, 19-10. But eventually took 3rd place by defeating Hong Kong in the third-place match, 10-5.
* April 16 and 17 - The 2015-2016 HSBC Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in the U.S.: Japan finished the qualification round with 1 win and 2 losses, while defeating Columbia, 19-7, in the bowl tournament semifinals. In the final, they regrettably allowed Ireland to come from behind and lost 26-15.
* April 8 and 9 - The 2015- 2016 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in the U.S.: 2 wins and 3 losses
* April 16 and 17 - 4th round in Canada: Loat all 5 matches
* July 7 to 9 - 7th World University Championship in England: Japan women’s national student team finished in 3rd place
* The Asia Rugby Sevens Series: Japan men’s and women’s selection teams
September 3 and 4 - 1st round (Hong Kong): 5th place (men); Champion by defeating China (women) in the cup tournament
September 24 and 25 - 2nd round in South Korea: 7th place (men); 2nd place after going down to China (women)
October - 3rd round in Sri Lanka: 6th place (men); Champion by defeating China (women)
* December 2 and 3 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 1st round in Dubai: Lost all 5 matches
* December 10 and 11 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 2nd round in South Africa: Lost all 5 matches
* January 28 and 29, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in New Zealand: Lost all 5 matches
* February 4 and 5, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 4th round in Australia: 1 win and 4 losses
* March 3 and 4, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 5th round in the U.S.: 14th place with 1 win and 5 losses
* March 11 and 12, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 6th round in Canada: 14th place with 1 win and 5 losses
[Women's Rugby]
* May 7 - ARFU Women's Rugby (Fifteens) Championship: Japan 39-3 Hong Kong
* May 28: Japan 30-3 Hong Kong - Japan finished with eight points in the standings with two wins, claiming the championship title.
* The Asian and Oceania qualification round for the Women's RWC 2017 (Fifteens): Japan got through the qualifying round in first place with the results, Japan 55-10 Fiji and Japan 20-8 Hong Kong. The Japan women's national team was able to go to the 8th Women's RWC held in August 2017.
[International]
* The Japan U20 national team participated in the World Rugby U20 Championship, finishing in 12th by losing all their five games with the following results: South Africa 19-14 Japan, France 46-14 Japan, Argentina 39-20 Japan, 9th-place match - Japan 41-27 France, and the final match - Italy 41-17 Japan. As the result, Japan was demoted to the lower championship, the World Rugby U20 Trophy.
* In 12-25 March 2017, the Japan U18 national team toured Ireland.
[Other]
Higashi Fukuoka High School won the 96th National High School Rugby Tournament and claimed their sixth tournament title by defeating Tokai University Gyosei High School 28-21. National Institute of Technology, Sendai College (Natori), won the 47th All-Japan College Rugby Tournament, claiming their 14th tournament title for four years in a row. In the 24th All-Japan Club Rugby Football Championship, the Hokkaido Barbarians defeated Kanagawa Tamariva Club 41-31, claiming their second championship title for the first time in two years. Rugby sevens was introduced to the adult class of the National Athletic Festival, where Ehime Prefecture became the champion followed by Kagoshima Prefecture in second. Nara Prefecture won the juvenile class, and Tokyo placed second. In the 18th National High School Rugby Invitational Tournament, Toin Gakuen High School defeated Kyoto Seisho High School 42-12 and claimed their first-ever tournament title.
[JRFU]
Promotional Activities Begin across Japan as RWC is 1000 Days Away
* May: The JRFU decided to conduct a drawing for pool placements in Kyoto in May 2017.
* July: The JRFU kicked off the process to select the official training camp sites.
* March 31: Vice Chairperson, Tatsuzo Yabe, resigned.
* September 20: The official supporters club for the RWC 2019 was launched.
* September 20: A three-year-away event was held. The official RWC ambassador also made courtesy visits to the host cities.
* An executive board member, Seiji Hirao, passed away on October 20.
* December 24: As the RWC 2019 was only 1000 days away, promotional activities began in various locations across Japan.
* Daisuke Ohata was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He achieved 58 caps as a Japan national player.
* Applying for a special automobile license plates was started in February 2017.
[Japan]
* April 30-May 28: ARFU Rugby Championship 2016
Results: 1st match: Japan 85-0 South Korea; 2nd match: Japan 38-3 Hong Kong; 3rd match: Japan 60-3; 4th match: Japan 59-17 Hong Kong. Japan claimed the championship title by sweeping all their matches.
* June 12 - Canadian tour: Japan 26-22 Canada
* June 18 - Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2016: Scotland 26-13 Japan
* June 25 - Same as above: Scotland 21-16 Japan
* November 5 - Same as above: Argentina 54-20 Japan
* November 12 - European tour: Japan 28-22 Georgia
* November 19: Wales 33-30 Japan
* November 26: Fiji 38-25 Japan
[Sunwolves]
Debut in Super League: On 23 April 2016, the Sunwolves met the Jaguares and gained their first-ever victory in Super League, bringing a great excitement to about 15,000 spectators. Their first challenge ended with 1 win, 1 draw, and 13 losses throughout their 15 games, but made the season fruitful for them.
[Rules]
* November 5: The text of 3.12 (C) in the rugby competition rules was deleted, while the appendix “Temporary substitution and head injury evaluation” was added.
* On 2 2018, there was a notification about the experimental rules that would be implemented on a global scale by the IRB. The targeted portions included articles 3, 5, 8, 9, and 19.
[Japan Rugby Championship]
Suntory Sungoliath's 7th Title: In the 54th Japan Rugby Championship, Suntory Sungoliath defeated Panasonic 15-10 with five successful PGs made by SO Kosei Ono and with their tenacious defence against Panasonic's attacks, claiming their seventh championship title for the first time in four championships.
[Top League]
Suntory Sungoliath Sweeps All 15 Games to Claim the Title: Suntory Sungoliath claimed their fourth league title for the first time in four seasons, followed by Yamaha Jubilo with just a two-point differential. The round-robin tournament based on winning points went down the wire. Takaaki Nakazuru (Suntory) was selected as the MVP, and Shuhei Matsuhashi (Ricoh) was named the Rookie of the Year. The number of the spectators throughout the season reached about 460,000 (an average of 5,000).
[University]
Teikyo's 8th Consecutive Title: In the 52nd All-Japan University Rugby Championship, Teikyo defeated Tokai 33-26, claiming their eighth consecutive championship title. Teikyo's HC Masayuki Iwaide said: “I felt toughness in our players, and they completely showed Teikyo's tenaciousness.” Teikyo won the Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, while Waseda placed second. Tokai won the Kanto University Rugby League and Ryutsu Keizai placed second. In Kansai, both teams in the final swept their games, but Tenri defeated Doshisha 34-12 and claimed the title. Fukuoka Institute of Technology became the Kyushu champion. Chubu University won the 67th Regional Inter-University Rugby Tournament.
[Rugby Sevens]
* August 6-11: Summer Olympics Rio 2016
In the qualification round, the Japan men’s national team won against New Zealand 14-12 and Kenya 31-7. They successfully advanced to the final round and defeated France 12-7 in the quarterfinals but lost to Fiji 20-5 in the semifinals. In the third-place match, they suffered a big defeat at the hands of South Africa, 54-14. They missed gaining a medal just by a hair. But no one actually expected this great result, a fourth-place finish. Fiji won the gold medal.
The Japan women’s national team was swept by Canada 45-0, the UK 40-0, and Brazil 26-10 during the qualification round. In the consolation final, they won against Kenya 24-0, but lost 33-5 to Brazil, finishing in 10th place. Australia won the gold medal.
* April 8 to 10 in Hong Kong - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series (core team promotion): Japan was successfully promoted as a member of the 15 core teams by winning all the four qualification round matches. They claimed the title by winning over Zimbabwe in the semifinals, 22-0, and Hong Kong in the final, 24-14.
* April 16 and 17 - The 2015-2016 HSBC World Men’s Rugby Sevens Series, 8th round in Singapore: Japan finished the qualification round with 1 win, 1 loss, and a tie. In the quarterfinals of the bowl tournament, they went down to Portugal 14-7 and they also narrowly lost to Russia in the shield tournament final, 17-15.
* July 30 and 31 - The Asia Rugby U20 Men’s Sevens Series: Although with 4 wins in the qualification round, Japan went down to South Korea, 24-19, in the cup tournament. They finished 3rd after defeating Malaysia in the third-place match.
* April 7 and 8 - The 2016 Hong Kong Women’s Sevens: The Japan women’s selection team advanced to the cup tournament with 3 wins and 1 loss in the qualification round, but went down to South Africa, 19-10. But eventually took 3rd place by defeating Hong Kong in the third-place match, 10-5.
* April 16 and 17 - The 2015-2016 HSBC Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in the U.S.: Japan finished the qualification round with 1 win and 2 losses, while defeating Columbia, 19-7, in the bowl tournament semifinals. In the final, they regrettably allowed Ireland to come from behind and lost 26-15.
* April 8 and 9 - The 2015- 2016 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in the U.S.: 2 wins and 3 losses
* April 16 and 17 - 4th round in Canada: Loat all 5 matches
* July 7 to 9 - 7th World University Championship in England: Japan women’s national student team finished in 3rd place
* The Asia Rugby Sevens Series: Japan men’s and women’s selection teams
September 3 and 4 - 1st round (Hong Kong): 5th place (men); Champion by defeating China (women) in the cup tournament
September 24 and 25 - 2nd round in South Korea: 7th place (men); 2nd place after going down to China (women)
October - 3rd round in Sri Lanka: 6th place (men); Champion by defeating China (women)
* December 2 and 3 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 1st round in Dubai: Lost all 5 matches
* December 10 and 11 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 2nd round in South Africa: Lost all 5 matches
* January 28 and 29, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 3rd round in New Zealand: Lost all 5 matches
* February 4 and 5, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 4th round in Australia: 1 win and 4 losses
* March 3 and 4, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 5th round in the U.S.: 14th place with 1 win and 5 losses
* March 11 and 12, 2017 - The 2016-2017 HSBC World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series, 6th round in Canada: 14th place with 1 win and 5 losses
[Women's Rugby]
* May 7 - ARFU Women's Rugby (Fifteens) Championship: Japan 39-3 Hong Kong
* May 28: Japan 30-3 Hong Kong - Japan finished with eight points in the standings with two wins, claiming the championship title.
* The Asian and Oceania qualification round for the Women's RWC 2017 (Fifteens): Japan got through the qualifying round in first place with the results, Japan 55-10 Fiji and Japan 20-8 Hong Kong. The Japan women's national team was able to go to the 8th Women's RWC held in August 2017.
[International]
* The Japan U20 national team participated in the World Rugby U20 Championship, finishing in 12th by losing all their five games with the following results: South Africa 19-14 Japan, France 46-14 Japan, Argentina 39-20 Japan, 9th-place match - Japan 41-27 France, and the final match - Italy 41-17 Japan. As the result, Japan was demoted to the lower championship, the World Rugby U20 Trophy.
* In 12-25 March 2017, the Japan U18 national team toured Ireland.
[Other]
Higashi Fukuoka High School won the 96th National High School Rugby Tournament and claimed their sixth tournament title by defeating Tokai University Gyosei High School 28-21. National Institute of Technology, Sendai College (Natori), won the 47th All-Japan College Rugby Tournament, claiming their 14th tournament title for four years in a row. In the 24th All-Japan Club Rugby Football Championship, the Hokkaido Barbarians defeated Kanagawa Tamariva Club 41-31, claiming their second championship title for the first time in two years. Rugby sevens was introduced to the adult class of the National Athletic Festival, where Ehime Prefecture became the champion followed by Kagoshima Prefecture in second. Nara Prefecture won the juvenile class, and Tokyo placed second. In the 18th National High School Rugby Invitational Tournament, Toin Gakuen High School defeated Kyoto Seisho High School 42-12 and claimed their first-ever tournament title.