The year 1927 that started the new era became a major turning point for Japanese rugby. Keio had been invincible within Japan for 29 years since the establishment of its rugby team. But in this year, the time finally came for Keio to be defeated. Developing its rugby skills through a tour to Australia in the summer this year, Waseda became the first team that conquered this undefeatable team, Keio. Waseda became much stronger and more competitive, demonstrating their enhanced skills by the match ending in an 8-8 draw against Keio in the previous year. They finally changed the history by beating Keio 8-6 at the Jingu Gaien Stadium on 23 November. However, this draining duel with Keio left Waseda with very little energy for the subsequent matches against the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. Because of these later defeats, Waseda failed to become the nationwide champion.
The first nationwide championship was Kyoto, which overwhelmed all the Kanto universities by defeating the University of Tokyo 22-0 on 28 December, winning the maiden victory against Keio 11-5 on 1 January, and beating Waseda 14-11 on 7 January.
Given the Kyoto's first nationwide victory, Five-University Rugby Tournaments were officially started by Keio, Waseda, Meiji, the University of Tokyo, and Rikkyo in the Kanto area from the season of 1928. These tournaments were followed by the match with the Kansai champion to decide the national champion. This match attracted much attention from rugby fans and increased the popularity of the sport.