AFP/Tokyo


Once a “joke team”—in the words of departing coach Eddie Jones—Japan’s World Cup heroics put rugby firmly on the map in a country dominated by baseball and football.  
However, the ‘Brave Blossoms’ now face the arduous task of building on their three pool victories in England before Japan hosts the next tournament, in 2019.
“We wanted to put pride back into Japanese rugby and obviously the results of the World Cup have done that,” Jones told a news conference yesterday. “But for Japanese rugby to keep developing, it needs to happen by planning now.
“How can New Zealand—a country of four million people and a million sheep—produce such a wonderful rugby team? It’s because every team in New Zealand is geared towards producing All Blacks players,” added the Australian, who is set to take over South Africa’s Stormers after a successful three-year spell in Japan.
“That doesn’t happen in Japan and unless that changes it will be difficult to make the top eight in 2019.”
Japan’s sensational 34-32 win over two-time world champions South Africa in their opening match sent shockwaves through world rugby and had an immediate effect back home, winning over new fans watching on television.
“That game had a major impact,” Tokyo-based Minato Rugby School principal Yuichi Kurosaki told AFP. “From two or three children a week joining, we suddenly have 10 times as many signing up.”

‘WE HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED’
Japan then proved they were no one-hit wonders by beating Samoa 26-5, a game which smashed all previous rugby TV viewing records as 25 million people—a fifth of the country’s population—tuned in to watch.
Japan’s dazzling World Cup performances gave the nation a massive shot in the arm after they had looked in danger of losing their hosting rights for the 2019 World Cup after plans for its showpiece venue, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium, were scrapped.
“Before this tournament, let’s be honest, Japan was one of the joke teams,” said Jones after his team bowed out with a 28-18 victory over the United States. Not any more.
Japan’s only blip was a 45-10 hammering by Scotland as they fell agonisingly short of Jones’s bold quarter-final target, remarkable progress for a team who had only ever won once at a World Cup, against tiny Zimbabwe in 1991.
“What we mustn’t do is make the mistake of thinking we’re suddenly one of the world’s top sides,” warned fullback Ayumu Goromaru, Japan’s new sporting pin-up. “We have to stay focused on the job ahead if we are going to take the next step.”

TOUGH ROAD TO 2019
A new Japanese Super Rugby side, the Sunwolves, who are set to join the competition from 2016, will benefit the national side, even if Goromaru himself could be off to join Japan team-mate Hendrik Tui at the Queensland Reds.
But the trickle-down effect from the World Cup could be worth its weight in gold to Japan.
Participation in rugby peaked at 167,000 in 1994, according to the Japan Rugby Football Union, before a record 145-17 loss to the All Blacks at the 1995 World Cup burst the sport’s bubble.  
Japanese rugby is likely to see a dramatic spike in numbers thanks to the team’s success in England, although obstacles remain.
Located a stone’s throw from the swank boutiques and hipster cafés of Tokyo’s Aoyama district, Minato Rugby School caters to some 250 children from the age of four to 15, but Kurosaki believes that city officials need to increase the number of grass pitches before 2019.
“Rugby schools can help create a fun environment to boost the game at the grassroots level,” he said. “But there is so little space and you can’t play rugby on concrete. More grass pitches are required and with Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics, the city should look to address the issue.”
Japan captain Michael Leitch acknowledged that Japan, who have yet to name a replacement for Jones, face a tough road to 2019.
“It’s a massively difficult task to win three World Cup matches,” said the Kiwi-born back-rower. “To repeat what we did will need even more effort on our part.”