Articles with rwc2019

QUARTER QUALIFICATION

With just five days remaining before the group stage ends, it’s worth looking ahead to what the probable quarter final match-ups will be.

Pool A is definitely the most interesting of the groups. Assuming Ireland defeat Samoa, they are guaranteed qualification. Whether that be in first or second place depends on if Scotland beat Japan in their final match.

In order to advance themselves, Scotland need to pull off a minor miracle by first securing a bonus point win against Russia, then four days later defeat Japan either by more than seven points or whilst scoring four tries or more. If the bonus point is not secured against Russia, they would have to do both of the above.

Japan will top the group with a win, but finish second with a narrow defeat to Scotland. With a partisan crowd and tired Scottish legs, I predict a Japan win, meaning the group will finish with Japan in first and Ireland second.

Pool B is far more straightforward. Considering the minimal resistance put up by Italy against South Africa, it is hard to see them getting anything from their game against the All Blacks. That would leave New Zealand first and South Africa second.

In Pool C, England and France are already both guaranteed a place in the last eight, and the winner of their game on the weekend will determine who is first and who second. England have barely broken sweat so far, whereas France have been pushed close twice by Tonga and Argentina. An England win looks probable.

In Pool D, Fiji have a chance to throw a spanner in the Wales’ works today, but if they fail to do so Wales are looking likely pool winners. Even if Fiji do pull off a shock, they would be unlikely to qualify due to their loss against Uruguay. Wales would have to lose to Uruguay and/or Australia would have to lose to Georgia to let them back into the picture. Therefore, I’m going with Wales first and Australia second.

If those are the results, the quarter finals would be:

Saturday
England vs Australia
New Zealand vs Ireland

Sunday
Wales vs France
Japan vs South Africa

Tasty.

Yesterday’s Match
South Africa 66-7 Canada (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Today’s Matches
Argentina vs USA (1345 JST) (Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya)
Scotland vs Russia (1615 JST) (Shizuoka Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka)
Wales vs Fiji (1845 JST) (Oita Stadium, Oita)

Expression of the day
先の事など誰にも予想できない ? (saki no koto nado dare ni mo yosou dekinai)
Which means…
(You can never tell what will happen.)

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HEAVENLY HIMEJI

After a rest day at the World Cup yesterday, the action returned on Tuesday in Kobe for an encounter that was both a mismatch and a dead rubber. As expected, the Springboks crushed the Canadians with the minimum of fuss, running in ten tries to take the game 66-7. However, the Canadians did do well to restrict the South Africans to three tries in the second half and to score one themselves with a man disadvantage.

We had a look at Kobe itself last week, but Himeji, home of Japan’s largest and most famous castle, is just a little ways down the train track. I visited the city myself in my first summer in Japan, and I think it’s fair to say I was a little taken with it reading back the blog I wrote then. I wonder how I’d feel now after seeing so many other castles.

The Japanese themselves have nicknamed the castle either ‘White Egret Castle’ or ‘White Heron Castle’ due to the brilliant white that the castle regained after renovation in 2015. But it seems there’s no pleasing some, as it is now perhaps most famously known as ‘Too White Castle’.

A quick word to the wise on my experience of Japanese castles in general. With few exceptions, the exterior is far more impressive than the interior. If you want to just walk around the grounds, it is most often free, as they normally serve a double function as a park for local residents.

The Japanese love numbering and ranking their attractions. Himeji is one of Japan’s “three great castles”, alongside Kumamoto (mentioned yesterday) and Matsumoto. There are also “three great gardens”, which are located in Kanazawa, Okayama and Mito. I’ve been to all three of the castles and one of the gardens. They were all worth it.

Tomorrow is a day of reckoning for Scotland. They need to beat Russia, and they need to secure a bonus point. Even if they do manage that, it’s going to be a tall order facing the tournament hosts just four days later. Wales will also have the chance to all but secure first place in their pool against Fiji in the late game.

Today’s Match
South Africa 66-7 Canada (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Tomorrow’s Matches
Argentina vs USA (1345 JST) (Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya)
Scotland vs Russia (1615 JST) (Shizuoka Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka)
Wales vs Fiji (1845 JST) (Oita Stadium, Oita)

Expression of the day
白すぎ城へ行ったことがありますか ? (shiro sugi jou e itta koto ga arimasu ka)
Which means…
(Have you been to “Too White Castle”?)

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KUMAMON’S KUMAMOTO

Namibia held their own for much longer than anybody expected against the All Blacks yesterday, trailing by just a point with five minutes left in the first half and with a temporary one man advantage after a sin binning.

But even down to 14 men, New Zealand are a force to be reckoned with, and six tries in the subsequent twenty minutes blew the Africans away as normal service was resumed.

The late game was a thriller, as France proved themselves experts at winning 23-21, exactly the same score that saw them triumph over Argentina in their first match.

The Tongans left their comeback just a little too late, meaning the French join England in the last eight with nothing but bragging rights on the line in the final group game between the old rivals.

The venue of the encounter was Kumamoto, which is the home of the rather wonderful Kumamon, who was voted best city mascot in a recent nationwide survey, despite being created fewer than ten years ago.

The rosy-cheeked black bear is ubiquitous in the city and his popularity has spread far beyond Japan’s borders, helped by a feature in a BTS video.

Kumamoto is also well-known for its enormous castle, which dominates the city. Unfortunately, it was badly damaged in the 2016 earthquake, but it has now partially re-opened to visitors.

Kumamon has played a large part in collections for the relief effort, which have been held for the region across Japan. With natural disasters occurring so often, this follows a well-established pattern of the rest of the country helping out the region impacted.

I found it a very welcoming city when I visited in late 2015, and I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the area.

Yesterday’s Matches
New Zealand 71-9 Namibia (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
France 23-21 Tonga (Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto)

Tomorrow’s Match
South Africa vs Canada (1915 JST) (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Expression of the day
くまモンは可愛いですね ! (kumamon wa kawaii desu ne)
Which means…
(Kumamon’s so cute!)

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TOYOTA TRIUMPH

Last night, Japan ran away with the match in the last ten minutes to take a bonus point win over Samoa. That made it three wins from three for the Brave Blossoms, although qualification for the knockout stages is not yet in the bag.

Unless Ireland or Scotland slip up in their next games, which seems unlikely, it will all be on the Japan vs Scotland game next Sunday, the last of the group stages, to determine who qualifies.

The match took place in Toyota, the home of the car of the same name. My mother always opted for this make when I was a child, so I’ve travelled many a mile in Corollas, her model of choice.

If you’re a fan of Toyota yourself, its headquarters are located here and factory tours of three different manufacturing plants are available in English and Japanese.

The closest major city to Toyota is the metropolis of Nagoya, positioned halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. It has a very big city feel, which I am personally not so into, but the castle is beautiful, especially in cherry blossom season.

It’s also conveniently located if you want to make trips into Mie, Gifu, Shiga, Nagano or Shizuoka. Kyoto is not too far away either.

The other two matches yesterday saw an expected win for Australia over Uruguay and a victory for England against an Argentina side that had to play nearly the whole match with fourteen men following an early red card.

That effectively ended the match as a contest before it had even begun and England are now guaranteed a quarter final spot. The South American neighbours did both manage a try towards the end of their encounters, but it was little more than consolation.

Today, the All Blacks are in action against Namibia, which could well lead to a cricket score. Following that, France will take on Tonga. A win for the French would see them qualify for the quarters and definitively knock Argentina out.

Today’s picture is from the Magome Tsumago hike in Gifu prefecture, which is a short train journey from Nagoya.

Yesterday’s Matches
Australia 45-10 Uruguay (Oita Stadium, Oita)
England 39-10 Argentina (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
Japan 38-19 Samoa (1930 JST) (Toyota Stadium, Toyota)

Today’s Matches
New Zealand vs Namibia (1345 JST) (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
France vs Tonga (1645 JST) (Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto)

Expression of the day
運転免許を取りましたけど、ペーパードライバーです。(unten menkyo wo torimashita kedo, pe-pa- doraiba desu)
Which means…
I’ve passed my test, but I’m a “paper driver” (somebody who never actually drives)!

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WORKING WEEKENDS

This is going to be a fairly brief blog today, as time does not really permit anything else. The reason why? I’ll be working all the way up until the rugby games start. Working on weekends is a fact of life for pretty much everybody employed at an “eikaiwa” (language school), and I’m one of the lucky ones. I have Sundays off.

As visitors to Japan will have realised, not all Japanese can speak English. Even if they can speak English, they may lack the confidence to actually use it. Part of the reason is down to shyness, but it should also be taken into account that Japanese as a language is a bit like English back to front. For the Japanese, English is Japanese back to front.

Not only does the alien sentence structure of the two languages mean that it’s really hard to get going at the beginning, there is also the added issue of katakana, which throws up a lot of words that sound like English to Japanese, but are often intelligible to foreigners. Can you imagine the frustration if you think you are saying a correct English word, but the native speaker can’t understand it?

In truth, you can probably guess the easy ones like ‘baby car’ or ‘game centre’. However, it’s highly unlikely you would have any idea what “konsento”, “hochikisu”, “virgin road”, “NG” or “CM” mean. They mean advertisement, church aisle, not OK, socket and stapler, but not in that order. I’ll let you try and work out which is which.

So if you’re watching the game with Japanese people of limited English ability today, remember to speak clearly and grade your language. Oh, and please don’t say their English is much better than your Japanese. Of course it is. It’s the very definition of a backhanded compliment.

Today’s Matches
Australia vs Uruguay (1415 JST) (Oita Stadium, Oita)
England vs Argentina (1700 JST) (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
Japan vs Samoa (1930 JST) (Toyota Stadium, Toyota)

Tomorrow’s Matches
New Zealand vs Namibia (1345 JST) (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
France vs Tonga (1645 JST) (Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto)

Expression of the day
英語が上手ですね ! (eigo ga jouzu desu ne)
Which means…
Your English is really good!

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SPEAR SHAME IN SHIZUOKA

Yesterday I was talking about how Fiji were lucky to escape a red card. Today, there was absolutely no escaping that fate for Italy. In fact, there should really have been two red cards issued for the same foul, as two Italians were both culpable in the assault.

Andrea Lovotti and Nicola Quaglio picked up Duane Vermeulen, turned him upside down and dropped him headfirst into the ground in a horrific spear tackle that will hopefully see both serving lengthy bans. It was more like WWE than rugby, but this was for real.

The Springboks were already comfortably ahead at the time of the “tackle”, which effectively ended the game as a contest, and cantered off to an easy 49-3 win after the dust had settled on it. They will now be watching Japan’s group closely to see who their quarter final opponent will be.

This was the second match in Shizuoka, the place I’ve called home for the past five years. The prefecture is the leading producer in Japan of both green tea and wasabi, so a multitude of wasabi and green tea flavoured products are on offer everywhere. The wasabi ice-cream in particular is well worth a try.

Historically, Shizuoka is synonymous with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate that brought to an end the warring of the Sengoku Jidai. Watch a great explanatory video series about that period in history here.

To put it briefly, Ieyasu was held hostage in Sumpu castle as a child. After many wars and much intrigue, he became shogun of a united Japan. Upon retirement, he chose to spend his final years in the same castle he was previously held hostage, handing over the reins to his heir Hidetada.

Numerous statues can be found of Ieyasu around town, including one just outside the train station and one in the centre of the castle park. The park, outer walls, moat and a couple of towers is all that remains of Sumpu castle, however, as it was dismantled during the Meiji Restoration by political opponents.

The fan zone in the castle park is far from being dismantled yet, however. I’ll be heading there for the third time tomorrow to catch the beginning in earnest of England’s World Cup against Argentina and the hopefully ongoing fairy tale of the Brave Blossoms.

Today’s Match
South Africa 49-3 Italy (Shizuoka Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka)

Tomorrow’s Matches
Australia vs Uruguay (1415 JST) (Oita Stadium, Oita)
England vs Argentina (1700 JST) (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)
Japan vs Samoa (1930 JST) (Toyota Stadium, Toyota)

Expression of the day
このアイスがバカうまいです! (kono aisu ga baka umai desu)
Which means…
This ice-cream is really tasty! (in the Shizuoka dialect)

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LELO LELO SAQARTVELO

I don’t know what the referees are thinking as regards high tackles at this World Cup. Getting clotheslined when running at pace by a solid tree trunk of an arm is incredibly dangerous and could easily cause a very serious head injury.

Yet players are still getting away with it nearly scot-free. The only player to suffer a meaningful penalty so far because of a high tackle was the Australian Reece Hodge for his reckless foul on the team that dished one out today, Fiji.

If Fiji had been down to 14 men, that might have compensated for the fact that Georgia had the nightmare four-day turnaround to contend with, which was a large part of why Fiji lost to Uruguay. In the end, though, the cards stayed in the referee’s pocket.

With both high tackles and lack of rest days, it’s been a case of swings and roundabouts for the Islanders. However, their spectacular late show of running, which yielded four tries, does deserve much credit, regardless of the earlier misdemeanour and tired Georgian legs.

I had actually seen this match-up before, in the country where I, strangely enough, have seen more international rugby than anywhere else, Georgia. It only cost a few lari to get into the stadium and nobody was checking tickets, so I got to see both Japan vs Georgia and Fiji vs Georgia in 2012 for peanuts.

The Lelos (“lelo” is a Georgian form of rugby with a long history) beat Japan back then, but lost to the Fijians. I can’t help but think it may have had something to do with the rather ill-advised decision by the crowd to start booing the “Cibi” (the Fijian haka) before kick-off. The visitors were, understandably, pretty riled up after that and flew into their tackles with that extra bit of vigour, shooting into an insurmountable early lead.

Georgia is the home of wine as well as the best comfort food I have ever come across, “adjaruli chaczapuri”. After eating the melted cheese, butter and egg swimming in deliciously baked bread, your heart will be singing but you’ll barely be able to move. Whenever I had one during my time there, it had to be my only meal of the day.

Osaka, where today’s game took place, is also no slouch when it comes to comfort food, being the home of both takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). If you’re looking for some hearty fare before the rugby and/or a night out, you cannot go far wrong with either option.

In the other game of the day, Ireland got over their Japan hangover to take a comfortable bonus point win over Russia. The Russians did not give in easily, though, making an incredible 182 tackles over the 80 minute encounter.

The action returns to Shizuoka tomorrow, where Italy will take on South Africa. The winner of the game is pretty much guaranteed a quarter-final berth at the expense of the loser, so there’s a lot riding on it.

That quarter-final place may well be in a match against the hosts, which means a repeat of the Brighton game four years ago is a distinct possibility. Japan vs South Africa 2? Yes please.

(Today’s image is of Georgia vs Scotland in Dinamo Tbilisi’s Boris Paichadze Stadium. Thank you to Irakli Giorgadze for his kind permission to use the photo).

Today’s Matches
Fiji 45-10 Georgia (Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka)
Ireland 35-0 Russia (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Tomorrow’s Match
South Africa vs Italy (1845 JST) (Shizuoka Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka)

Expression of the day
大阪弁が話せますか? (oosaka ben ga hanasemasu ka)
Which means…
Can you speak the Osaka dialect?

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BLACK BALLET

The USA kept the French honest for much of their match today, trailing by only three points with 15 minutes left to play, but three late tries put a gloss on a score line that didn’t really reflect how close the encounter was.

In the late game, the All Blacks returned to the fray with a nine-try 63-0 demolition of Canada, with Richie Mo’unga registering a perfect record on conversions. They look likely to sail into the quarter finals barely breaking a sweat.

The New Zealand team are best known for their world famous Haka, but it should not be forgotten that all Pacific Island nations also have their own versions. In fact, some Maori claim that New Zealand doing the Haka is tantamount to cultural appropriation.

It’s not just traditions that are being appropriated though, as all Tier 1 rugby nations, most notably New Zealand, do their best to lure promising Pacific Islanders to play for their national sides. This has led to a huge drain in talent from the islands of Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, who provide around 20% of all rugby players in the world.

World Rugby has come in for a lot of criticism over this issue and the lack of resources and support to the countries that contribute so much to the game should be a source of embarrassment. At the very least, nationality regulations need to be tightened to prevent the best young talent being coaxed overseas for money.

If a sudden desire to perform the haka outside grabs you in Japan, you can now do so within the confines of the law, as Japan lifted its ban on dancing in public spaces in 2015. Prior to that, the only places you could dance were commercial spaces that had to pay for a dancing licence.

Even in these licensed places, however, you could only dance until midnight as your fairy godmother’s spell would wear off and your carriage would turn into a pumpkin. Well, that’s the only sensible explanation I can think of anyway.

Georgia are back in action tomorrow for a must-win showdown with Fiji, and they know a thing or two about dancing as well. I’ve yet to see anything more impressive than the leaping, bounding and spinning that natives of Saqartvelo can produce. I’d love to see the All Blacks facing off against these guys, also dressed in black.

Today’s Matches
France 33-9 USA (Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka)
New Zealand 63-0 Canada (Oita Stadium, Oita)

Tomorrow’s Matches
Georgia vs Fiji (1415 JST) (Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka)
Ireland vs Russia (1915 JST) (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Expression of the day
踊るのが好きですか？ (odoru no ga suki desu ka)
Which means…
Do you like dancing?

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TAXING TIMES

There is a bonus interview today on growing the rugby game around the world. Please click here to hear about how it is developing in Poland from Mark.

Today may be a rest day for the teams competing at the World Cup, but it certainly isn’t for people working in retail. Japanese sales tax has gone up from 8% to 10%, which many fear could push Japan into recession.

It’s not as straightforward as a simple two percent increase across the board. The idea is supposed to be not to increase the price of necessary commodities. How transport fares, utility bills and toilet paper are not considered essential is beyond me however.

The majority of food will remain at 8%, but alcohol will go up to 10%, so your celebratory/commisatory beer will be even more expensive.

One of the strangest anomalies of the tax hike is that you have to pay 10% for food you consume on convenience store premises but only 8% if you eat it outside. Could this lead to more people eating on the streets? It seems unlikely, as it is still a little taboo.

The tax increase is supposed to help Japan rescue its pension scheme, which is in deep trouble due to the ageing population, but with company and income tax both being reduced at the same time, mainly to the benefit of large companies and already wealthy people, it will probably have little to no effect.

Although the wealth gap in Japan is not as big as in other countries, it’s getting bigger and it does bother me that a significant amount of my salary goes into paying for other people’s pensions. The only way I will ever get any of that back is if I live in Japan my whole life. A nomadic existence does have its drawbacks.

When times are taxing, there are few things better than visiting an onsen. Japan’s multitude of volcanoes, although dangerous, mean that there are thousands of natural hot springs all over the country.

Your cares melt away the second the warm water engulfs you and following it up with a bowl of ramen and a beer is a truly blissful combination.

I really would love a vegetarian version of ramen. Someone should get onto that.

One idea for an onsen trip is Nozawa Onsen in Nagano, where the vast majority of the village hot springs are free of charge and all offer slightly different hot water experiences. There’s plenty of skiing in the winter there, too.

Tomorrow’s matches will almost definitely see New Zealand and France defeat Canada and the US respectively. Both games will be taking place on the island of Kyushu. New Zealand and Canada will be in Oita, which boasts legendary hot springs. France and the US will be in Fukuoka (also known as Hakata), legendary for its pork bone ramen.

Tomorrow’s Matches
France vs USA (1645 JST) (Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka)
New Zealand vs Canada (1915 JST) (Oita Stadium, Oita)

Expression of the day
いくらですか (ikura desu ka)
Which means…
How much is it?

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KILTS IN KOBE

Today’s match was a key one for both the Scots and Samoa, as the Japanese victory over Ireland had blown the group wide open.

Although you can never be sure in rugby, it does seem likely that there are now three contenders for the knockout stages rather than four as Scotland took a bonus point in a comprehensive 34-0 victory.

The Samoans will have to regroup before they face the host nation on Saturday, whilst Scotland will play their next game against Russia.

The match today took place in Kobe, which is often rated a lovely place to live. You can read the article on my visit four years ago here.

Rather bizarrely, the basketball legend Kobe Bryant is also connected to the city. His father liked the name so much when he saw it on a restaurant menu (Kobe beef is legendary) that he decided to name his kid after it.

But that didn’t stop Kobe himself suing the city for naming rights in 2010, due to the fact that he was, in his opinion, far more famous. Litigation gone mad.

Tomorrow is a rest day at the World Cup (but not for the blog) and the beginning of October. It was another scorcher today, however, so there’s very little autumnal feeling going around, despite the shop decorations’ best efforts.

Today’s Match
Scotland 34-0 Samoa (Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe)

Expression of the day
住みやすい所です (sumiyasui tokoro desu)
Which means…
It’s a nice place to live.

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