Japan League's 'amazing 40 per cent' World Cup final player claim

Japan Rugby’s League One has a dozen Rugby World Cup final starters enrolled to play in the 2023/24 season – more starters in the global showpiece than from any other club tournament.

Six Springboks and a half-dozen more All Blacks have respectively been named Jacques Nienaber and Ian Foster, a statistic the league in the Far East was keen to publicise in the run-up to the title decider in Paris.

A statement read: “Genichi Tamatsuka, the chairman of Japan Rugby League One, has hailed the performance of the competition’s players on the international stage, with 40 per cent of those announced to start the Rugby World Cup final drawn from the league’s clubs for the upcoming 2023/24 season.

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“The 12 players are – South Africa: Franco Mostert (Mie Honda Heat), Pieter Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Damien de Allende (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights), Jesse Kriel (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath);

“New Zealand: Brodie Retallick (Kobelco Kobe Steelers), Shannon Frizell (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo), Ardie Savea (Kobelco Kobe Steelers), Aaron Smith (Toyota Verblitz), Richie Mo’ounga (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo), Beauden Barrett (Toyota Verblitz).

Fixture

Rugby World Cup

New Zealand

11 - 12

Full-time

South Africa

All Stats and Data

“Their selection means that more players enrolled with Japan Rugby League One clubs will start in rugby’s showpiece international game than are drawn individually from any of Super Rugby, the United Rugby Championship, England’s Premiership, or the French Top 14 competitions.

“In addition, Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) starts on the South African bench as does Willie le Roux, who played the last four seasons for Toyota Verblitz, but has opted to return to South Africa for next year.

“Five others – Handre Pollard (NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes), Eben Etzebeth (NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes), Sam Whitelock (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights), Damien McKenzie (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath) and RG Syman (Mie Honda Heat) – have also spent time at Japanese clubs in recent seasons. The third edition of Japan Rugby League One starts on December 9.

“The league’s attraction isn’t limited to players, with Six Nations-winning Wales coach Wayne Pivac (NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu), former Wallaby coach Dave Rennie (Kobelco Kobe Steelers), and Italy coach Kieran Crowley (Mie Honda Heat), also joining the competition.

“They will match wits against the likes of the Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Steve Hansen (Toyota Verblitz), five times-Super Rugby-winning and ex-Wallabies coach Robbie Deans (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights), two-time Super Rugby-winning coach Frans Ludeke (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay), as well as the two-time Super Rugby finalist coaches Todd Blackadder (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo) and Johan Ackerman (Urayasu DRocks).

Tamatsuka said: “The figures are amazing, who would have thought this would be so? Japan Rugby League One was only set up two years ago, with the vision of further developing the club game in our country while providing a springboard to showcase the best of our league on the international stage.

“To already have more players in the starting teams of a Rugby World Cup final than any other competition in the world is a massive honour.”

“It is a great reinforcement to Japan Rugby Football Union, the staff at Japan Rugby League One, and especially everyone associated with our clubs, that the league is delivering on one of its key goals.”

It's wet and windy in Paris just hours out from the start of the Rugby World Cup final 2023 featuring South Africa and New Zealand. #Springboks #AllBlacks #RWC2023 #NZLvRSA pic.twitter.com/71dWi5b2sq

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The league’s chief operating officer, Hajime Shoji, added that the competitive performance by Japan at the Rugby World Cup, where they fell just short of the quarter-finals, alongside the influx of World Cup competitors from other countries have set the scene for what will be another highly competitive and exciting league.

“It has taken us just two years to exceed one million in attendance for our league, we had 42,000 at last season’s final, and that public enthusiasm (for rugby) carried over to the Rugby World Cup where Japan had great support from fans at the tournament, but also watching at home.

“I am confident the level of interest in our league at home, but also overseas, is going to continue to grow, especially as we have 24 foreign players from seven different countries who participated at the Rugby World Cup now joining Japan Rugby League One clubs.

“The fact that more than half of them (13) are coming after playing in the final is an indicator of how elite players view the standard of the league, as well as the experience of playing in Japan.

“The input of such elite foreign coaches and players at clubs is also having a huge influence on developing Japanese players for the exciting opportunities that are ahead of the Japan team. We are all looking forward to an exciting Japan Rugby League One season, after what I’m sure will be a special
night in Paris.”