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World Cup captain hasn't played a game of rugby in six months

By Online Editors
Michael Leitch on the training pitch. (Photo by Behrouz Mehrai/AFP/Getty Images)

The Pacific Nations Cup will kick off in a little over a month with Samoa, Tonga, Japan, Fiji, the United States and Canada all taking part in 2019.

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Of course, like most tournaments around this time of year, the PNC is really a warm-up for 2019’s showcase event, the Rugby World Cup.

For World Cup host nation Japan, the PNC will be especially important, as the side has only one other test match scheduled in 2019 – against the Springboks.

Between Super Rugby commitments and World Cup training camps, it’s been a somewhat disjointed season for many of Japan’s representatives.

One player who hasn’t had to deal with as tough a schedule, however, is Brave Blossoms captain Michael Leitch.

Providing that Leitch is fully fit, Japan’s first match of the Pacific Nations Cup against Fiji on July 27 will mark over seven months since the New Zealand-born loose-forward last played a game of first-class rugby.

A chronic groin injury has ruled Leitch out of all rugby since Top League side Toshiba Brave Lupus’ last match of 2018. The Japanese captain only started training properly last week and has had consultations with specialists from throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

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Leitch recently spoke to Kyodo News about his impending return.

“I’ve got four games to get ready. That and my 10 years of experience,” Leitch said to the Japanese news outlet.

“I’m starting to come right at a good time and I’m looking at returning for that Fiji game and the PNC. Otherwise I’ll be a bit nervous coming into the World Cup with no games under my belt.”

Brave Blossoms coach Jamie Joseph was adamant that Leitch would be a part of the World Cup squad even if he hadn’t played any matches prior to tournament kick-off and Joseph had to wait “until the night before or even an hour before the Russia game” to confirm Leitch’s fitness.

Japan will be looking to build into their season with PNC matches against Fiji, Tonga and the United States before taking on Russia in the opening match of the World Cup.

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Their pool consists of Russia, Scotland, Ireland and Samoa. In order to progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in the nation’s history, Japan would likely have to notch up three wins from their four matches. That’s a distinctly doable challenge, given that Japan have beaten Russia and Samoa in the past and have come close to toppling Scotland and Ireland on a number of occasions. That being said, all four sides could also get the better of the World Cup hosts.

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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