Since the first World Cup in 1987, Asia counts at each edition only one representative, and always the same: Japan. The national selection of Cherry Blossoms (cherry blossoms) has lived and accompanied the development of this discipline imported into the archipelago by the British a century and a half ago. A world competition in which she struggled to shine during the first editions, cashing even a terrible 145 to 17 against the All Blacks in 1995. But she has proven its worth more recently by managing to beat South Africa (34-32) in 2015 at the end of a match considered as one of the most beautiful of the World Cups already disputed. Japan then managed to win 3 of its 4 pool matches, losing only a very small qualification for the quarter-finals.
In front of his public, Japan hopes this time to reach the final phase. It can count on a pool of local players more and more competitive and the contribution of many rugbymen from other countries, come to strengthen the national selection. A combination that allows Japan, the eve of the competition, to point to the tenth place in the world, close to France (8th). During their last confrontation, in November 2017 in Nanterre, the Japanese had also achieved the feat of getting a draw (23-23), registering three tries against two only for the French.
The sports performances of this team will therefore logically be watched with much more attention during this World Cup. Especially since good results of the local selection could greatly help the world federation (World Rugby) to mass the practice of the discipline in this part of the globe. Upstream of the competition, it has launched several programs to promote youth rugby in Japan but also in India, China or the Philippines. "Asia is at the center of the success of global rugby growth and the 2019 Rugby World Cup is a fantastic celebration of the emergence of rugby in Asia," says World Rugby.
An unfinished globalization
Even before kick-off of the first match, which will see Japan face Russia on Friday, this same World Rugby has welcomed the repercussions of this ninth edition of the World Cup. Recently, it announced in a statement that the images will be available to more than 800 million homes in 217 territories, a figure significantly higher than 2015 (683 million homes). And if the number of viewers is likely to decline due to the time difference and the morning broadcast in Europe of most games, advertising and commercial revenues still promise flourishing. At a press conference on Tuesday, Brett Gosper, managing director of World Rugby, announced that they should at least increase by 25% compared to the 2015 World Cup.
"The choice of Japan allows World Rugby to open up to a new continent and break the alternation of World Cups between European nations and the three major rugby nations of the southern hemisphere, namely Africa South, Australia and New Zealand ", explains France 24 Carole Gomez, researcher at IRIS specializing in the geopolitics of sport and author of the book" Rugby conquers the world - History and geopolitics of the ovalie "(Armand Colin ed.). For her, rugby has achieved "a huge leap" since the first World Cup in 1987 - the international federation then had 8 members against 121 today - but its globalization remains unfinished, this sport not succeeding to take root in some very densely populated countries.
To achieve this, World Rugby puts a strong emphasis on women's rugby. In this way, the institution has managed to reach a different audience, offering a real sports alternative for women in certain countries. And it also relies heavily on rugby 7, more spectacular and faster than the 15, to win new followers around the world, for men and women. This discipline had become Olympic in 2016 in Rio and had allowed Fiji to win their first Olympic gold medal by winning in the men's tournament. "We see that countries like China that were not traditionally interested in rugby are investing heavily in rugby 7. This is thanks to the appeal of the medal," says Carole Gomez.
Japanese rugby players are also in the crosshairs of rugby 7 as the next Games will take place at home. Japanese rugby can therefore rely on two major events to continue its growth and gain even more popularity. An exceptional context for the Cherry Blossoms in front of their fans and the 400,000 foreign visitors expected for this World Cup.