In the Tokyo Olympics, the rugby sevens qualifying league has begun, and the men's Japan national team played in the first match against Fiji, the gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Games last time, and lost 19 to 24.

Newly strengthened match where physical growth is tested

Fiji, the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games, is a difficult enemy that Japan lost in the semi-finals.


It was a match that tested how much we could grow from five years ago.



In the previous tournament, Japan won the championship candidate New Zealand in the first match of the qualifying league with a tactic that made use of its quick pass turning and speedy player breakthrough, and in the quarterfinals, defeated European powerhouse France. I showed an activity to overturn.


However, in the semi-finals, he succumbed to Fiji with a strong physical weapon and did not reach the medal.


After the match, the words "like a wall" given by Japanese players show the strength of Fiji.



In rugby sevens, the ground is originally the same size as the 15s, so it has been said that a speedy attack that uses a lot of passes to poke the space is effective, but since the last tournament, Fiji's The trend is to take advantage of the physical strength of the opponent to take the position of the opponent.



For this tournament, Japan has also worked on strengthening the physical aspect, which was an issue, and some athletes have succeeded in gaining weight of nearly 10 kg through thorough strength training, and have deepened their confidence.


And, in order not to slow down the agility and speed of the characteristic while strengthening the physical, we have also refined the characteristic running ability by incorporating a high-intensity running practice called high intensity run.


Yoshikazu Fujita, who has a breakthrough that makes the most of his running ability, said, "At the same time, the running ability of the entire team has improved dramatically in a year, which has led to confidence."



The first match against Fiji was a match that tested both the speed and running ability of Japan, as well as the newly strengthened physical growth.