Japan has the fourth largest rugby union playing populations in the world and the sport has been played there for over 100 years. There are 125,000 Japanese rugby players.

The national team (which is named “The Cherry Blossoms”) is ranked 20th worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as of 28 August 2006.

With Asia’s relative weakness at rugby union, Japan strugges to get serious competition. The result is that Japan is caught in the middle: a big fish in the small pond of Asian rugby union, but still at present a relative minnow in the vast ocean of international rugby union

Tokyo Rugby Teams

  • Ricoh Black Rams
    • Ricoh Black Rams is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. Placed 10th in the 2004-05 season which means it must win a play-off against one of the top regional teams to stay in the league. Slogan for 2006 season: TAFU (”Tough” in English). The acronym stands for Team, Aggression, Faith, Unity.
  • Suntory Sungoliath
    • Suntory Sungoliath (also known as Suntory Rugby Football Club) is owned by Suntory and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus. The slogan for the 2006-7 season is: “ALIVE”


Mills & Boon, and the Rugby Football Union | Books | guardian.co.uk

Publish Date: December 31, 1969

Rugby and romance are perhaps not the most obvious of combinations, but one that the world’s biggest romance publisher, Mills & Boon, and the Rugby Football Union believe will bear fruit.

BlogRabbit » Mills & Boon team up with Rugby Football Union to …

Publish Date: December 31, 1969

Rugby and romance are perhaps not the most obvious of combinations, but one that the world’s biggest romance publisher, Mills & Boon, and the Rugby Football Union believe will bear fruit. The pair have teamed up to publish a series of …

Official RBS 6 Nations Rugby : Leinster duo handed bans

Publish Date: December 31, 1969

Leinster’s Shane Jennings and John Fogarty have been suspended for three weeks and one week respectively by the Irish Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel. The bans follow incidents in Friday’s Magners League match against Connacht. …