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Cherry Blossoms plunge into rugby World Cup hysteria
Sydney, Oct 07: The Japanese rugby union team arrive in Australia for the World Cup. The Japanese rugby union team, affectionately known as the Cherry Blossoms, arrived in Sydney, Australia on Monday (October 6) while the Argentine team prepared for the opening match of the World Cup on Friday (October 10) against hosts and defending champions Australia.
Sydney, Oct 07: The Japanese rugby union team arrive in Australia for the World Cup. The Japanese rugby union team, affectionately known as the Cherry Blossoms, arrived in Sydney, Australia on Monday (October 6) while the Argentine team prepared for the opening match of the World Cup on Friday (October 10) against hosts and defending champions Australia.
Japan faces Scotland in their first match on Sunday (October 12) at the Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville, Queensland. They will play three matches in Townsville before heading south to Gosford to take on the USA Eagles on 27 October. Japan has lost only one of 14 qualifiers and in last year's matches outscored its opponents 420-47 in four matches, highlighted by a world record 155-3 demolition of Chinese Taipei. In the finals however, a solitary 52-8 win over Zimbabwe in 1991 represents Japan's only finals win in twelve matches spread over four World Cups. Included among those losses was a 145-17 walloping by New Zealand in 1995. Despite recruiting former Wallabies Mark Ella and Mark Bell as technical advisors earlier this year, a string of erratic results in the build-up to the tournament once again suggests the Japanese will struggle to make it past the first round.
Drawn in Pool B with France, Scotland, Fiji and the United States, their best chance of a victory is against the Americans, who have also managed just one win in their modest World Cup history.
Japan are due to name their team on Friday (October 10) for the Scotland match this weekend but there are doubts over two key players.
Lightning-quick winger Daisuke Ohata is carrying an injury to his right calf, while New Zealand-born flyhalf Andrew Miller has a lingering hamstring problem. Both will have fitness tests this week.
The Rugby Union World Cup is no exception to the rule that every major soccer tournament contains a group to avoid. The dreaded group this time is Pool A, which features Australia, Ireland, Argentina, Romania and Namibia.
Romania and Namibia face almost certain elimination after the pool phase but Australia, Ireland and Argentina all have legitimate ambitions of advancing in the tournament.
The three teams are officially ranked among the top seven in the world, but only two can advance to the quarter-final stage, setting the scene for a highly competitive group.
Argentina come into the World Cup with two wins over France and a one-point loss to South Africa in June. Their probable fly-half Felipe Contepomi believes that their toughest challenge will come in their opening match against Australia in Sydney who he says will be the team to beat in the World Cup.
"Australian people, Australian players are really professional," he said. "They are great players and they know how to handle pressure. I think that as I told you before the last World Cup they came without being the big dogs and they went out with the trophy so they came back with the trophy so they know how to handle pressure in big stages so and I think they will do the same this year."
Bureau Report
Japan faces Scotland in their first match on Sunday (October 12) at the Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville, Queensland. They will play three matches in Townsville before heading south to Gosford to take on the USA Eagles on 27 October. Japan has lost only one of 14 qualifiers and in last year's matches outscored its opponents 420-47 in four matches, highlighted by a world record 155-3 demolition of Chinese Taipei. In the finals however, a solitary 52-8 win over Zimbabwe in 1991 represents Japan's only finals win in twelve matches spread over four World Cups. Included among those losses was a 145-17 walloping by New Zealand in 1995. Despite recruiting former Wallabies Mark Ella and Mark Bell as technical advisors earlier this year, a string of erratic results in the build-up to the tournament once again suggests the Japanese will struggle to make it past the first round.
Drawn in Pool B with France, Scotland, Fiji and the United States, their best chance of a victory is against the Americans, who have also managed just one win in their modest World Cup history.
Japan are due to name their team on Friday (October 10) for the Scotland match this weekend but there are doubts over two key players.
Lightning-quick winger Daisuke Ohata is carrying an injury to his right calf, while New Zealand-born flyhalf Andrew Miller has a lingering hamstring problem. Both will have fitness tests this week.
The Rugby Union World Cup is no exception to the rule that every major soccer tournament contains a group to avoid. The dreaded group this time is Pool A, which features Australia, Ireland, Argentina, Romania and Namibia.
Romania and Namibia face almost certain elimination after the pool phase but Australia, Ireland and Argentina all have legitimate ambitions of advancing in the tournament.
The three teams are officially ranked among the top seven in the world, but only two can advance to the quarter-final stage, setting the scene for a highly competitive group.
Argentina come into the World Cup with two wins over France and a one-point loss to South Africa in June. Their probable fly-half Felipe Contepomi believes that their toughest challenge will come in their opening match against Australia in Sydney who he says will be the team to beat in the World Cup.
"Australian people, Australian players are really professional," he said. "They are great players and they know how to handle pressure. I think that as I told you before the last World Cup they came without being the big dogs and they went out with the trophy so they came back with the trophy so they know how to handle pressure in big stages so and I think they will do the same this year."
Bureau Report