Osaka, Japan

Earlier this year, 2019 U15A player Declan van Wyk took up an opportunity to study and play rugby at high school in Japan. The timing of his adventure was a challenge in that in the days leading up to his departure the pandemic was dramatically affecting the number of outbound flights to Japan. This meant that Declan and his fellow rugby-scholar Jesse Major from Hillmorton HS only just managed to depart on one of the last regular flights to Narita Airport. But since arriving in Osaka the boys have been well looked after by the staff of Kokoku HS and are now comfortably settled into their new school-life routine. 

The opportunity to study in Japan can be traced back to the fact that back in 2004, the year that Declan was born, current Kokoku HS PE teacher Kenji Murata played a season at St. Bede's College as first-five in our 1st XV as a 17 year-old. Sixteen years later, Kokoku HS is one of the schools in Japan that send players into the International Rugby Programme and it is currently looking to strengthen its own rugby team by recruiting talented New Zealand boys into its ranks. With this connection in place, Declan opted to take up the opportunity offered to boys who were under 15 last year. 

We wish Declan and his friend Jesse all the best on their study+rugby adventure in Japan. 

Some comments from Declan:

What was it like going into semi-lockdown in Osaka? It was quite confusing in that people were out and about, but there were also restrictions such as only a certain number of boys being allowed at school and classes being only held on a certain amount of days per week.

How is school? Have you settled into a routine yet? It is quite difficult, but I’ve settled in and am taking it all in.

How is the rugby going? The rugby is quite different to back home. We do a lot of training,  almost everyday of the week, and we are currently holding a rugby camp, which is full on.

What are you impressions of Japan so far? Japan is a peaceful place really and everyone I've met so far is very polite. There are some beautiful places here such as a park in the city of Nara which is home to many deer that roam around freely. The deer are fed by the many tourists who visit to look at the old temples in Nara.