Japan 2019

In 2019 a large group of students and parents set of in early October on the annual Japan U15 rugby trip. This year the group travelling had the bonus of the Rugby World Cup being played at the same time as the tour, to say the Japanese were fantastic hosts is an understatement!

The travelling group touched down in Tokyo after a 10-hour flight and spent the first two nights in the Chiba prefecture in preparation for their first game against Tokyo Gakkuen. The first fixture was typical of the Japanese rugby groups in which there is normally a squad of up to 100 players from U14 up to 1st XV all training together. We played three thirds with an increase in playing strength as the game went on with our U15 team finishing up against the Tokyo Gakkuen 1st XV for the last 2 thirds. It was a great challenge for our team as we saw firsthand how improved schoolboy rugby has become over the last four years, with STC losing by 1 try. After the game our students had the wonderful experience of a personalised tour through Tokyo with the students from Tokyo Gakkuen.

The next day we were all treated with a trip back to childhood with a visit to Disneyland, the boys enjoyed the rides and all the comes with a trip to the famous Tokyo Disneyland.

The next day we were on the bullet train to Shizuoka to prepare for our second game of the tour against Shizuoka Gakkuen. The boys were all billeted for the first time in Japanese homes and were treated to all the wonderful experiences that encompass Japanese hospitality. In preparation for a step up in playing quality our rugby coaches put together a different plan whereby we would be a lot more physical and play a lot narrower. This plan played perfectly as the boys had a great 20-point victory against a very good rugby team.

While in Shizuoka we got to watch our first world cup game between Scotland and Russia, it was a great spectacle to see 45 000 people view a game in watch only about 10 000 knew the teams they were supporting!! A great experience for our touring party.

We headed to Kobe with the news a potential Category 9 Hurricane was heading to the shores of Japan. Due to this our third fixture against Konan was cancelled, as it turned our we were not badly affected by the Hurricane in Kobe. Following the Kobe visit we headed to Osaka and an opportunity to watch Tonga play USA, it was also an opportunity for us to catch up with two old boys that are playing professionally in Japan. Both Patrick Stehlin and Sione Afemui were blown away with the passionate Hakas they received from our U15 STC boy’s. A day to remember.

It was back onto the bullet train to play the toughest game of the tour against Fukuoka Gakkuen. This time we were playing their U16 team, the STC team knew they were in for a battle when they watched the Fukuoka team warm up. The STC boys stuck to the pattern very well against a big physical Japanese team, we edged ahead with two early well taken tries only for the Japanese to tie the scores and draw ahead late in the game. Some STC magic with 2 minutes to go scoring a well worked try to win the final game. A great victory after a long tour and season. The Boy’s were billeted out for a final time and were once again treated like kings.

The tour came to an end by flying from Fukuoka to Tokyo then onto Christchurch. The Boy’s started the tour wide eyed and tentative as they embarked on the trip of a lifetime, they returned confident and mature after taking the responsibility of touring overseas. A huge thank you to coaches Hamish McCombie and Hamish Barclay for providing these young men this opportunity of a lifetime.