Japan entered the home leg of the World Sevens Series hoping to put itself on the international rugby map and to give the sport in this country a much-needed morale boost.
In front of an international audience and an expectant home crowd, the team failed to achieve either of these objectives. In fact, its performance was as miserable as the bad weather that prevailed throughout the tournament. Besides getting thoroughly outplayed by Australia, England and even the U.S., the Japanese team only managed to beat Malaysia and struggled to overcome Taiwan, for whom playing rugby is as awkward as having "Dubya" over for dinner.
Fault here cannot be attributed to the players, who despite playing like a bunch of high school novices, nevertheless gave it their all. The problem was that they appeared to be just that.
"It was embarrassing," said Lui Miyake, an ardent rugby fan who has attended every Japan Sevens tournament since 1995. "I'm not sure if I will be back next year."
The national side was coming off a weeklong training camp in preparation for its forthcoming fixture with South Korea on May 13. It was decided by the powers that be that this intensive training camp take place a week before hosting the Sevens competition and that, consequently, the national squad players be rested for the competition.
In an attempt to draw a crowd, however, the tournament was wisely moved from early April to the end of the month. This was to avoid the rainy weather that had plagued previous tournaments. Unfortunately, the move backfired on the organizers, who cannot be blamed for the curse of the weather gods.
But who decided on this training camp a week before the Sevens competition? It's not as if the Japan national side has a congested fixture schedule, unlike some of the Southern hemisphere teams whose players are precluded from playing in the Sevens game because of commitments to their respective clubs playing in the prestigious Super 12 competition.
Admittedly, not many of the other recognized powerhouses of world rugby send their best players out because: a) they have strength in depth; and b) they don't need to establish themselves internationally or at home as rugby is -- and has been -- a part of their culture, like baseball is to America.
This was a big chance for Japan to show its wares and to attract local interest. One wonders what the likes of speed merchant Daisuke Ohata would have managed to contribute to a team that clearly needed help. Heck, there were times when I almost felt like putting down my beer and running on to the pitch myself.
The lads in the traditional red-and-white stripes really gave it their all and ran themselves into the ground. The only problem was that for the most part they were running sideways across the field instead of straight at the opposition. They clearly had no idea of the basic skills of the game and looked more like lambs being sent to the slaughterhouse than soldiers ready to do battle.
Spare a thought for the crowd, which braved the wet weather with an air of anticipation and graciously applauded their team's tries, even though there weren't too many of them. Is this the way to drum up interest for the sport in this country?
Glen Ella, Australia's coach, said that he never recognizes any of the players on the Japanese team because each time it goes out to play, the faces seem to be different. How could this embarrassment have been avoided?
Ella offered this advice: Stick with the same group of players, allowing them to develop skills and gain invaluable experience. Train them, motivate them and allow them to grow into internationally respected players.
Some of the biggest names in rugby, like New Zealand's Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen and South Africa's Bobby Skinstad, first made names for themselves playing Sevens rugby.
Ross Cooper, the former New Zealand assistant coach who is currently assisting the Japanese national side, believes that the way forward is to nurture the young players with potential through the Sevens game because it is an ideal platform from which to spot talent.
"Although the Sevens game is different from the 15-a-side game in that it requires a different type of fitness -- aerobic as opposed to anaerobic -- it nevertheless can install a level of creativity and awareness in a player that enables a player to develop into one of international standard," he said.
Fortunately, the Japanese press are not as ruthless as their British counterparts, letting the team off with a slap on the wrist and commenting that the U.S. is not a team to which Japan should be losing, particularly after overcoming South Africa and France last year on the way to winning the plate final.
This is supposed to be a big year for Japanese rugby, with important reforms having been implemented and ground-breaking developments within the local structure of the game having been made. It is a shame that all this hard work has been dented by one forward pass.
Let's hope that a lesson has been learned from all of this and that the Japanese team can put on a show for us next year . . . that is, if anybody turns up!