New JRFU boss Shigetaka Mori faces uphill battle to initiate needed reforms
As a player Shigetaka Mori, the new president of the Japan Rugby Football Union, knew all about success at the domestic level. As a member of the now-defunct Nippon Steel Corp. team in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, he helped the side win seven consecutive national championships ...
Brave Blossoms unveil new uniforms
The Japan Rugby Football Union revealed the new jersey for its national team, which could help the Brave Blossoms achieve a feat at the upcoming Rugby World Cup on home soil, on Thursday. [video_embed number="1"] While the basic white and red design remained the same from ...
JRFU asks teams to interview players following recent drug arrests
The Japan Rugby Football Union on Wednesday requested all teams in the country's Top League interview their players following the arrests last month of two Toyota Verblitz members on suspicion of possessing cocaine. At a meeting in Tokyo, the sport's governing body asked representatives from ...
The Japan Rugby Football Union on Saturday named former national team captain Shigetaka Mori the president of the sport's governing body with less than three months to go until the country hosts the Rugby World Cup. The 67-year-old Mori, a JRFU vice president, was selected ...
World Rugby confident JRFU strife won't impact World Cup
World Rugby bosses said Wednesday they are not concerned by the recent upheaval within the Japan Rugby Football Union and that it will not impact this year's World Cup. They also pledged to continue working with the JRFU after the tournament finishes on Nov. 2 ...
Veteran coaches worry about future of Japanese rugby
Two leading coaches believe the Japan Rugby Football Union does not understand just how much of an impact this year's Rugby World Cup will have and say the policies currently in place will see rugby here suffer greatly following the tournament. Jake White, who led ...
JRFU's bewildering plans for Top League reform spark skepticism, opposition
The news that the Japan Rugby Top League is to undergo reform following this year's World Cup should have been met with heraldic fanfare, given the nation's recent entry into the Reiwa Era. But having spoken to a number of coaches, players and longtime observers ...
Former Brave Blossoms coach Eddie Jones laments demise of Sunwolves
Former Japan coach Eddie Jones said Tuesday that the Japan Rugby Football Union needs to find an alternative to the Sunwolves if it is to achieveits long-standing goal of being a major rugby power. "If Japan wants to be a top-10 country in the world, ...
Former Japan Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori urges JRFU to make reforms
Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Friday called for reform within the Japan Rugby Football Union two days after he announced his shock resignation as the body's honorary chairman. Citing a lack of vision for the future of Japanese rugby after this year's Rugby World ...
Former Japan Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to step down as JRFU honorary chairman
Just five months before Japan hosts Rugby World Cup 2019, former Japan Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Wednesday he will step down as honorary chairman of the Japan Rugby Football Union. "He told me it's no good unless we have younger people take the lead," ...
Sunwolves' demise may lead to new dawn for Japanese rugby
On the face of it, the axing of the Sunwolves from Super Rugby was simply a case of too much money demanded, or a belief that the tournament was not the right road for Japan to pursue. But delve deeper and it appears that political ...
The Sunwolves' exit from Super Rugby was confirmed Friday with the tournament organizer saying in a press release that the immediate future of the competition "rests with a 14-team, round robin, competition format." The revised format will come into operation and kick off in 2021, ...
