Japan formally accepted into Super Rugby

Japan's entry into Super Rugby from 2016 is “a dream come true,” according to head coach Eddie Jones.

Speaking from Tbilisi where the Brave Blossoms are preparing to take on Georgia on Sunday, Jones said “Winning the Super Rugby bid is a great vote of confidence from the SANZAR group and we are very appreciative of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa support.”

Jones has long said that despite the huge improvements made in the Top League, Japanese players still struggled to bridge the gap from domestic rugby to test-match rugby.

That was all too apparent three weeks ago when a Japan XV were brushed aside by the Maori All Blacks in the first of their two-match series.

Most of the Maori had just finished playing in the ITM Cup and the killer instinct needed to play such a level of rugby came to the fore as they exploited Japan's mistakes to the full.

The Brave Blossoms bounced back the following week but the need to play at a higher level on a regular basis was all too apparent.

“For the development of the national team (Super Rugby) adds the missing cog with players being able to play a consistently high level of rugby against the best players in the world,” Jones said.

“It gives young kids aspiration to play international rugby regularly at home in Japan in one of the premier competitions in the world.”

Tatsuzo Yabe, Chairman of the JRFU also pointed out how important playing in Super Rugby would be for the development of the national team.

“It is absolutely essential for us to participate in the competition as we move toward a successful Rugby World Cup here in 2019. Joining the world’s highest international league is a challenge that will require significant transformation and tremendous efforts by us. However, it will certainly bring innovation to not only Japan, but also the Asian region as a whole,” he said.

“We are also convinced that participating in Super Rugby will encourage greater interest in our domestic rugby and it will become a big dream and goal for those who play rugby in Japan - especially younger generations - to compete at this level.”

While some questions were answered with the official announcement – such as the team will be based at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo and will play three “home” games in Singapore – plenty remain unanswered.

Below is an edited and updated version of a piece I wrote for Kyodo News when news came through that SANZAR had decided to ditch the Singapore bid and were only dealing with the JRFU.

How can a Northern Hemisphere side play in a Southern Hemisphere competition? Who will run and finance the team? Where will the players come from? Who will coach the team?

This week the Waratahs – the reigning Super Rugby champions – began their preseason for the 2015 campaign. At the same time the Top League sides are getting ready to start the second half of their own season, which with playoffs and the All-Japan Championship means they will be playing domestic rugby through until February.

Kyodo News has already reported that the 2015-16 Top League season will be an abbreviated affair as a result of Rugby World Cup 2015 and Japan's entry into Super Rugby.

But what will happen in the long term?

One source connected with Japan's bid has said the mystery team would probably be the national team, along with three or four marquee players.

But if run by the JRFU, how will the contracts be drawn up?

"The JRFU are going to have to centrally contract players away from the companies because the companies won't support this privately; there's nothing in it for them as their competition becomes second tier," said NEC Green Rockets' Shaun Webb, who has played in Japan since 2005.

"Eighteen Super Rugby games, 12 tests. How many Top League games will the best Japanese boys play? Can the JRFU beat the companies with regards to paying the top players?"

"Also the appeal of playing Super Rugby for the best foreigners already here is probably secondary to money and lifestyle, with many of them, been there done that."

"If the Top League season is shortened to fit it all in, does this mean smaller Top League contracts for foreigners?"

Webb, who has been capped 35 times by the Brave Blossoms, suggests a possible solution would be for the "JRFU to contract the 35 best players."

"These players belong to them and play Super Rugby and most of them test rugby, while maintaining a connection with a company so they can play in the Top League if they haven't played much during the season or if their central contract isn't renewed," he said. "Again, not much in it for the companies and the JRFU is going to have to pony up."

The Japan men's sevens team has shown the problems that exist when players are not centrally contracted.

One week, coach Tomohiro Segawa has the pick of the best players in Japan and they run off with the Asian Games gold in comfortable fashion. The following weeks, those same players are recalled to their Top League teams and Japan fail to win a game in the Gold Coast Sevens and finishes third in the Asia Sevens Series.

But the general feeling is the JRFU cannot afford to contract the players needed.

A source close to the Singapore bid said the budget to run such a side would be around $20 million, and while the perception overseas is that Japanese rugby is in a healthy state financially, it is far from the truth.

While the companies have plenty of money to spend on their rugby sides, the JRFU has struggled for years, culminating in its starting a public fund last year in the hope of bringing in money to pay for its national teams -- this, in a country where thousands remain in temporary housing following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.

The JRFU struggles as it is trying to promote the game and the Top League -- not to mention providing all the off-field support and staff needed for the national sides -- so how will it cope with a Super Rugby side?

Setting up a private franchise would seem to be the way to go, but that is one of the reasons SANZAR opted against the Singapore bid, according to Eric Series, the head of the group behind the Singaporean campaign.

"Perhaps the competition is not ready for a fully privately-owned club," Series said in a statement a day ahead of SANZAR's decision being made public.

As Jones said Friday when Japan were officially welcomed to one of the top rugby tournaments in the world, “There is a lot of work to go into it now.”