World of Sports Focus on Japan
Japan will be the focus of attention in sports for the next two years.
Two of the world’s biggest sporting events will be hosted in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and we should be grateful that we are very much part of both. On Friday, the 2019 Rugby World Cup opened in spectacular fashion with pomp, colour and ceremony in Tokyo.
The crowd roared as rugby legend, Richie McCaw, who lifted the trophy as the victorious captain after the All Blacks won the last two finals, presented it to the 2019 tournament organisers.
The show included Japanese cultural music and dance, as well as nods to the participating countries like in an Olympics opening ceremony.
The ceremony combined tradition and modern society, with Japanese cultural references, taking spectators on a journey from the dawn of time to the arrival of rugby in Japan.
This was followed by the opening game of the fouryearly global showpiece between Japan and Russia.
Yesterday the event shifted into overdrive as World Rugby top 10 ranked nations collided on three locations with Fiji Airways Flying Fijians playing the Wallabies in Sapporo, Argentina vs France at Tokyo Stadium and big guns All Blacks and Springboks playing in Yokohama.
Played by the top 20 nations, the RWC is a precursor to the biggest sporting spectacle in the world, the multi-event 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games set for July 24-August 9.
The event holds special significance for us as we will be defending the rugby sevens gold medal won at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Like Fiji Airways Flying Fijians head coach John McKee, 7s mentor Gareth Baber is hard at work doing the logistics and making sure everything is in order. Baber was part of the Fiji Airways Flying Fijians preparations in Suva and travelled with the team, with manager Jone Niurua, to Japan to establish contact and be well-versed with situations in Japan. Like McKee, Baber is building depth in the squad and this resulted in the winning of the 2018-19 World Sevens Series.
The squad is in Munich, Germany, now for the Oktoberfest 7s tournament in preparation for the 2019-20 World Sevens Series which starts in Dubai in December.
This is a solid platform to build for the 2020 Olympics.
Fans can rest assured that our national sport is in good hands.
We have coaches to bank on and we should be thankful to all stakeholders, particularly to World Rugby and Fiji Rugby Union, for making it happen.
We are out to conquer the world in Japan for the next two years.
The onus is on the players to do extra and deliver for Fiji.