TIMES DIARY
ONE thing outstanding about the Fiji- Georgia match on Thursday at the Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka, was the number of Japanese fans who came to watch the match.
While there were a huge number of Georgia fans at the ground along with the small number of Fiji fans, the Japanese fans filled more than half the seats at this Pool D clash.
Rugby union in Japan is a moderately popular sport.
Japan has the fourth largest population of rugby union players in the world and the sport has been played there for over a century.
There are 125,000 Japanese rugby players, 3631 official rugby clubs, and the Japan national team is ranked 11th in the world.
When we walk the streets and to people many are not rugby fans, but they know there is a game called rugby.
But while the game is relatively small in the country, their leaders have done a lot in terms of providing the best for the game.
All the big stadiums where the 2019 Rugby World Cup games will be hosted are of the range.
Even the grass at the training grounds used by the Fiji team is way much better than the ones at the ANZ Stadium or at Churchill Park in Lautoka.
So it should not be surprising that the Japanese rugby team is doing well at the RWC.
For the rugby fans, they provide for everyone when you come to watch the game. Even special spots are provided for people in wheelchairs.
Our sports officials should learn more from these about how they take care of sports in our country. Even the stadium where Fiji played Uruguay in Kamaishi was built on a spot where two schools were situated before they were destroyed by the tsunami in 2011.