Lochaber RFC member tells of trip of a lifetime
Lochaber Rugby Football Club senior vice captain and fixture secretary William Stewart tells the Lochaber Times of his trip to Japan to cheer on the Scotland team at the 2019 Rugby World Cup:
‘I recently returned from my holiday to Japan to follow the Scotland rugby team as they competed in the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
This is the fourth World Cup I have attended. I had tickets for the Scotland v Samoa and Scotland v Russia games which were the only two games Scotland won.
The atmosphere at the games was electric with a lot of locals attending the games. They were getting right into it with chanting and clapping to drums being played at any stoppage.
The game against Samoa was played in Kobe where I got to try Kobe Beef for the first time at a Teppanyaki Restaurant where they cook it on a hot plate in front of you.
It was possibly the best steak I’ve had, but the Old Inn in Appin gives them a run for their money!
It was a hot humid day for the Samoa game and even though the game was in the evening the organisers decided to shut the stadium roof at the Kobe Stadium for the tournament which meant it was just over 30°c and 85 per cent humidity in the stadium.
It was like being in a sauna in a kilt, which wasn’t much fun. On the way to the game, jammed into the train, the guy in front of me was wearing a Scotland Touch strip so I asked him if he played for Scotland in touch which he did and it turned out he knew Bryony and Helen Nelson the Scotland women’s captain - who are both from Glencoe like myself. Having played with Bryony for Scotland in touch rugby, it really is a small world.
It was a dramatic game with Scotland securing the bonus point win they needed right at the death against Samoa. There was a lot of dropped balls with the humidity and there were rumours of the teams training with soap on the balls to replicate how slippy the ball would be in the humid conditions.
Next it was onto Scotland v Russia at the Ecopa stadium. It was in the middle of nowhere but with a train station within walking distance, it wasn’t too bad.
I used the free shuttle bus from the next station along which was fantastic. You didn’t queue after the game for a bus because they had that many running.
I also managed to get in to see the South Africa v Italy match at the same stadium just a few days before the Russia game.
A couple of days before the game, some of the Scotland players were meeting fans in the nearby city of Shizuoka. I had seen the event advertised on the SRU’s Facebook page so went along.
I had been to the one in New Zealand during the 2011 World Cup.
Jonny Gray, Sam Johnson and ex-player and now condition coach Sean Lamont were present.
There were only a few Scotland fans there but quite a few locals at the pop up Macron store to meet the Scotland players.
Jonny and Sam were not playing against Russia as they were being rested for the Japan game.
Scotland sent out a second string side against Russia but they made short work of it with a brilliant second half display to win 61-0.
After the game, I headed straight back to Tokyo to fly home the next day, just missing the typhoon. Outside of the rugby games I walked around a lot of the cities exploring them, checking out the many temples and castles which were impressive.
I met up with some Japanese friends I had made in New Zealand. One showed me around Tokyo and took me to her friends bar which she wasn’t sure I would fit in as it is so small.
Luckily there was a table free when we went. The bar can’t hold much more than a dozen people as it was down a narrow flight of stairs into a basement.
Another friend showed me around Kyoto, a town near where she lives, and we visited the amazing Golden Temple, amongst other places.
The people in Japan were amazing.
They were so friendly everywhere you went and would go out of their way to help you.
I was lucky enough to get home on Friday just before Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan and back just in time for our league game against Hyndland on Saturday.