TALISMAN LEITCH WANTS JAPAN TO MIX IT WITH THE BEST TO KEEP PROGRESSING

If arguably the toughest thing to crack in international rugby is a glass ceiling, few are better qualified to give career advice than Michael Leitch, of Japan.

Whether aiming to join Europe’s top table, or outwit a southern hemisphere giant, or graduate from whipping boys to knockout kings, it pays in union’s global game to know your place. But the Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo flanker intends to keep shaking up the world order with club and country.

Leitch’s first target is clinching a semi-final spot with Toshiba as Japan Rugby League One concludes this weekend. Beyond that, the 33-year-old wants to mix it with the best from abroad. A World Club Cup has been mooted, as has including Japan in the loftier Rugby Championship, and Leitch is in favour.

“Go back a few years and we were playing in the Asian Five Nations, which was a great tournament in its own right,” Leitch said. “But for our standard of play, we need to face opposition that are stronger than us.”

The Brave Blossoms left behind the relatively small pond of the Asia Rugby Championship after winning it as usual in 2017. That pond’s biggest fish are now Hong Kong, who themselves are vying to reach World Cups, although heavy defeats await teams when they do break in. That was Japan not so long ago: they lost 145-17 to the All Blacks in 1995, and it was little better by 2011, in a 83-7 rout.

“If we were to join a league where we get to play teams that are very competitive, that would be great for us,” Leitch said.

League One is already bringing in more foreign players and top coaches. “[That] has really helped the national team,” he said. “For Japanese players to play alongside the likes of Matt Todd [former All Blacks flanker now with Toshiba] has made a massive difference.”