Daisuke Ohata
T he Japan wing broke def ences on the pitch and won f ans of f it
“He was truly a legend on and off the field. He was a model professional for two decades”
DESPITE RUGBY’S growing popularity in Japan, it’s fair to say that for those who don’t follow the oval ball Daisuke Ohata is simply a ‘tarento’ thanks to regular appearances on Nippon TV’s morning news show Sukkiri rather than the man who still holds the world record for Test tries.
The Japanese word is used to describe celebrities who appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panellists on variety and current affairs shows. It derives from Hollywood’s golden age when bankable stars were described as ‘talents’ and distinguished from production crew members, who were seen as having more technical than charismatic skills.
While many celebrities on Japanese TV have lots of charisma and no obvious talent, Ohata, who was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016, has always had both. A point not lost on Adam Parker, who played alongside the flying wing at the 2003 World Cup.
“My two best memories of Ohata are of him scoring eight tries in 40-degree heat against Taiwan in 2002 and every Japanese woman over the age of 20 screaming in delight at seeing or touching him,” Parker tells Rugby World. “For all the attention he got, he was and is a super-nice guy and always had time for his team-mates.”
Born in Osaka, Ohata joined the Kobe Steel team in 1998, 16 months after making his Japan debut while still a student at Kyoto Sangyo University. A hat-trick in his first Test – against South Korea – gave an indicator of things to come as he went on to play in a further 57 Internationals, scoring 66 more tries – finishing his Japan career with yet another hat-trick against the same opposition in 2006.
“He was truly a legend on and off the field,” says Takuro Miuchi, who led
Japan at the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. “He was a model professional for about two decades and his contribution to Japanese rugby is great.”
Japan’s fixture list in recent years has been a reflection of their rise through the rankings, with plenty of Tests against Tier One nations. That was not the case when Ohata played, resulting in some saying his record should have an asterisk against it as many of his tries came against third-tier sides.
But as Parker points out, when Japan did play other Tier Two nations and the occasional game against Tier One sides: “Japan lost more games than they won and that made it harder for Ohata. He had an amazing strike rate, no matter what level you play at.”
For a proud man of Kansai, it was fitting that on 14 May 2006 the region’s famed arena – Hanazono Rugby Stadium – was the venue when a hat-trick against Georgia saw Ohata pass Wallaby legend David Campese as the top try-scorer in international rugby. The record-breaker came from a maul five metres out, a considerably shorter distance than the tries that brought the wing to the attention of the worldwide media.
Back in 1999, Japan beat Scotland 33-31 in the plate final at the Hong Kong Sevens, with Ohata sealing the win with a try that saw him run the length of the field and earned him the title of tournament MVP. A year later in Tokyo, he scored a hat-trick in a 24-19 win over South Africa, with Keith Quinn saying: “This is the man Japan have come to cheer for.” Co-commentator Willie Lose added: “Every time he catches the ball, the crowd expect him to do something. And he never lets them down.”
Having played in the 1999 and 2003 World Cups and 1997 and 2001 Sevens World Cups, Ohata missed RWC 2007 with an Achilles injury. Four years later he called it a day when he was unable to recover from a knee injury suffered playing for Kobe in the Top League.
“It’s sad that it ended like this but I think I’ve had a good career,” he said. “I feel I have left my mark as a rugby player.”