Japanese coming in strength

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 19

Japanese coming in strength

Two club rugby teams who played before a crowd of 56,000 spectators last month will renew their rivalry at the University of Canterbury Rugby Club’s centennial celebrations in Christchurch at Easter. The sides with the magnetic crowd appeal are Doshisha and Meiji, and the occasion of their big clash was the final of the All Japan university championship in Tokyo. Because of the Canterbury university club’s long, strong links with Japan, the two teams have been invited to Christchurch to add a touch

of Oriental subtlety to the centenary matches. Both clubs have played Canterbury University before, at home and away, and Doshisha’s outstanding wing, Yoshihira Sakata, played for both University and Canterbury in 1969. He scored 18 tries in the inter-club series and became so renowned that a New Zealand racehorse was named after him. On Easter Saturday, the

two Japanese sides will meet in the main match, after a game between Canterbury University and its traditional Easter opponent, Temuka. On Easter Monday, the winning Japanese team will play Canterbury University, and the losing Japanese combination will take on a Canterbury University colts side. Both Japanese sides will be strengthened by the inclusion of some of their former

players who now perform for company teams. This number includes a Doshisha lock. Toshiyuki Hayashi, who is said to have earned grudging respect from the nuggety French prop, Robert Paparemborde, in a Toulouse test three years ago. After the Easter tournament, the two Japanese teams will make short tours of the South Island. Meiji is scheduled to appear in Blenheim, Nelson and Westport, and Doshisha will play in Dunedin, Invercargill and the appropriately named South Canterbury hideaway, Pleasant Point.