TOKYO (AP) — Three years into his second stint living in Japan, Peter Musgrave takes his young son to a park in central Tokyo and sees people throwing around a rugby ball. “It’s chalk and cheese to when I first lived here,” the 40-year-old Musgrave says. Back in those days, from 2006-12, the bank worker from England barely noticed rugby in the Japanese capital unless he “went out to a foreigner bar to watch a game.” The Brave Blossoms, as Japan’s national team is affectionately called, were conceding nearly 100 points in games against the sport’s major powers. The thought of an audience of around 55 million — representing close to half the population — watching on TV as Japan won a rugby match with breathtaking skill to power into the quarterfinals at a home Rugby World Cup would have been consigned to the realms of fantasy. Yet that’s what happened in this 2019 global showpiece, the first Rugby World Cup to be held in Asia. It’s been an absolute blast, an eye-opener not just for the estimated half-million traveling fans from 19 other competing countries but also for the Japanese people who have been such courteous and polite hosts…. Read full this story
- Why rugby fans are going to love going to Japan for World Cup
- Russian police evacuate venues in World Cup host city after bomb threats
- Businesses cash in as Japan follows World Cup kick by kick
- 2026 World Cup Host Vote Tracker: It’s Morocco vs. North America
- Russian party: World Cup hosts have done well both on and off the football pitch
- Belgium strike back to beat Japan in World Cup epic
- Here's how City's Okazaki got on for Japan in World Cup warm-up
- Ten dead in boat accident in World Cup host city
- Eleven Dead After River Boats Collide in World Cup Host City
- Drunk Captain Blamed in Deadly Boat Crash in World Cup Host City
Japan excels as World Cup host, must ride the rugby wave have 311 words, post on apnews.com at October 30, 2019. This is cached page on Bach Thien. If you want remove this page, please contact us.