June 22, 2014

The Tokyo Gaijin RFC, having finished their Tokyo Cup season, played a Friendly game against Zenkai Beers (and a few company player ring-ins) at the lovely Tatsumi Complex in central Tokyo. It was a game played in 27 minute thirds (That's right....and don't ask me why) and the Gaijin were actually outscored in the first and third parts of the game but a 35 point unanswered flurry in the second third helped them to victory in the high scoring game.

Dateline: June 1st, 2014

On this beautiful Spring day, with conditions more like summer, the Tokyo Gaijin RFC only had won thing on their wish list and that was a win at all costs after their poor Tokyo Cup campaign which recently ended. They were up against Otowa RFC, a team ranked within the top three in the Saitama area, at the scenic Omiya Kenpo ground. The TGRFC delivered more than that, playing Otowa RFC off the park with an inpressive 94 v 0 result. It was a 14 try romp with Fijian flankers Joe Nawaqavanua (with 4 tries) and Apisa Bati (3 tries) scoring half the teams tries between them.

Timeline: May 4th, 2014

After a horror Tokyo Cup campaign the Tokyo Gaijin RFC arranged a 'friendly' game a against a Shuto League select we'll call the Shuto Barbarians, in an effort to get back on the winning track. They did that convincingly with a lot of help from their big Fijian flanker Joe Nawaqavanua who scored 4 tries and at times toyed with the defense making it look all too easy. He even showed some surprising pace in one 50 metre try. Many thanks to Joy Kaloumaira for taking the following game notes.

Dateline: 27th April, 2014

After a rather lackluster first round of the Tokyo Cup the Tokyo Gaijin RFC were hoping for some redemption in their battle with Kurumi RFC in their second round match at Komaba Rugby Ground.  The Gaijin had managed to scrape out a win in their last encounter with Kurumi more than a season ago, but knew that this was going to be a tougher encounter. With both Captain, Lachlan Ainley, and Vice-captain, Toshi Miyano, still out with injuries their aim was made even tougher.

At the end of the day though, they were given a lesson in controlled and disciplined rugby as Kurumi smashed the Gaijin to the tune of 69 points to zero. The Gaijin were simply outplayed in every phase of the game - both technically and in enthusiasm. The Gaijin had two players spend 10 minutes in the sinbin for yellow-card infringements and they also had a player sent off (red card) in the last 15 minutes. Playing a man down for 30 minutes of the game did not help their cause.