It was a wet messy mud bog. Waseda were trying to knock us out of the First Division and we were trying to prevent that from happening. All looked solid for us through the first half with the Gaijin controlling possession well. Despite the game plan of smashing our way up with the forwards, the ball was shifted all too often away from the big boys, where the Waseda backs were up and in our faces all day making life tough.

Field conditions like the PGA. Warm and still. Wet. Same two teams as the year before in similar conditions – though much warmer, no doubt. The Tokyo Gaijin had a full panel at the game and all those one-eyes from both the British and New Zealand Isles added up to a lot of shaky input.

The scene was set at Chichibunomiya Stadium in central Tokyo for two hum dinger match ups: Australia versus last year’s champs New Zealand, and South Africa versus last year’s runners up, England. The four powerhouses of world rugby in a junior edition with all teams looking to win and go on to the Grand Final held at the same venue Sunday.

The Tokyo Gaijin were able to get to the games in Fukuoka and in Tokyo on June 9 to see Round 2 of the Junior World Cup. As for Chichibunomiya (say what?) Stadium in Tokyo, the ground was in immaculate condition and the weather warm if slightly humid. To help the visiting teams cope with the heat, water breaks were taken in each half allowing the commentary team to refresh through the beer lass who so cheerily filled our cups. On to the games…