Small leagues of highly competitive teams are often decided when the best two meet. The Gentle Giants RFC prepared well for the '08 Shuto League competition. We observed them attracting large squads to training and playing their previous encounters with discipline and determination. But...On Sunday the 8th of November, the Gentle Giants RFC faced a full and fearsome Tokyo Gaijin regiment.
As if an almost full complement of troops was not enough, talented new faces also bolstered the lines, with Hiroyuki Ikeuchi and Amir Yassari making debuts (well done Amir for making it to the correct ground this time...). Occasional visitor Alexis Ottenwaelter was also in attendance, fortunately once again in Tokyo on business. Making a first outing since Sugadaira was Alastair 'face first' Nimmo, whose cheek, fractured on tour, was judged adequately repaired from reconstructive surgery.The battlefield was the premium Inagi stadium, best ground on the Shuto circuit and the pitch on which the representative 'New Zealand Ambassador's Cup' match is played in mid December. The ground was wide, flat, hard, and well protected from the wind. Expectations were for an exciting and watchable encounter. The men who made it happen for us were Jesse Cutler at the organisational end and Blake Walker as linesman.
On November 2nd the Tokyo Gaijin RFC had a ‘Friendly’ game against the Hitostsubashi Blue Lions (an Old Boy’s team from the local university). As they are not in the Shuto League and the TGRFC had never played them before the team didn’t know what to expect. All we knew is that they had won the Shuto League 10`s Tournament a few months earlier, so we expected fit and fast players. It was also another chance for the ‘Gaijin’ to experiment with some positional changes and get some players on who hadn’t had much game time recently. Kevin Rebay and Joe Nawaqavanua were slated to switch positions with Kevin playing outside center and Joe moving into No.8. Yoshihiro Sato, who hadn’t started for some time, was given a starting berth on the right wing and Gaz Dalrmple and Erin Hughes were given the task of stiffening up the forward pack from the get go.
The Tokyo Gaijin RFC (TGRFC) turned up at Akigase Koen in Omiya knowing that victory would ensure that they had won the Shuto League competition for the 2nd year running. A loss would mean that the Gentle Giants, who the Gaijin had beaten the 24 v 7 the week before, would win the competition on points for and against. Despite winning the Shuto League last year the Gaijin had lost the last game, which didn’t bring the desired closure to the season. So there was a lot to play for. Their opposition, Baku & Clover (B&C), had beaten a couple of ‘tough’ teams and were out to rain on their parade. 
On October 26th the Tokyo Gaijin RFC (TGRFC) had a date with the Microsoft Sharks. A non-Shuto League match played under Shuto League rules allowed the club to get non-regular members more field time. With regular captain Murray Clarke resting a broken nose and Will Thompson also out, this allowed Takeshi Ochiai and Erin Hughes to get maximum time in the second row. Former hooker Mike Tokue, making a comeback (at prop) to rugby after 10 years out of the game, was starting at loose-head and Sou Nagashima got a rare run on the blind-side flank, his favorite position (he’s a bit of a handyman and plays wing and hooker with equal aplomb). The Microsoft Sharks dressed nicely and looked the part. Apparently they used to be a company team and were on trial by the Shuto League as possible new entrants to the league next year, and they were also trialing to see if the standard of the league suited them. I think the TGRFC were the Guinea pigs! Maybe they want Mr. Gates or someone to give them money for playing. That would be nice but they have a fair way to go before that happens and first up was the Tokyo Gaijin.