Japan national rugby union team

Common card · No. 233822

The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms (Japanese: ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ, romanized: Bureibu burossamuzu), or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's international rugby union. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has experienced mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years. Rugby union in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), which was founded in 1926. They compete annually in the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC). They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup (RWC) since the tournament began in 1987, and hosted the event in 2019. Rugby was first played in Japan's treaty ports as early as 1866. Popular participation by local university teams was established in 1899 and Japan's first recorded international match was a match against a Canadian team in 1932. Notable games for Japan include a victory over the Junior All Blacks in 1968...

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