Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights – Chasing Titles & How JLRO Is Impacting Japanese Rugby

We recently were invited along with a small selection of global media to have rare access to speak with Atsushi Sakate, the hooker and captain of JRLO outfit Saitama Wild Knights & Brave Blossoms, and the club’s General Manager Hitoshi Iijima. The discussion covered wide-ranging questions and their candid views on the League, the Brave Blossoms and RWC 2023, as well as the state of rugby in Japan.

Sakate Atsushi has also played with the Sunwolves in Super Rugby and captains the Japanese Brave Blossoms, who will be heading to the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France after a busy Summer of tests.

Atsushi was born in Kyoto in Japan and he only started playing rugby in junior high school after he had played volleyball when he was younger. He took to the game and continued to play at university and joined the Wild Knights.

He does fondly remember seeing the Brave Blossoms play for the first time and had great admiration for them. Of that famous Brighton Miracle match in 2015 when Japan beat South Africa in RWC 2015, he said: “I was in my university dormitory, and I watched the game on TV – it was midnight. That win was so historical, I couldn’t sleep at all because of the excitement”

Hitoshi Iijima is a highly respected Japanese rugby administrator and General Manager at Saitama Wild Knights who rarely gives interviews. He was able to shed more information on his views on the JRLO growth, momentum and quality of international players.

Hitoshi Iijima (left) and Atsushi Sakate & (right) – Saitama Wild Knights – JRLO

On the JRLO 2022-2023 Season – Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights

The Saitama Wild Knights head into the JRLO semifinals hoping to defend the title they won last season and will face Yokohama Eagles as they seek to go back-to-back as Japan Rugby League One champion on the weekend of May 13-14, 2023

Until a few weeks ago, the side coached by New Zealander Robbie Deans was heading for a perfect season with no losses but they stumbled and lost for the first time in four-and-a-half years losing 44-25 to Shizuoka Blue Revs – ending a remarkable unbeaten run of 48 games, having last lost a competitive match in December 2018, more than 1600 days ago!

Atsushi Sakate: “If I look back at each game this season, they were mostly really competitive games, and we struggled to win each of them. So there is no game where we can say it was easy. Being able to win such tough games was really a good thing for us and created more confidence in our team. 

We couldn’t win against the Shizuoka Blue Revs which stopped our winning streak but we talked to each other within the team after that loss and we just said it’s important for us to move forward. I at least, felt that it lifted some weight from our shoulders – it made it a little bit lighter than before.”

The JRLO –  Challenges & Growth – Saitama Wild Knights

On the overall standard of the competition this year, the influx of international quality rugby players, and how its developed Japanese players:

Atsushi Sakate: I can definitely say that the levels are going up and improving compared to the previous season. The level of physicality – I can feel that on my body too – aspects like the scrum, the maul, and the level of the contact are at a very high standard compared to last season. 

What I think is very attractive about the Japan Rugby League One is each club has a different style or characteristics to their own brand of rugby. So you can see a lot of variety within the league – that is the beauty of the JLRO and I could see that throughout the season. 

The experience the overseas players bring to each club and the JRLO is they help put the teams in a better position within the game. Some of those players very much fit into the style of each of their clubs and they bring some of their culture to each club, which is a very good thing, I believe. 

They each are trying to contribute to their club in Japan, so there is a really good overall improvement in Japanese rugby.

I personally have been impressed by them and their attitudes to playing the game and the way they prepare themselves for each game; how they take care of their bodies, and how they would like us to prepare for a game. 

Atsushi Sakate Saitama Wild Knights JRLO (left)

On balancing signing international players, but also developing young Japanese talent:

Hitoshi Iijima: There is a lot of discussion around this happening. There might be some changes in the JRLO in the future in terms of regulation changes to accommodate the balance of the players. 

We need to look at what will be the best for Japanese rugby itself but we have more overseas players coming in. So that will be a hot topic for the future of JRLO.

While having marquee players from overseas is also very important and something that really contributes to our league, we need to look at how we can develop our local players and also how we can develop all these different perspectives and then keep a good balance.

On signing new players for next season:

Atsushi Sakate: If we can have great players from England (Marcus Smith and Maro Itoje were the ones he was asked about) that would be fantastic for us. There are many players in England, New Zealand and others – anyone that can help make our team better.

When asked about New Zealand rugby possibly changing their eligibility rules for players, which could mean even more NZ players heading to the JRLO:

Hitoshi Iijima: We need to be careful, that’s my personal opinion. Once a load of players leave your own country but still are able to be picked up for the national team – that sometimes weakens the playing base for that country. So every country or union needs to be a little bit careful in doing that. That’s my personal opinion.

On Growing the JRLO and Fan Engagement

Hitoshi Iijima: If we look at the number of spectators attending matches at our stadium, the numbers are up compared to last season. The revenue is steadily increasing but we all need to work on improving the revenue, and aspects of making the JLRO and fan experiences more entertaining.

Our home ground, Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, was used at the Rugby World Cup 2019 and we have received good feedback from people but we are now in the process of reviewing the season so that we can have something better for the next season, and also the future.

Attracting an international audience:

Hitoshi Iijima: The international spectators should be very, very important for us (club and JRLO) in the long-term, but in the short-term, the clubs don’t have the kind of direct connection to the international spectators. 

The club really wants to build those connections and we will all need to work together to have better structures and welcome more international spectators to the league in the future, which will definitely contribute to the growth of the JRLO itself. It is very interesting for us in the long-term but we need to establish a good base or foundation to welcome those international spectators.

Will JRLO Be Tapping into the Asian Rugby Market?

The Wild Knights already have a partnership with the Reds in Australia and are expanding their international network. 

Hitoshi Iijima: We have developed a network in Asia, such as with South Korea – I heard that there would be a team from South Korea having a training camp here in Japan with us. 

I also heard that there are several provincial teams coming from New Zealand to have training camps with us.

So supporting those kinds of initiatives and driving more exchanges between other regions and countries is important. We really think that these kinds of global exchanges of people and teams are important. This is something that we have to continue working on.

Could We See A JRLO Women’s League?

Hitoshi Iijima: On the growth of women’s rugby, I really agree that the development and growth of women’s rugby really contribute to the growth of the rugby itself. 

Empowerment is really a big driving force in that aspect. But if we look into the details of those plans, I think the financial challenges will be the biggest obstacle. As I mentioned, we first need to establish the foundation of our business in JRLO and then we can look at growing things – such as women’s rugby as well. 

Here in Kumagaya, we have a really good women’s team so we may want to look at some connection and coordination with the team to contribute to the development of women’s rugby here in Japan. And that will definitely contribute to the growth of the game here in Japan itself.

Hitoshi Iijima – General Manager Wild Knights JRLO

Rugby World Cup 2023 Expectations – Brave Blossoms

On how the JRLO helps contribute to the development of the Japanese national team, combining players from clubs with various different approaches and melding them into a Japanese team works:

Atsushi Sakate: The level of physicality I mentioned helps, and the pace of the game offers good preparation for us as a national team.

In 2019, the team started their preparation in February and spent a long time together until the opening match in September. This year, we will assemble after the JRLO and have less preparation time.

The JLRO is already contributing to the national team’s campaign and preparation for the tournament in France. Even though I said that each of the clubs in the league has its own style, the Japanese national team coaches and club team management are always in contact with each other and have really good conversations and discussions with each other about the standards and style of play.

So even though we won’t assemble until July this year, there is coordination between the club and national teams. I always feel being in the Japanese national team is something special for every rugby player here in Japan.

Every time I wear that jersey, I feel immense pride for myself and that’s one of the reasons why I keep training and improving myself for Japan. And it’s the same thing for the Panasonic Wild Knights.

We will play against teams like England and Argentina in our pool at RWC 2023 – so for each of those pool games – we would like to be ready to win those games and really compete with them.

We would like to thank the JRLO, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, JRFU & all involved for making this interview possible, including the media and translation teams. Parts of the interview have been edited for length & clarity – and translations from the interpreter provided.

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