As the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa on Saturday approaches, fans are eagerly awaiting the showdown to see who comes out on top.
While excited about the tournament final, the host nation are also wondering what will happen to their team. Their storming performances on the way to the quarter-final of the tournament demonstrated that they deserve a place among rugby’s elite. Where they fit in remains up for debate. It would surely make most sense for the Japanese to join the Rugby Championship. There will almost certainly be resistance to the move, with many professionals believing they are already expected to play too many matches. Indeed, it was only eight years ago that Argentina joined, after years of campaigning, the tournament previously known as the Tri Nations.
While South Africa’s attentions will understandably be elsewhere over the next few days, so too will that of Australian and Kiwi officials. Both groups will be reviewing where their teams went wrong and will be looking to recruit a new coach who can put it right at the World Cup in France in four years’ time.
Japanese officials know their coach, Jamie Joseph, is high on both teams’ shortlists. They also know that there is no time like the present to raise their case for inclusion in the Rugby Championship. Japan deserve to be playing regularly against Tier One opponents. Just imagine how good they could be in 2023 if they are granted the chance.
Leave a Reply