Japan's revolution: 'The top six teams, they'd all be competitive in Super Rugby'
Japan is fast becoming the epicentre of world rugby with former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans declaring the Top League the ânew destination of choiceâ because of its unique, back-to-the-future model and the countryâs wholesome lifestyle.
With the worldâs premier players and coaches flocking to Japan in droves, Deans says the Top League is rapidly approaching the standards of Super Rugby.
The 2021 season, kicking off this weekend, will feature no less than a dozen Wallabies, led by skipper Michael Hooper at Toyota Verblitz, All Blacks superstars Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read and six of the Springboksâ 2019 World Cup winners.
Twelve of the 16 clubs boast overseas head coaches, including Deans at the Panasonic Wild Knights and former Melbourne Rebels mentor Damien Hill at Ricoh.
Throw in the fact that Eddie Jones (Suntory), Wayne Smith (Kobe) and Sir Steve Hansen (Toyota) are on the payrolls as coaching consultants and the Top League is a veritable smorgasbord of talent, experience and smarts.
âThe standardâs good. Itâs very good and itâs getting better and better,â Deans told AAP from Japan.
âFrom when I arrived up here (in 2014), itâs unrecognisable.
âYou bump into players that youâve coached and also coached against routinely over here. Itâs hard to keep up with player movements, to be fair.â
The biggest improvement, Deans says, is player conditioning as a result of the influx of quality coaches.
âItâs an endless list of foreign coaches up here â international coaches across half the comp,â he said.
âYou combine that with the IP that comes with internationals â current and former â but also Super Rugby players and now thereâs an even more of a push from the north as well.
âPost the (Japan 2019) World Cup, the word is out on the quality of life here so thereâs a lot of interest coming from the northern hemisphere for players to finish their careers here.
âItâs fascinating, really. We didnât sort of come here with the intent to be here so long but weâve enjoyed it and hence weâre still here.â
As the COVID-19 situation continues to worsen in Japan, the #TopLeague season is coming under threat.https://t.co/GZFTORSefc
â RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 13, 2021
What Deans finds most appealing â and intriguing â about the competition is the format and the spread of talent across the teams.
The 23-man match-day squads can only include five foreign players, with a maximum of two overseas test stars.
âItâs a great mix when you have current internationals playing alongside each other where theyâve previously been competitors,â said the Crusadersâ five-times Super Rugby-winning coach.
âItâs an element thatâs unique but it also captures an element of the past.
âSo on our playing roster also we have a lot of âcompanyâ players who are essentially amateurs so when theyâre not training or playing the game, they have a day job. They go to the office and theyâre upskilling for a career beyond their rugby career.
âSo that very much captures the past. Itâs a great earthing mechanism for the professional players.â
The Top League has very much a Barbarians feel to it, Deans said.
But donât discount the toughness.
âThe living proof of the standard lifting is the Japanese rugby team,â he said.
âIf itâs not there already, itâs absolutely (reaching) Super Rugby level. But not across the whole comp. Thatâs not fair to say but if you take the top six teams, theyâd all be competitive in Super Rugby.â
Meanwhile, in Japan ?https://t.co/9pcKh8seMB
â RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 8, 2021
Deans believes the Top Leagueâs mystique â itâs almost impossible to see or read about it outside of Japan â is half the reason the competition is so successful and fast becoming âthe new orderâ.
The teams are owned by billion-dollar corporations and making profits from their recreational sporting programs isnât the motivation.
âIn many ways, the model here is ahead of the game,â he said.
âWeâre going through a bit of a reset now with COVID. But you look at professional sport, itâs a brief window.
âItâs not always perceived that way by those involved but the reality is you can only play, particularly a sport like professional rugby, for a short period of time.
âYes, there is money to be made but it doesnât cater for the rest of your days.
âSo the model here is very much a blast from the past in so far as 50 per cent of the playing group have a day job. Theyâre preparing for the future and they have a job for life.
âAnd the reason thereâs not a lot of profile beyond Japan is because the companies arenât concerned about that.â
Companies have separate âcorporate fundsâ in which to allocate to rugby, volleyball, football, baseball and American football.
âBut itâs a recreational fund for the company and they do it for the values â the teamwork element â that they hope will translate across to the corporate sector,â Deans said.
âA lot of these people go into the corporation post-playing and the motivation is pure.
âSo itâs stimulating but itâs also challenging. The rugby is tough but itâs getting tougher.
âEurope was the original destination that in the twilight of the careers that most coaches and players went to, but now this is becoming very much the destination of choice because of proximity and competitiveness now.â
â Darren Walton