Sankei Sports announced that the JRFU and the SRU are to form a partnership which will lead to a coaching and referee exchange, whilst JRFU Chairman Tatsuzo Yabe hopes for a regular possibly annual fixture between the two nations.
The news comes as a boost to Japanese rugby, 5 years away from their hosting of the 2019 World Cup. The links were probably made during Japan’s visit to Murrayfield for their Test Match with Scotland last November.
Scotland were already booked to tour Japan for the time in full Test Matches in June 2016, and Scotland’s first trip there since they lost to Japan in Tokyo in 1989. If Yabe’s hopes for regular matches with Scotland comes true, it would be a big development for Japan as they look to build their team for their home World Cup through more Tier 1 matches.
It will be a while though before Japan next play Scotland in 2016, fixtures for 2014 are booked up but there is a possibility there could be a RWC warm up match in 2015.
From Scotland’s point of view, this is likely an attempt by the SRU to exploit a fresh market for gaining revenue as their Union come under increased pressure from the TV deals made in France and England.
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