Japan Rugby Union History

The Japanese tour party (listed here) was weaker than it could have been. It did not include the experienced Tongan Ruatangi Vatuvei. New Zealander Adam Parker who had played in Japan's 19-32 loss to Italy on July 4, 2004 was apparently refused permission to travel by his new club, NTT Higashi Nihon. The only non-Japanese member was Feleteliki Mau of World Fighting Bull. Apparently under the mistaken impression that Japan had beaten Italy in the summer, the Scotland coach (Matt Williams) paid Japan the compliment of selecting his strongest team.

Before the game Japan's coach publicly, and some JRFU officials privately, expressed their dissatisfaction that the game was not going to be played at Murrayfield stadium. It was the policy of the Scottish Rugby Union to play some international games away from Murrayfield in autumn 2004, in order to gain new fans in the Caledonia and Glasgow regions. Australia also played once at Hampden Park, Glasgow. The Perth game was virtually a sell-out of the 10,278 capacity McDiarmid Park, a number which would not have come close to filling the larger Murrayfield.

A week later they lost to Romania 25-10 on 20 November at the Stadionul Steaua in Bucharest; and then on November 26 Japan succumbed 98-0 to Wales at the Millennium Stadium. It was Wales' biggest ever winning margin, played on a Friday evening in Cardiff before a 56,380 crowd.