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[JAPAN SPORTS NOTEBOOK] Brave Blossoms Begin Preparations for Rugby World Cup

Brave Blossoms head coach Jamie Joseph said the team's training camp objectives include "working on our strength and power and getting guys reconnected."

Published

10 months ago

June 18, 2023

Ed Odeven

Brave Blossoms players practice on June 12, the first day of training camp, in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture. (KYODO)

Read the full story on SportsLook - [JAPAN SPORTS NOTEBOOK] Brave Blossoms Begin Preparations for Rugby World Cup

Four years after the national team's best-ever performance in the Rugby World Cup, the Brave Blossoms are busy getting ready for the 2023 global extravaganza.

With less than three months until the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup on September 8 in France, time is of the essence for Japan head coach Jamie Joseph and the team's players.

"We've got just under 100 days to go before the World Cup. So this week is to reconnect as a team, start working on our strength and power and getting guys reconnected back to the way we do things as a team," Joseph said, according to the Japan Rugby Football Union's official website.

Joseph led the Brave Blossoms to the quarterfinals on home soil at the 2019 RWC, an electrifying performance that galvanized people of all ages in Japan.

Now he's back to work preparing objectives for a 36-player training camp squad along with an auxiliary 10-player squad in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.

Training camp got underway on Monday, June 12 and runs through June 30.

The next few weeks will help Joseph and his coaching staff determine which players will be called on to compete in upcoming matches before the Rugby World Cup.

Upcoming Matches for the Brave Blossoms

First, the Brave Blossoms will participate in a pair of non-capped matches (not officially recognized as international matches) against the All Blacks XV on July 8 and 15 at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium and Kumamoto's Egao Kenko Stadium, respectively. The All Blacks XV are New Zealand's second-tier national team.

Japan's training base shifts to Miyazaki from July 3 to August 3.

Continue reading the full story, which also includes news items on soccer, baseball, basketball and more, on SportsLook.

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and Twitter ＠ed_odeven.