A rugby sevens team from Osaka, Japan are set to compete in a girls’ mini tournament in Whanganui.
The Otemon Gakuin High School team will compete at Whanganui High School on Friday in a tournament that includes Whanganui High School, Whanganui Girls’ College, Manukura School and Te Kura Kaupapa MāoriO Tupoho.
Whanganui High School and Whanganui Girls’ College’s respective directors of international students, Natasha McKee and Jane Williams, helped facilitate the team’s visit.
McKee said the 18 Japanese students had been paired with High School and Girls’ College students for in-class learning and training sessions.
The Okemon students were “little firecrackers” who had impressed, especially in physical education classes, she said.
Whanganui Rugby’s women and girls game developer Sosoli Talawadua said the Japanese students were “high quality” in terms of their rugby skills and development, which was good for the Whanganui schools.
“They’re awesome, they are very well-disciplined, well-trained and very high quality,” Talawadua said.
“Their catch-pass was exceptional, we were blown away with the first pass that we saw – it was a 25-metre pass and it was beautiful.”
The team training with Whanganui Girls' College players. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
Talawadua said if girls in Japan or Osaka wanted to play rugby, they applied to go to Otemon Gakuin.
Otemon’s team are coached by former Japan women’s national team player Tsukasa Tsujimoto, who played professionally for 13 years.
Tsujimoto said it had been great for the girls to experience New Zealand and its rugby.
“The biggest benefit is that the girls get to know about New Zealand culture, because it is obviously famous for its rugby so the girls are very honoured to learn Kiwi culture,” she said.
Only one of the students had previously been to New Zealand, which was for the Global Youth Sevens tournament in Auckland.
Tsujimoto said in Japan, New Zealand was considered “number one” for rugby and many players looked up to the country’s teams.
“There are lots of things to learn from watching New Zealand rugby,” Tsujimoto said.
The tournament will kick off at 10am on Friday, with Otemon facing Whanganui High School.
