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Written by Joffa Harris
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Sunday, 30 December 2007 |
 With the transient nature of the Gaijin who come to these shores, business and family commitments, and the injury list, you need a squad with a lot of depth if you wish to function as a Rugby team here in Japan. Case in point; there were 60 players who represented the Gaijin over the course of 2007. A few had played for the TGRFC for a few years and left these shores for good, a few washed ashore near the end of the year and a few only played 1 or 2 games. I guess you could say that there was a core group of 20 players that were at games more often than not. For interests sake here is the list of players that donned the Tokyo Gaijin RFC rugby jersey in 2007.
Australia: Will Thompson, Joffa Harris, Shaunne Hughes, Heats Devlin, Lawrence Hii (5)
Argentina: Mauro Sauco (1)
Basque: Paulo de Berriozabal (1)
Canada: David Huffman, Jonathon Dean (2)
England: Rob Poulton, Mike Parks, Arthur Strang, Dan Salter, Alaister Nimmo, Niall Conlon, Andy Ballard, Steve Bull (8)
Fiji: Apisai Bati, Alfie Uluinayau, Alfie Baros, Enoki Suva (4)
France: Arnaud Fouche, Riki Pitter (2)
Ireland: Sean O`Donoghue (1)
Japan: Takayuki Kitajima, Hiroaki Kitahara, Takashi Narita, Toru Kanamori, Jesse Takahashi, So Nagashima, Hitoshi Chihara, Yoshihiro Okamoto, Yoichi Ohira, Jo Iwasaki, Tomoaki Miyazawa, Ken Kondo, Tomohiro Nakayama, Yoshihiro Sato, Jeff Takahashi, Go Ito (16)
New Zealand: Joe Fisher, Chris Fearon, Murray Clarke, Matt Downer (4)
Scotland: Garren ‘Gaz’ Dalrymple (1)
Norway: Christian (1)
Paraguay: Vicente (Vico) Martinez (1)
The USA: Tyler Rumsey, Rob Reinebach, Wade Dahlgren, John Gouldthorpe, Dana Post, Garrett Washington, Nick Morgans, Dave Kelver, Erin Hughes, Tucker McEwen, Jason McAffee, Lonnie Childress, Amir Hashemi (13)
This does not include Peter & Rob Harris (Australia) and Stuart Thompson, Nick Rudd and Steven Doggett (all England) who played for the Gaijin in the Manila 10`s.
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Written by Joffa Harris & Alister Nimo
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Sunday, 16 December 2007 |
 Members of the Tokyo Gaijin RFC, their wives, girlfriends, helpers, friends and children gathered at The Beer Station in Garden Place, Ebisu, for their Christmas Party and Annual Awards night. 63 guests and 5 kids in all kept the staff quite busy all evening in an All-you-can-drink-and-eat feastathon. With the men all wearing suits and the ladies looking very elegantly attired it was hard to believe this was a rugby function.
The Gaijin had won 7, lost 2 and drawn 1 in the Leagues they were participants in throughout 2007. Funnily enough, they had lost all 4 ‘Friendlies’ they played through the year. Perhaps it`s a case of a relaxed mindset or that ‘newer’ members of the squad are often given more game time in these ‘practice’ games. There were mixed results at the Sugadaira 10`s, The Shuto League 10`s and The Manila 10`s.
Shall we just say that Rugby was the winner and the boys enjoyed these relatively laid back tournaments more for the festive atmosphere.
Captain Alaister Nimmo and Manager Joffa Harris opened proceedings with a run-down of the year and then presented players with awards.
Captain Al had this to say about the year :
Winning the Shuto League (not quite in the bag yet as we need to turn up to the match at the start of next year) has been a fantastic achievement. We played well in an undefeated run and it was great to see so many Gaijin players selected for the Shuto League representative side. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 21 December 2007 )
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Written by Joffa Harris
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Thursday, 20 December 2007 |
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Legends have been made across Japanese Rugby fields this year and the Tokyo Gaijin RFC honored some of them on Saturday night in downtown Tokyo. Fijian centre Apisai Bati won the Most Valuable Player of 2007 award at the the Tokyo Gaijin RFC`s Christmas party on Saturday night. Bati collected the prestigious annual award ahead of team mates Paulo de Berriozabal, Joe Fisher and Alaister Nimmo. The MVP award is a true 'players' player' award, with all Tokyo Gaijin players throughout the year eligible to vote annually on a 2-1 basis for their choice as MVP and Runner Up. Each player is asked to vote for a fellow player who they believed excelled on the field in 2007 in areas of performance, consistency and discipline. This award was a clear reflection of Bati`s standing among his peers, both on and off the field. Apart from being a senior and well-respected player within the team, he is a consistent and unrelenting player. He also finished the season as the top try-scorer.
 Paulo de Berriozabal tipped out 2004 MVP recipient Joe Fisher for the Runner-up MVP Award. The feisty Basque No.8 and sometime flanker managed to keep his aggression under control for most of the year and played a key role in driving the forwards around the park and often tackled him-self to a standstill. He played his rugby this year aggressively and with a ‘take-no-prisoners’ attitude. Paulo took out the Man-of-the-Match award three games in a row during the Shuto League season.
Joe Fisher narrowly missed another accolade, despite missing almost half the year due to other commitments. Fisher is one of the team`s most respected players and has this year reinforced his position among the team`s leaders. His consistent performances throughout 2007, coupled with his often unheralded work planning comprehensive training sessions make him a very valuable member of the team. On occasion he filled in as Captain but led the team from the front whether he had the (c) next to his name or not.
Hitoshi Chihara was awarded the Newcomer of the Year (Rookie) Award. Hitoshi is an outstanding player who has had a tremendous impact in his first season with the TGRFC. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 December 2007 )
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Written by Joffa Harris
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Thursday, 06 December 2007 |
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The Tokyo Gaijin RFC are pleased to announce that Oakwood Serviced Apartments has come on board for the 4th year running
as sponsor of the Tokyo Gaijin RFC. Oakwood are the World`s largest rental housing provider and offer the perfect housing solution for short and extended stays throughout Japan, Asia and the rest of the World. The Tokyo Gaijin are proud to be associated with the most trusted
name in housing worldwide
The team would like to give a special thanks to Keren Miers
at Oakwood Japan, and to Peter Lucas at Oakwood Asia, for their ongoing
commmitment to Rugby and the Tokyo Gaijin RFC. Have a closer look at how great the new jerseys look below.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 07 December 2007 )
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Written by Erin D. Hughes w/help from Al Nimo and Joffa Harris
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Thursday, 06 December 2007 |
 Last weekend (2nd December) in Rugby, The Tokyo Gaijin (TGRFC) met a fierce Keiyo Liners team(a combination of Chiba Barbarians - who have always been hard, and Akanegahama)in Chiba. Despite the long journey the Gaijin talked and kept hopes alive about remaining unbeaten since the Summer break in League Games, even with out almost 10 of their usual starters. 7 men were lost to the Shuto Select Side in their annual game against the Tama Select Side for the New Zealand Embassy Cup. A few more were out taking the Japanese Proficiency test. Then there was the usual few out with work commitments or injuries. Still the mood was upbeat.
Warm ups commenced followed by some quick line out practices for the forwards, and intricately worked backs' moves. It could not be helped to note that something was not quite right.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 07 December 2007 )
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