- Title: 'I don't mind dying playing' says Japanese rugby veteran
- Date: 3rd September 2019
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 21, 2019) (REUTERS) VETERAN PLAYER PUTTING MOUTH GUARD IN MOUTH AND SMILING PLAYER CATCHING BALL AND STARTING ATTACKING MOVE PLAYER KICKING BALL / ANOTHER PLAYER CATCHING IT AND GOING TO GROUND RUCK ENDING / PLAYER RUNNING PLAYER WEARING HEAD GEAR KNEELING AND TAKING REST 86-YEAR-OLD PLAYER RYUICHI NAGAYAMA (NUMBER 59) RUNNING PLAYERS IN HUDDLE 71-YEAR-OLD BRITISH RUGBY PLAYER, TONY HARTLEY, IN HUDDLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 71-YEAR-OLD BRITISH RUGBY PLAYER, TONY HARTLEY, SAYING: "I was at the Tokyo Sevens and I got chatting to a guy next to me because he had a shirt on that said 'Fuwaku Rugby Club since 1948', which is when I was born, so I was curious. He said he could introduce me to the club, which he did the following week and I have been playing more or less ever since. That was seven years ago." PLAYERS DURING AN ATTACKING MOVE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 71-YEAR-OLD BRITISH RUGBY PLAYER, TONY HARTLEY, SAYING: "I was really surprised because the scene doesn't really exist in the UK, certainly not at 60, 70 (years-old). It was a really welcome surprise and a good way of making friends." VARIOUS OF REFEREE SETTING SCRUM VARIOUS OF PLAYERS DURING AN ATTACKING MOVE PLAYERS IN HUDDLE PLAYER PUTTING ARM AROUND ANOTHER PLAYER WHO IS WEARING A FUWAKU RUGBY CLUB T-SHIRT KUMAGAYA, SAITAMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (MAY 3, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PLAYERS FROM DIFFERENT TEAMS EATING AND DRINKING TOGETHER AFTER A MATCH TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 21, 2019) (REUTERS) NAGAYAMA RUNNING ON FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 86-YEAR-OLD RUGBY PLAYER, RYUICHI NAGAYAMA, SAYING: "You tackle and battle each other, but the gathering after the play is so enjoyable and fun. We talk about how each other plays and no one gets angry about how we played. The atmosphere is great. In short, there is nothing but rugby (for me)." TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 17, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NAGAYAMA, WHO IS STILL A PRACTICING DOCTOR, TREATING A PATIENT TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 21, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 86-YEAR-OLD RUGBY PLAYER, RYUICHI NAGAYAMA, WHEN ASKED IF HE HAS THOUGHT ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS RUGBY IS, SAYING: "Of course I have. So since I joined Fuwaku Club, I have broken ribs many times and broke my collarbone too. There are many other things too. When I noticed an irregular pulse, I would take medicine to adjust. So, I can still do it. No, I can't stand not playing. That's it. This may sound strange but I lost my wife years ago and now I would say 'I don't mind dying playing rugby'." KUMAGAYA, SAITAMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (MAY 3, 2019) (REUTERS) KUMAGAYA STADIUM, WHICH WILL HOST THREE GAMES DURING RUGBY WORLD CUP PLAYERS DURING COMPETITIVE MATCH / PLAYERS FORMING MAUL / MAUL COLLAPSING AND BALL BEING PASSED PLAYERS LOOKING TIRED DURING MATCH PLAYERS IN SCRUM NAGAYAMA WALKING AND LOOKING TIRED PLAYERS DURING MATCH / KUMAGAYA STADIUM IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 17th September 2019 06:19
- Keywords: Rugby Union Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup Tokyo veterans rugby players old age
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Rugby Union,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUYSITB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Japan may have been seen as a leftfield choice to host the Rugby World Cup but if you want a sense of the country's long love affair with the game, look no further than Tokyo's Fuwaku club.
The dozens of players running, passing, mauling, scrummaging and crashing into one another in the shadow of the Aquatics Centre being built for the 2020 Olympics are unremarkable in all but one thing - their age.
Fuwaku, founded in 1948, is one of approximately 150 Japanese clubs that stage competitive, full-contact matches for players over the age of 40 and the oldest man on the park is sprightly 86-year-old lock forward Ryuichi Nagayama.
As in rugby clubs around the world, the attraction is only partly the love of playing the game which originated in an English private school and can look to the uninitiated like legalised brutality.
In a country where there is much concern over the loneliness of the elderly, rugby not only keeps the players active but also offers a ready-made social life.
"You tackle and battle each other, but the gathering after the play is so enjoyable and fun," said Nagayama, who is the oldest active player but junior to three club members in their 90s.
As a doctor, Nagayama is well aware of the risks involved of playing a high impact sport at his age and the club's website gives detailed advice on health precautions and even links to a life insurance company.
Fuwaku's General Manager Mitsuaki Okajima estimates there are over 10,000 veteran rugby players currently playing at clubs across Japan and his club alone has 300 players competing across all age categories.
(Production: Jack Tarrant, Kim Kyung-hoon) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
