GOOD DAY
For organisers of the next Rugby World Cup after it emerged that a new record television audience for any one country watched Japan beat Samoa in the match which kept alive their hopes of getting into the World Cup quarter-finals.
Victory for Japan, who have already staked a claim to be the team of the 2015 tournament even though they have little or no chance of featuring in the quarter-finals, only amplified the marketing benefit of 25 million people tuning in.
Eddie Jones’ Japan’s coach, had previously pointed towards the impact that their defeat of the Springboks had in their opening match, bringing the sport a rare level of attention since it is normally over-shadowed, in every sense by Sumo as well as baseball.
However with the 2019 tournament taking place in Japan for the first time those viewing figures demonstrate the potential, easily surpassing the previous record of 20.7 million in France for the then hosts’ semi-final meeting with England eight years ago.
The recorded audience represents nearly 20 per cent of the entire Japanese population and a TV audience share in excess of 64 per cent.
“This shows that the general population there appreciate the sport and the amazing performances of their national team over the past few weeks,” said Brett Gosper chief executive of World Rugby whose gamble in allocating the tournament to Japan already looks set to be rewarded spectacularly.
“The highlight, of course, was the incredible win over South Africa in Brighton but Japan have set this entire tournament alight with how they have performed in all their games. Their style of play has really caught the imagination of rugby fans around the world and, as these broadcast numbers indicate, in Japan.
“This boost in interest could not be better timed as Rugby World Cup will venture outside of traditional rugby heartlands for the first time in 2019. It really has given the event a major shot in the arm.”
BAD DAY
For Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper whose partnership with fellow openside David Pocock was such a vital component in their defeat of England as he found himself facing a ban.
His concern at being cited for charging into England’s Mike Brown at a ruck without attempting to wrap his arms around his opponent can only have been heightened by the news that Sam Burgess was merely given a yellow card warning for a blatant high tackle during the same game.
That suggests that what looked, at worst, a yellow card offence by Hooper, is being considered to have potentially been worthy of a red card by the same officials.
WHAT’S ON TODAY?
In the wake – and that is the right word in more ways than one – of the weekend’s events it will be interesting to see just what sort of attendances are achieved in Leicester, where Canada meet Romania and in Milton Keynes, where Fiji take on Uruguay in matches between teams that have no chance of even gaining automatic qualification for the next World Cup.
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