New Zealand Exchange Report

Three players—Prop Ryunosuke Momoji, Prop/Hooker Taiga Kawasaki, and Flanker Jingo Murata have been on a rugby study tour in Invercargill, on New Zealand's South Island, since early June.

Momoji and Jingo are playing for the Invercargill Blues, while Taiga is with Pirates Old Boys. The three are renting a house and living together.

In late June, the club rugby season reached its climax, with the playoff teams decided. Unfortunately, the Blues failed to qualify after the league stage, while Taiga’s team finished second and advanced to the final four. In the final league match on 27^th of June, the Blues hosted Taiga’s Pirates Old Boys, but the visitors won 47–0. It was also a chance for all three players to be on the field together, but Jingo missed the match through illness, and Momoji had to switch to hooker at the last minute after the starting No. 2 was unable to play.

With the Blues' club season now over, Momoji and Jingo have continued training with Pirates Old Boys, while Taiga focuses on the playoffs. All three are also participating in the Southland representative team's (Stags) High Performance programme and will remain until mid-July. On their days off, they have been making trips to Queenstown and Dunedin, enjoying life in New Zealand.

Winter is now arriving in the Southern Hemisphere, and Invercargill has become increasingly cold.

"It's really cold, and it rains at some point almost every day. Before the ground can freeze solid, the rain softens it again."

Momoji played the full match against the Barbarians on June 20, but described the rain-soaked field as "like playing rugby in a rice paddy."

"You couldn't even hold onto the ball properly. If you carried it, it just slipped out of your hands. It was hardly rugby at all. I'd never experienced anything like it."

Even the scrums were different.

"It wasn't really about pushing. The referee wouldn't award penalties. As long as the ball came out, play continued."

Because it is a club team, many players work full-time.

"Some players can't make training because of work, so we train with whoever is available that day."

When less experienced front-row players need help, the coaches sometimes ask Momoji to teach them.

"I manage somehow with simple gestures. It's not just about doing it myself; it's about sharing what I know so everyone can improve together. The next match our scrum worked much better."

This is his first overseas rugby experience, and he was especially drawn to the Blues' team philosophy.

"There are five values, but the first one is FUN. Everyone enjoys everything, training, bus rides, even being in the changing room. They really enjoy playing rugby. From the moment we arrived, everyone welcomed us warmly. They asked, 'How are Shintaro and Issa?'"

Every day he experiences the warmth of New Zealand rugby.

"From a rugby perspective, it's the physicality in contact and the awareness of offloads. Whenever a teammate has the ball, someone is immediately there in support. Everyone stays alive around the ball. Then there's the intensity of contact. I want to be able to use proper technique to stop opponents who come charging in at full speed. I want to keep working on these things for the rest of my stay so they become part of me."