Can Japan surprise in the Rugby World Cup?
The Rugby World Cup starts tomorrow as they play against Russia in Tokyo. This is the first time a Rugby World Cup is arranged by a nation not considered to be among the big and strong Rugby nations. But, does that mean that we can say that Japan doesn’t have a chance already?
If you check the thoughts of bookmakers worldwide in front of the opening match, most of them agree on the fact that Russia shouldn’t stand a chance against Japan in the opening match. If you place a bet on Japanese victory, you will only earn a few more percents than what you actually betted. But, if you will place a bet on Russian victory and succeed, you will get 21 times your money back. That is a lot. In other words, few people have faith in a Russian miracle tomorrow night.
A victory against Russia isn’t enough
If Japan wants to get to the quarter-finals, to the semi-finals, and maybe even to the final, a victory against Russia won’t be enough. They will have some tougher opponents coming up later, and the toughest of them all during the group stage is probably Ireland. They will play against the Irish team on September 28th, and that is going to be one juicy match. Hopefully, for the Japanese team, they should be able to beat them, but if there is one thing we can know about Irish sportsmen it is, they do not give up until the match is over. We have seen it in football many times, in cricket, and also in rugby. So, the Japanese team will have to fight with all their power and might, and even more, to stand a chance against the Irish team. The fact that Ireland is ranked as the very best rugby nation in the world doesn’t make things easier. It doesn’t help that New Zealand has won the Rugby World Cup in the last two occasions, according to the results and the stats, Ireland is still the best rugby nation in the world currently.
I just wrote an article in which the author mentioned the strengths of the Japanese team. Or, it was rather about how the South African team could miserably loose against Japan during the group stage earlier. But, if we remember that the bookmakers keep South Africa as one of the three best teams in the Rugby World Cup, and Japan is capable of beating them, then this can turn into a great event for the hosts of the tournament.
Where to watch the Rugby World Cup matches?
One of the biggest problems for Rugby World Cup fans in Europe is the lack of TV networks to broadcast the event. The interest is close to nothing in most European nations, so if you live in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, or in a Scandinavian country, you have no real chance to stream the event at all. But, there is one exception, and that is if you live in the UK. Because, since the rugby interest is giant in the UK, you can stream every single match from the Rugby World Cup at the ITV website. This is without a doubt the best way to watch it in Europe, and I guess many people living elsewhere will try to find walkarounds in order to stream the Rugby World Cup online at the ITV website.
Will ITV broadcast every match from the World Cup?
It sounds strange to those of us living in “non-Rugby” countries, but the people in England love rugby. It is just like with a FIFA World Cup, in which every match is interesting, even though we do not really care about the teams playing. The same is true for the Rugby World Cup, meaning that even though we do not care about Namibia or Italy, people are still eager to watch the match if they live in the UK. By the way, Italy is big favorites to win that match, but besides that, few people leave the Italian team a chance at all to get a good final result in the tournament.
Not all matches will be shown at the ITV main channel, but if they don’t, you can still watch them on ITV4. And as a final solution, you have ITVPlayer online, where you for sure can stream every single match from the tournament online!
But, let us again return to Japan… Do you leave them any chance to get among the top four teams in the Rugby World Cup? I do cheer for them, and I hope that Jamie Joseph will manage to lead his team to victory. They might be ranked as the 10th best nation in the world, but on a good day, they can beat anyone!
