Release of the Impact Beyond 2019 Report
September 14, 2020
The Japan Rugby Football Union is happy to announce that World Rugby has released a report regarding how the Rugby World Cup 2019 significantly impacted to the growth of rugby in Japan as well as Asia to the public on September 9, 2020.
Key points of the report
・As a result of the Rugby World Cup 2019 hosted by Japan, the number of new rugby participants in Asia reached 2.25 million, of which 43.1 per cent of them are girls and women. By staging a first-ever Rugby World Cup in a non-traditional rugby nation and in Asia, rugby has been growing as a familiar sport in many countries.
・In align with the Rugby World Cup 2019 build-up, the National Rugby Introduction Days was launched and 26,000 children participated in the programme in 2019. This programme offered the increased number of opportunities for children to have the first touch on rugby ball in Japan, especially in the 12 host cities. The programme has been suspended this year due to the COVID-19 spread but will be continued in the future.
・With a focus on the host cities of RWC2019, tag rugby was introduced to the elementary schools across Japan and 769,000 schoolchildren experienced tag rugby at school since 2016. The number of “tag teachers”, the qualified teachers who completed tag rugby training courses, reached 14,552. Tag rugby which everyone can enjoy safely has been spreading nationwide.