Tokyo Set to Host 62nd Japan University Rugby Championship Final

University rugby will once again return to MUFG Stadium, Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo with Waseda set to take on Meiji in a clash of the Tokyo heavyweights as they battle it out in the Final of the 62nd Japan University Rugby Championship. Kicking off at 14:10 on Sunday, January 11 the match will feature the two most successful and historic teams in the history of the national university competition.

Founded in 1918, the Waseda University Rugby Football Club has featured in 35 previous Finals, winning 16 and finishing runners-up on 19 occasions. The Meiji University Rugby Club, formed five years later in 1923, have lifted the trophy 13 times and finished second on 11 occasions, for a combined 24 appearances in the Final.

This weekend’s match will be a replay of the 2020 Final, which saw Waseda overcome Meiji 45–35. However, with both teams coming into the match in red-hot form, everything remains to play for in what promises to be a monumental contest in front of a packed MUFG Stadium.

The university game holds a hugely significant place in Japanese rugby and for the universities that regularly contest the championship. University rugby is the primary pathway for nearly all domestic Japanese players before they progress to Japan Rugby League One and onto the national teams. As a result, the standard of play across the competition is consistently high, with the latter stages of the season in particular delivering outstanding rugby.

With most players only representing their university for between one and three seasons, the passion and emotion on display is palpable. That intensity is matched in equal measure by the large, partisan crowds who turn out en masse to support their alumni from the stands.

The match will be broadcast live in Japan on Sunday, January 11 from 14:00 on NHK E-TV Live and via radio on NHK FM. It will also be available for live streaming and catch-up on NHK ONE LIVE.

More than 30,000 match tickets have already been sold, and MUFG Stadium will likely be close to capacity, providing an electric atmosphere on a sunny winter’s afternoon in Tokyo. Fans looking to catch the action live and enjoy this uniquely Japanese rugby experience can still purchase tickets via the JRFU’s English-language ticketing website at: https://quick.pia.jp/japan-rugby_en/

Whether it is the purple and white hoops of Meiji or the maroon and black hoops of Waseda lifting the trophy on Sunday, the stage is set for another compelling Final in the 62nd year of this venerable competition.

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