A Road Trip, The Brave Blossoms arrive, a Sake Tour and the Tartan army
So the second weekend of the tournament arrived! Excitedly, we joined our relatively new rugby friends Glen and Debbie on a road trip to Kobe. This weekend we were going to see the Scots, so we filled the few hours journey with a Scottish playlist of classics including the Pretenders, Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand and of course, The Proclaimers. In hindsight this was good preparation for meeting the tartan army who we would find in excellent (loud) voice.
We found that there was an ‘English Pub’ called The Harbour Tavern in central Kobe that was already open at 1pm showing the Tonga and Argentina game.
The Harbour Tavern is somewhat hidden away in a tall building on the 7th floor but we found it. It definitely has the rustic feel and sticky carpet of a traditional English pub. We were quick to install ourselves in front of a big TV as we were particularly keen to see the next match which was the hosts vs Ireland.
After eating some dubiously microwaved ‘beef pies’ we were ready for the main event - Japan’s first proper test. Our Irish friends had travelled to Shizouka with the intention to see their team conquer the Blossoms, but they had not reckoned on the impact of Yu Tamura’s deadly accurate boot. The Irish were vastly outnumbered by the home crowd who went suitably nuts (very unjapanese) when Kotaro Matsushima very nearly scored a try within the first three minutes.
After that wake up call Ireland looked to regain their composure with Garry Ringrose carrying a try over at 13 minutes. However Jack Carty was unable to convert it so Ireland were ahead by 5 points. 4 minutes later Yu Tamura scored his first penalty. Ireland replied with a converted try putting them firmly ahead 12 points to 3. Our friends were delighted and we saw them celebrate on TV several times in their bright green wigs. But the Irish team made mistakes and by half time Tamura had kicked Japan back to touching distance 9 points to 12.
The second half carried on the excitement for the Japanese crowd when the backs put together an attack off the back of a scrum- Lameki charged through the Irish lines only just being stopped before Tanaka was able to feed the ball out to Nakamura who then threw a long pass to Lafaele who popped it to the newly arrived wing replacement Kenki Fukuoka who charged over the try line. At this point The Harbour Tavern erupted as Japan took the lead 14 - 12. 10 minutes later Tamura added a 5th successful kick adding to his large collection of points. The Japanese started to believe this was winnable. Then with 3 minutes to go the try scorer Kenki Fukuoka intercepted a pass and very almost scored a try at the other end of the pitch. The noise was insane. When the whistle blew Japan had won the contest 16-12. There were a lot of very happy Japanese supporters.
After celebrating Japan’s stunning win in the Harbour Tavern we went to look for some dinner. This was the point that it became apparent that the Japanese had become aware of the World Cup. There had been curiosity from the host country’s citizens - now there was enthusiastic interest.
As we walked through the streets of Kobe, Rob and Glen were getting stopped by Japanese who wanted to high five them for wearing the Brave Blossoms strip. This enthusiasm was echoed the next morning when we went in search of a Japan rugby top the next morning, overnight they had disappeared. Rob also decided to wear his Japan top on our sake tour where he got mildly harrassed (stroked) by female cashiers. There was definitely a new level of excitement around the city, it finally felt like the World Cup had properly begun.
The next day was Sunday, we made our way over to Kobe’s Nada District, which is home to Japan’s top Sake producers.
Its location allows it access to high quality rice, good water, and favourable weather. Being close to the ports of Kobe and Osaka was also key for distribution.
We started early and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine as we toured the many breweries and museums with our Sake connoisseur friend, Ruth. We got the Rokko liner train line to Uozaki. This is near the lovely walk by the river.
We then made our way down to our first stop - Hamafukutsuru. The Brewery has won awards for its “Ginjo” sake. It was a good one to start with as they have an excellent museum on the second floor explaining the Sake brewing process in English with plenty of diagrams. Here we had a small tasting with one of the brewers. He was somewhat of a celebrity as he had clippings of a newspaper article that had featured him. He gave us plenty of different sakes to try as well as sherry and plum wine. Ruth invested in some sake ice cream and we were ready for round two.
We headed to our second brewery with slight trepidation - if we consumed the same amount as the first in all the stops on the tour we’d be in trouble. Our next stop was Sakuramasamune. This was a smaller set up with a few traditional tools and equipment to see. It did have an attractive looking restaurant so that is where we stopped for lunch for motsunabe.
After a suitably filling lunch our tour continued to three other breweries. Kikumasamune Sake Museum, Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum and Kobe Shushinkan Brewery. These all had excellent museums which showed off the huge casks used in the brewing process. Some had photos of past techniques whilst in a slightly creepy approach one had life sized models recreating images from the past.
As the afternoon wore on we hurried back to the city centre to watch the Wales v Australia game - a game that would potentially decide who would top group D. One we wanted Wales to win as we were hoping to see both Northern hemisphere teams in separate quarter finals in Oita.
We headed for the “Aussie” pub, the Rock. Maybe a questionable choice. It was rammed mostly with Scots. As we squeezed ourselves into the place Rob and Glen went in search of beer. It was not the most comfortable place but the game proved a healthy distraction from our cramped situation.
It was a close game with Wales taking the lead within the first minute with a cheeky drop goal. They continued to lead throughout but the six nations champions had to dig deep to stop the resilient Wallabies. The big number 12 Samu Kerevi proved very hard to stop. Dan Biggar ended up with concussion after an attempted tackle. Reece Patchell was mown down by the massive unit and somehow got rewarded with a penalty for his efforts. A brutal physical game that was close right to the end. Only the accuracy of the Welsh number tens boots kept the Australians at bay. To our relief the Welsh won 29-25.
We celebrated with a few drinks in some nice and not so nice bars and some Kobe Beef.
It was a bright sunny morning. We made our way over to Kobe’s China Town. After some tasty walking snacks, we had a sit down lunch to give us a solid basis for the drinking that was about to occur. So we were ready, off to the Fanzone.
The Fanzone was located on the edge of the port area with views of the sea. There was a stage with scheduled entertainment that ranged from BMX stunt riding (not sure what that has to do with rugby, but was not the only time we saw this), to a Scottish pipers band, made up of expats and Japanese enthusiasts. There was a large covered seated area where most of the Scots gathered in their festive clobber. A few porter cabins provided food and soft drinks and then there was the bar with its complicated queuing system that kept the rest of the Scots busy. A small merchandise booth offered a small selection of souvenirs, a big screen which switched between showing highlights of the tournaments earlier games and the history of rugby in Japan. Lastly there was a skills area where people could join in some very sweaty touch rugby and a tacking skills area where small children could hurl themselves at a tackle bag and rebound onto a crash mat. Here we spotted an English guy we had met in one of the bars the night before. He was pretty hard to miss as he had a long red cape attached from his shoulders and flip flops. He was throwing himself into the touch game. We chatted to him after and his feet were caked is dust and dirt.
After we had “absorbed” the atmosphere (alcohol) we decided to make our way to the stadium. This was a few kms away but there were plenty of World Cup Volunteers grasping flags marking our route. We just followed the singing really.
It got a bit more tricky when getting on the train. We all squeezed in and got acquainted pretty quickly. With our faces practically pressed against the windows, we made it to the next station where the doors opened and let in some vital fresh air. However as the train progressed through the stations more people wanted to board the train. At this point a particularly massive young scot decided he would help make room for the new arrivals by grasping the top of the door and pushing backwards with his arse. Somehow we survived and found space for the new passengers. On arrival at the destination station we all exploded out of the carriage and followed the crowds to the stadium.
We managed to find our friends at the stadium and made our way inside. We found our seats which happened to be near the front.
The Japanese embraced the Scots as they touched down in Nagasaki, and their favourite player - Greig Laidlaw or Mr Greig as he is known. He has become something of a poster boy for the World Cup and is currently the most famous Scot in Japan. His popularity has eclipsed the usual stars of Hogg and Russell but his team mates love the game of the attention Greig gets. Apparently when walking through shopping malls they will quite regularly shout out ‘Mr Greig’ and watch delightedly as the mob descends on the scrum half.
Greig puts the popularity down to the 2015 World Cup where a sizeable Japanese TV audience watched Scotland beat Japan. Greig had a great game scoring 20 points and the Japanese has remembered this.
The warm up started and sat with friends Justin and Mary, we could actually identify the different players faces. After the anthems it was time to experience our first live Haka of the World Cup and it did not disappoint!
Samoa are a renowned physical side but Scotland had the discipline and the flair.
Within eight minutes Mr Greig had delighted his fans by drawing first blood with a penalty. This was followed up later with an impressive cross pitch kick by Finn Russell to Maitland to place a try in the corner. Laidlaw then scored near the posts after being fed by Richie, the no 7.
Ten minutes into the second half, Scotland had a driving maul which was collapsed by Samoa resulting in a penalty try (27-0).
Maitland then was on for a try in the corner which was denied by Samoa but with a two-knee tackle. Another penalty try was awarded to Scotland. Final sore was 34-0 to Scotland.
The route back to the hotel was pretty eventful. Kobe had put on a lot of party opportunities for the kilt wearing jocks- one place with a covered shopping area putting on food and selling cold beers until the wee hours. But with the prospect of an early shinkansen and work the next day, we didn’t make it too late. Oh to be on holiday and at the world cup! Nonetheless, an excellent weekend in Kobe.
