REVEALED: Why Japan League One is drawing #BIG crowds

SPOTLIGHT: Fans of the Japan Rugby League One may feel like they are watching the World Cup all over again.

The reason is the number of international players featuring in the League every weekend – pushing their attendance numbers to an all-time high.

The JRLO has attracted a lot of attention from fans with the presence of 25 foreign players who featured in the World Cup and overall attendance only narrowly below that achieved by the first round of last weekend’s European Champions Cup.

The third season of the JRLO got underway last weekend and welcomed a host of big names which include 13 players that were involved in the World Cup Final between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

The overall turnout was 70,575 in Japan, at an average of 11,762.

According to official figures posted on the ERC website, the latter drew an average attendance of 13,079 across its’ 12 Champions Cup matches, while 57,078 attended nine matches in the second-tier European Challenge Cup, at an average of 6342 per game.

The highest turnout in League One came at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, the spiritual home of the game in Japan, where over 18,000 people attended the semi-final replay from last season’s competition between Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay.

This figure was bettered by just three Champions Cup venues, each of them historic bastions of the European game, at Welford Road in Leicester (19,439), Thomond Park in Limerick, Munster (18,905), and Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse (18,705).

The crowd in Tokyo was higher than the attendance at the replay of last year’s European Champions Cup final between La Rochelle and Leinster, which saw 16,700 fans attend the game at Stade Marcel-Deflandre in La Rochelle.

It was also higher than the largest crowd for the Challenge Cup, where 13,385 fans turned out in Clermont.
Among the playing talent joining the JRLO are some of the most experienced All Blacks and Springboks who are still active as professional players.

From South Africa, two-time World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe (Sungoliath) is one of the most exciting additions to the JRLO this year.

Malcolm Marx’s injury in France means he won’t be involved for the Spears this season but he is scheduled to return before his contract expires in May 2025.

Kwagga Smith returns to the Blue Revs, as do Franco Mostert (Heat), Pieter Steph du Toit (Verblitz), Faf de Klerk (Eagles), Damien de Allende (Wild Knights), and Jesse Kriel (Eagles) who were all winners at RWC 2023.

The signing of New Zealand captain Sam Cane, who has opted for a sabbatical to join Sungoliath, means that five of the 14 most-capped All Blacks in history will be active in Japan this coming season.

They are Aaron Smith (125 tests, Verblitz)*, Beauden Barrett (123 tests, Verblitz)*, Brodie Retallick (109 tests, Steelers)*, Dane Coles (90 tests, Tokyo Bay) and Sam Cane ( Sungoliath) – with *four of them having played in the 11-12 World Cup Final loss against the Springboks.

Other notable All Blacks playing in Japan are Richie Mo’unga and Shannon Frizell who signed with Brave Lupus.
Other key international signings see Tonga’s Charles Piutau (Blue Revs), Samoa’s Lima Sopoaga (Koto Blue Sharks), and the Wales duo of Liam Williams (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay) and Gareth Anscombe (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath) who join the fray this season.

With the combined overall attendance for matches in the first two seasons of League One surpassing one million last term, 42,000 of whom attended the final at the National Stadium, Japan Rugby League One officials have set a target of achieving a first million-strong seasonal attendance in the competition’s third edition.

The maiden season of the league was heavily disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, with many matches in Japan cancelled as a result, which limited the overall attendance that was achieved across the tournament’s 16 rounds.

JRLO chief of operations, Hajime Shoji welcomed the strong attendance and is confident the third edition of the competition will be the best yet.

“The season has started with the fans full of enthusiasm,” Shoji said.

“The star players from overseas such as New Zealand and South Africa, in collaboration with Japanese players, are creating real excitement for rugby fans in Japan.

“Fans feel as if World Cup games are in front [of them] every weekend.

“We would like to keep the momentum going to realize even greater fan engagement than we have had in our first two seasons.”