Townsville and District Rugby Union U18 junior tour of Japan

Fifty of North Queensland’s finest young ruby players are battling to secure one of 26 highly prized slots on a trip-of-a-lifetime tour to Japan early next year.

Fifty junior rugby players are competing for 26 slots on the Townsville and District Brolgas U18 tour of Japan next year. Picture: Cameron Bates

Fifty of North Queensland’s finest young ruby players are battling to secure one of 26 highly prized slots on a trip-of-a-lifetime tour to Japan early next year.

In addition to playing a major role in the development of the sport in the region, the 10-day, traditionally biannual tour for U18 men in April will also seek to reforge an historic rugby connection between Townsville and Japan.

Daniel Withers, director of rugby with Townsville and District Rugby Union, said the Brolgas last toured Japan in 2018 with plans for the 2020 trip dashed by Covid.

He was buoyed by a turnout of 50 young men for the first two of three scheduled training and trail sessions in Townsville last week and on Wednesday.

“It’s been really cool to see the response to something that we haven’t done in a while, it’s been six years now.”

Daniel Withers, director of rugby with Townsville and District Rugby Union, and coach John “JR” Rauch, coordinator the Brolgas U18m tour of Japan early next year. Picture: Cameron Bates

Tour coordinator John “JR” Rauch, who went on the first tour of Japan in 2005, said he was hoping to schedule four or five games in the Tōkai region south-west of Tokyo.

He said Townsville had formed a close relationship with the Japanese after the city hosted the Brave Blossoms during the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003.

He said that after Townsville rugby representatives, including former director of rugby and current Brolgas coach Terry Shiells, visited Japan in 2004, tours ran in 2005 and 2006 and then every alternative year after that.

Japanese teams have also been hosted in Townsville.

Rauch said selected players were in for a full cultural experience being billeted with Japanese host families, many of whom would not be fluent in English, in what was an old-school-style tour.

He said it was starkly different from other regular rugby tours to England or New Zealand.

“Staying with a Japanese family, catching their transport system, understanding what you do with your shoes when you get home, it’s just the whole cultural thing it is just totally different.”

Brolgas hooker Nick Stokes, from the Ingham Cutters, on the charge for the U16 Brolgas in a good win over Brisbane Boys' College earlier this year. Players from throughout North Queensland are currently competing for slots on an U18 side to tour Japan early next year. Picture: Cameron

Withers was also on the first tour and is in the unique position of having been both a player and a coach, describing the experience as a “trip of a lifetime”.

“Japan has changed immensely in that time; when John and Terry first went there was no English writing anywhere and they were at train stations trying to find their way around,” he said.

“We still go to places where you won’t see another tourist … we are out mixing with families in the community as well as visiting schools.”

Withers said it was an emotional experience for many of the players, some of whom formed life-long bonds with their host families.

“I’m still on contact with the family I was billeted with 20 years ago.”

Both men said it good time to play junior rugby in Townsville with the city hosting the U18s school state championships in 2025, as well as the Queensland Country championships for the next two years.

“It’s a great opportunity for kids in Townsville and North Queensland to finally play representative footy at a low cost in their own backyard,” Withers said.

“We’ve been travelling for 20 years, the last time a junior champs were here, I was 15 (years), that’s how long ago.”

Originally published as Townsville and District Rugby Union U18 junior tour of Japan