Tokyo Sevens needs more fun, pompom girls: rugby boss

Most aspects of life could use more pom pom girls.

The biggest mistake that they made on Sunday was only two Suntory Girls serving beer in the bleachers. Was served in my seat only once in the 5 hours that I was there, the girls simply couldn't cover it. More beer = more fun. At least it was not like the Bledisloe Cup debacle where they sold out of beer by half time. The lines for food and drink were long, but I have seen worse at Tokyo Dome.

And a lot of you are missing the point about Sevens. I am a rugby fan and Sevens is not rugby in its pure form, but all "razzle dazzle" cheap trills. One big party! If you want real rugby then go to a club game, Super 15s or a test match. The atmosphere at the ground was definitely flat for a Sevens tournament. Some tried to get things going, mainly the foreigners, but the locals didn't seem to want to react. Or know how to. Hopefully next year will be better as promised. And with fuddy duddy Mori running the show, that ain't likely.

I can just imagine the food on offer too. Vans selling the usual event crap.

too funny. I was there & Lapasset is right. people tried to get the crowd going but only when Japan was playing - and they were fairly lackluster so it stayed quiet. I was there with a throng of Englishmen but we weren't drunk enough to inspire any revelry. more pom pom girls next time please!

Was pretty dull actually, the hong kong and the wellington sevens are one big party with wellington 7's really taking the lead with people wearing costumes and getting into the spirit of it all.

Tokyo has a great chance to put itself on the map with the 7's here and the fans and the JRFU need to step up and make the event a real feature.

Avoid the long lines for food and drink and cater the thing properly.

I'm American , didnt watch rugby til coming to Japan, am not crazy about it but like it enough to hope that it never has pom-pom girls. Laugh to see smithinjapan agree that the game does need cheerleaders, but of both genders, so's it can be forced , like the rest of society, to move towards greater "equality" and political correctness. LOL. Rugby doesnt need to become like American football, where you have collegiate matches with stands full of 30 thousand drunken idiots oblivous to the game while doing "the wave" .These games dont need a house DJ - like you have at some MLB ballparks - who plays short segments of popular rap or rock songs as some kind of commmentary on the game; the.massive electronic scoreboards and video screens are great , and knowing the player's height /weight/ age/ batting average etc is helpful but we dont need to know what the dude's favorite song is to appreciate the game.

"distinctly lacking in fun and pompom girls"

This guy should run for PM and run his campaign on providing more fun and pompom girls. My station could use more of both. So could my apartment.

More pom-pom girls? What era is this guy from? How about 'more cheerleaders' (of both genders)? And yeah, asking for a crowd here to suddenly 'be more fun' is simply easier said than done. No harm in working on it, though.

Mori is part of the problem - Japan has been trying and failing at hosting international rugby events for the last decade with Sevens, the Bledisloe Cup, hosting international tournaments here.

I don't think anything can really be done. Japan rugby is trapped basically in the late 1970s/1980s amateur era, with University rugby and private school blazer wearing oldboys too invested in their control of the sport here to let it go through the reforms it needs to survive, and this is why the public is abandoning it.

The soccer J-League is the model rugby should have followed. It tried, the Top League has a lot going for it with a lot of good international talent, but the fact that university rugby still seems to take priority over the pro competition in Japan holds back the development of Japanese rugby players, and signals the unwillingness of people running rugby to give up university ties and traditions and to start looking at rugby as a sports business. Lapasset is right, but what he is talking about is really only superficial, and would seem like gibberish to the people he is aiming his message at. Japanese rugby administration needs to be reconstructed from the ground up.

However, with guys like the ex-PM in charge, complaining at TV disinterest and hoping for all rugby games to be something like the 1964 Olympics, unfortunately I fear that the 2019 World Cup will be a farewell to Japanese rugby. I wish there was a greater sense of crisis in rugby in Japan to address these issues.

And pom pom girls. More pom pom girls.

I think it's great that part of the Sevens World Series will be held in Japan annually, with the world's top players involved, and I hope it becomes a big event which everyone looks forward to in this city. It was good this first time, spoiled only by bad weather on Saturday. I thought that the atmosphere was actually OK on Sunday. It could have been more full, but the turnout and noise level during the bigger games was good. Chichibu Stadium is conveniently located and easy to get in and out of, and there was a real mix of fans there.

The way to get a real atmosphere going is to have loads of beer girls with the nama tanks on their backs going round and selling at Y500 per nama from early in the day (just like the beer promo days you get at the baseball - they're always stacked full). Run competitions for fancy dress, have "amusing" commentary and get everyone up for it. They should also have more branded fast food concessions, the usual junk that everyone wants to eat at such events - pizza, fried chicken, hamburgers etc.

Take away the all-day boozing and fancy dress and the South Stand at Hong Kong obviously wouldn't be as full of nutters as it is.

The JRFU should also get more corporate sponsors and boxes like they do in Hong Kong - turn it into a hospitality event to get more people in and more revenue for the venue, as well.

Good luck to them, it was a really good value event and I'm looking forward to next year.

“more fun in the stands, more fun people,”

Wow asking the Japanese to have spontaneous fun is bit of a reach, unless there are written instructions on how to be spontaneous and individualistic it won't happen. Baseball crowds are led in a ritualistic cheer that has been practised beforehand. NHK needs to be petitioned by rugby supporters to show some coverage. Hopefully the Japanese RFU can bring some pressure to bear. Great tournament that deserves greater support from a future W C host nation. Lets hope the next 6 years herald more interest from the Japanese media.

You can't go wrong with more pom pom girls.

pom pom girls..LOL..enough said about what this blight on the good name of rugby is about..keep it in Hong Kong for the drunks...rubbish

Agree Rugby is a fabulous sport that needs more attention and the J fans arent the most wild and crazy on the planet but seriously - pom pom girls??! Please God no!

What era is this guy from? How about 'more cheerleaders' (of both genders)?

Nobody wants to see male cheerleaders, but way to be politically correct about it. I suppose you think enjoying some cute cheerleaders bouncing around makes a person sexist? Lol.

Cheerleaders helps me understand why anyone would sit down to watch a sport. But even then, I cannot be bothered.

Whether its sports or women, I prefer to play. Just watching is not only boring, but aggravating. And yet, I seem to surrounded by a world full of spectators.