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© 2019 AFPWhat can Tokyo 2020 Olympics learn from Rugby World Cup?
By Richard CARTER TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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© 2019 AFP
32 Comments
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ClippetyClop
The alcohol situation needs to be sorted. At the two matches I went to, there were long lines of people waiting for staff to fill up cups from 330ml cans of beer. The pace of service was glacial and annoying. Fortunately I snuck in a bottle of spiced rum.
Spitfire
Not much......if the local athletes do well the locals will follow en masse accordingly.
seanwd20
Make sure you require all athletes to wear their medals whether its gold or not. England did not show any class or respect to their Japanese hosts for the tournament.
MrHeisei
There is a lot that can be said about ticket resales & touts, fanzones, more information in English & other languages, horrendous queues for toilets at Stadiums, etc.
seanwd20
The alcohol was decent putting aside the queues.
quercetum
What can we learn?
We’ve learned from the past and this time that there will be sore losers. The Uruguay team that damaged $50,000 worth of DJ equipment face criminal charges. The US Hockey team in the Nagano Winter Olympics crashed then trashed their living quarters. When a team loses and drinks, watch out?
ClippetyClop
Sure it was, 1000 yen and 20 minute wait for a can and a half of poor quality tepid lager.
geronimo2006
What can they learn?
Well, I just don't see how it can work. The crowds will just add to it. Some people will no doubt die and then what... carry on?
seanwd20
Nothing you can do about the alcohol choice. Heineken were the sponsors.
Jimizo
1,000 yen for 330ml of Heineken?
I think I’ll join Sean in the whining.
goldorak
Hear, hear! Never seen anything like this tbh; 20-30min for the toilets at 20k hanazono (over 30min for the ladies) and just too many staff/volunteers telling ppl to wait/queue 'here' (we get it).
Probably also need to look into/beef up stadium security; 3 pitch invaders during the scotland vs samoa game, all security staff & volunteers (felt sorry for them) looked dumbfounded/scared (kudos to the steward who chased the 3rd bloke though). Point is they clearly were unprepared for this.
Re beer price, paid 1000 yen on week 1 & 700 yen at other games (all pool games).
Re J fans, agree that they were outstanding; one of the perk of having a rwc in a non-traditional rugby nation i reckon. No booing, no whistling, no insulting the ref etc.
ClippetyClop
So apart from the price, the quality, the waiting time and the lack of choice it was all good. Smuggling still the best option.
ClippetyClop
Really? I didn't know that as I didn't even bother trying for my 2nd game. How were they serving it? You'd think Heineken would have access to elaborate machinery such as kegs & pumps. They could have sold twice as much if they had their act together.
seanwd20
I saw lots of fans drinking Strongbow and Chu-Hi. Heineken wasn't the only available drink on offer.
gokai_wo_maneku
One thing we can learn from this: hold the Olympics in October! Just DO IT! Never mind the US networks that don't want their autumn sports schedules interrupted.
goldorak
Cans poured into plastic cups (beer girls on the terraces and at the bar).
kohakuebisu
If I may say something, if the RWC had been in Doha a few weeks ago instead of the World Athletics, the stadia would not have been near empty as they appeared on TV. This is not a slight on athletics, swimming, and other Olympic centric sports, all of which are fine pursuits, but they do not attract the same level of passionate support as rugby or football (soccer). The Olympics will be a success I'm sure, on the surface every Olympics appears to be a success, but it will be more locals cheering on Japanese athletes. It won't "just be like the 2019 RWC".
Serrano
1,000 yen for 330ml of Heineken?
Something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.
Yubaru
Is this an article or advertisement?
Please stop with the "omotenashi" This is just a catch all word being overused when some things go right!
I would say that with the rugby teams, Canada showed their "omotenashi" side just as well or better than the Japanese when they helped out after the typhoon!
Going to be hard for people in Tokyo to keep it up for a month, their patience wont last that long!
lostrune2
Wait wha
Ex_Res
Make sure you require all athletes to wear their medals whether its gold or not. England did not show any class or respect to their Japanese hosts for the tournament.
I'm a little confused here as to how England disrespected the host country Japan. Is there any rule in IOC which states that athletes must wear their medals?
They will proudly take their medals home to the UK.
Samit Basu
Be prepared for natural disasters, be it super typhoon or 9.0 mega quakes.
browny1
lostrune2Today 08:28 pm JST
Wait wha
My thoughts exactly. Obviously this writer has either not been in Japan long or only visits very select places. Public drunkeness esp on weekends can be witnessed in almost any city in all of it's technicolour glory.
Crazy drunken violent behaviour may well be less than some other places, but for getting plain rotten on drink, ultra reserved doesn't come within a "ruth" of it.
seanwd20
well, taking the silver medals off right after recieving them. thats just disrespectful. new zealand were more than happy to recieve bronze but england throw a tantrum and refuse to wear a second place medal due to the fact that they didnt win and didnt get to lift the trophey? pathetic. some teams went away from the tournament with nothing, give your medals to wales or austrailia, they would be much more grateful. england beat the all blacks and came so far and theres no pride in that? shame.
Ex_Res
What can we learn?
We’ve learned from the past and this time that there will be sore losers. The Uruguay team that damaged $50,000 worth of DJ equipment face criminal charges. The US Hockey team in the Nagano Winter Olympics crashed then trashed their living quarters. When a team loses and drinks, watch out?
$50,000 ?
Somehow I don't think so.
garypen
We've learned that you need to hold such athletic events in October.
ClippetyClop
The weather in October hasn't been particularly good in recent years. Typhoons and dark skies. Japan is running out of suitable months. I propose the May 15th - June 1st window for the 2072 Olympics, it's the best fortnight of the year.
kurisupisu
Be prepared not to sit down comfortably when taking a dump....
runner3
What they learnt from the Rugby was it was hot and it's going to be stinking hot for the Olympics.
quercetum
One USA network pays $1 billion for broadcasting rights. That’s just one. It’s the money.