Rugby Football Club won its Group A match against Waseda University in the Kanto intercollegiate rugby tournament held at the National Stadium on December 3.
Meiji University opened the scoring with a try by MATSUSHITA Junichiro (4th year in the School of Law) in the 5th minute in the first half, followed by another try by MATSUSHITA in the 23rd minute, by YASUDA Kohei (3rd year in the School of Commerce) in the 31st minute, and by TAMEFUSA Keijiro (4th year in the School of Arts and Letters) in the 39th minute, ending the first half at 27-3.
In the second half, ITO Kotaro (4th year in the School of Commerce) scored a try in the 6th minute, IKEDO Shotaro (4th year in the School of Political Science and Economics) in the 20th minute and YASUDA in the 32nd minute to extend the lead. In the middle of the second half, they faced a fierce attack by Waseda University, but TONE Daito (3rd year in the School of Law) scored a try in the 41st minute and EBISAWA Kohaku (1st year in the School of Information and Communication) scored a try in the 45th minute to win the 100th-anniversary Mei-So (Meiji-Waseda) match 58-38.
Matsushita, who was named Player of the Match for his outstanding play, said while smiling in the post-match interview, “I’m happy to win the game. I want to improve for the university championship.”
Head coach KAMITORI Hiroyuki recalled how the score was narrowed in the second half, saying, “The scene was different between the beginning and the end of the game, but I told the players before the game that there will always be tough times, so the victory after scoring a try at the end takes us forward. We will play in a tough competition where a single defeat marks the end of the championship, so we want to improve even more,” showing his commitment to the university championship.
Vice-captain YAMAMOTO Reijiro (4th year in the School of Law) who served as the game captain, said with strong enthusiasm, “I’m proud to have played on this milestone occasion of the 100th anniversary. I want to check the correction points for the university championship and look towards victory.”
Meiji University finished 2nd in the intercollegiate tournament and will participate in the 60th All-Japan University Rugby Football Championships. The first match will be played on Saturday, December 23 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground. Please give your enthusiastic support to the rugby team.
≪Japanese version≫
