No-Contact Rugby

[Mulboyne]

A South African rugby player delayed returning to start the season with his team at home because his Japanese team, NEC, had a late season run. Here's how it happened:

Yomiuri: Mixed view of Japan justified
...Scrum Down can now reveal that it wasn't the toss of a coin or even the drawing of straws that has prevented van der Westhuyzen from returning to South Africa, but rather a game of janken (rock, paper, scissors). NEC captain Nili Latu and his Suntory counterpart Takamichi Sasaki battled it out with the winner then given first dip into an envelope that contained two bits of paper, one indicating success, the other bringing the season to a close. "It's not the way we would have liked to have advanced but we'll take it," said one NEC veteran. The Japan Rugby Football Union has repeatedly talked about how the International Rugby Board needs to embrace Japan and Asia to make the sport truly global. But it can't be one-way traffic. Japan needs to get rid of the ridiculous, antiquated way things are done here and get in line with the rest of the world...Surely a better way of deciding who advanced would have been to have extra-time and then a penalty shootout...more...

Initial reports suggested everything was settled by a coin toss, which led to a headline in a South African newspaper of "Bunch of tossers play the game in land of the rising sun ".