From MDN:
Australian Rules football is rich with ... rivalries and now Japan has its own version of the brutal ... match with the Tokyo Goannas set to take on the Osaka Dingoes in Osaka on Oct. 5.
A team of Goannas will head down to Kansai to take on Osaka's finest array of Aussie Rules proponents in what organizers hope will become a regular series of games played out with a fervor matched only by the off-field excitement either side of the match.
Games between the two teams date back to the early 1990s, with Osaka winning the first match but the Goannas generally having the upper hand since. Australian football in the Kansai area slumbered after its early peak, but a group of enthusiastic supporters of the game, including many Japanese, have ensured its revival.
Tokyo's mostly Australian expatriate team will go into the match as favorites against the largely Japanese contingent making up the Dingoes, but the promotion of Australian football, which has a thriving league, is the main focus of the match.
As testimony to the significance of this match, the Osaka Australian Consulate-General will present the victorious team with the Takoyaki Plate.
The match will be played at the Ebie Ground, with those interested in watching urged to meet at exit 2 of Ebie Station on the JR Tozai Line at 2 p.m. on the day of the game. The station can also be accessed from Noda Hanshin Station on the Sennichimae subway line.
For more details, refer to the teams' respective websites. The Goannas can be found at www.tokyogoannas.com, while the Dingoes' site is at:
http://hccweb5.bai.ne.jp/osaka_dingoes/
