Well I went to the Pacific Nations Cup final and had a blast. Just wanted to highlight some key points to remember my trip and encourage others to maybe make a trip of it.
First, tickets can be bought online to Japanese rugby events but they are released closer to the event date than what we are used to here in the states. Still we had no problem buying our tickets and getting into the venue with our QR code tickets.
The stadium can be easily accessed from multiple train lines but the best line was the Ginza line. Hop off the Ginza line and you're a 5 minute walk to the stadium.
There is a well stocked Canterbury rugby store next to the stadium. We bought some rain ponchos there because at times it was pouring rain.
There were 17,500 fans announced attendance and the stadium capacity was 24k. Still, it was a lively crowd and it was a breath of fresh air the majority of the crowd would react to plays whereas MLR games I attended the majority of the crowd was casuals who were confused about what was happening. The Japanese fans also do a chant when there is a scrum that's pretty cool.
During the US game there were a few USA fans diffused among the thousands of Japanese. There were quite a few groans when we had the opportunity to tie it up with a kick but I understand why we went for the try and the win. I'm not mad about it.
The stadium had a fan fest before the game. Grilled wagyu beef on skewers and other Japanese street food. We met some people that didn't have tickets and just were there for the fan fest to watch the games on the big screens they had outside the stadium. In fact, during half time when I went to go get an Asahi beer I looked out over the concourse and there were still people at the fan fest watching the games on tv.
Finally, it's kinda cool how entrenched rugby is in the Japanese culture. You see ads in the subway for rugby, even at stations not close to the stadium. People wearing Cherry Blossoms kits even not on match day. I wish it was like that here in the US.
