Former greats Daisuke Ohata and Toshiaki Hirose want
World Cup to change rugby’s fortunes in
Japan for goodDaisuke Ohata is in a hurry. He blows in, fringe fluttering, suit flapping, his manager reeling behind him. “No, no, no,” he barks when the translator stands up for the formal introductions. “No introductions, time is too tight.” Ohata has a bullet train to catch, but the way he is moving it is like he is planning on overtaking it after it has left the station. Which fits. Because if you can picture Ohata, you will see him racing down the right wing past Allan Bateman maybe, or Tommy Bowe or Christophe Dominici or any other of the hapless backs he beat on his way to the tryline.
Ohata scored 69 tries in Tests, which is still the world record: six more than Shane Williams, five more than David Campese, two more than Bryan Habana. A lot of them were against teams way down the rankings –
South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong – but, still, he is in the World Rugby Hall of Fame, and in Japan he is a superstar.