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Backstreet Boys hit 'I Want It That Way' inspiring Japan's World Cup journey
By Online Editors
Japan have revealed the Backstreet Boys’ biggest hit as the soundtrack to their World Cup campaign.
The Brave Blossoms close every training session with the American boy band’s 1999 classic ‘I Want It That Way’, in a bid to relieve tension but also tighten squad bonds.
Scrum-half Yutaka Nagare revealed the unusual custom as Japan gear up to take on Ireland in Shizuoka on Saturday.
“We sing the Backstreet Boys song as a group,” said Nagare.
“We do it after training and meetings, just to get unified – it brings us together.”
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Halfback Nagare enjoyed his World Cup debut, stepping off the bench as Japan overwhelmed Russia 30-10 to open the first global battle in Asia.
The 27-year-old admitted, now he has had a taste of the competition, he only wants more of the same.
“I only got a short game time but it was really my dream come true, something I really strived for,” said Nagare.
“So I’m really pleased I made it and in front of a big crowd for the opening game.
“It really is a once in a lifetime competition. We never know if the World Cup will ever be back in Japan.
“It’s hard to explain how we feel about that, except to say we know we’ve got to take our chance while it’s here.”
The Japanese public have thrown their support behind the home heroes just as much as they have proved fine and patient hosts with the hordes of foreign fans.
But, despite the clear feel-good factor for the hosts, scrum coach Shin Hasegawa admitted the pressure to return victories is mounting.
“Yes we’ve always felt the pressure, but since the World Cups started we’ve been going to different camps, different cities where World Cup events have been held,” said Hasegawa.
“We’ve had 15,000 people turn up to one of our training sessions to support the team, and that means everything to us.
“At this World Cup the people of Japan are accommodating and helping all the people visiting from overseas too.
“For the prosperity of the Japanese team we really need to win to fulfil expectation, but we’d also like to enjoy that pressure.”
- Press Association
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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