Ganbatte Trophy
The Ganbatte Trophy was a silver cup presented to the winner of any rugby union match between the Melbourne Rebels team from Australia and the Sunwolves team from Japan. The word Ganbatte (Japanese: 頑張って, "Do your best") is often used as an exhortation at Japanese sporting events meaning to "Go for it!" or to strive.[1]
History
[edit]The Melbourne Rebels recruited Japanese international players Shota Horie in 2013, followed by Keita Inagaki, Male Sau, and Kotaro Matsushima.[2] The club was the first in Australia to launch a website in the Japanese language.[3] In 2016, following the introduction of the Sunwolves team to the Super Rugby competition, the Ganbatte Trophy was inaugurated to mark the relationship between the Rebels and Japanese rugby.[3][4] The Rebels won the trophy on 5 of the 6 occasions the trophy was contested, with the Sunwolves solitary win coming in February 2020. The 7th and final contesting of the trophy scheduled for March 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Sunwolves being disbanded in June 2020 following the cancellation of the 2020 Super Rugby season.
Results
[edit]Overview
[edit]| Details | Played | Won by Rebels |
Won by Sunwolves |
Drawn | Rebels points | Sunwolves points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 28 |
| In Japan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 151 | 69 |
| Overall | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 233 | 97 |
List
[edit]- (Brackets) denotes total matches the shield was held.
| No. | Season | Date | Venue | Score | Winner | Attendance | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | 19 March | Chichibunomiya Stadium, Aoyama, Tokyo | 9–35 |  Melbourne Rebels (1)
|
16,444 | [5] | |
| 2 | 2018 | 3 March | Chichibunomiya Stadium, Aoyama, Tokyo | 17–37 | Melbourne Rebels (2)
|
11,181 | [6][7] | |
| 3 | 25 May | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Olympic Park, Victoria | 40–13 | Melbourne Rebels (3)
|
7,853 | [8] | ||
| 4 | 2019 | 6 April | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Olympic Park, Victoria | 42–15 | Melbourne Rebels (4)
|
— | [9] | |
| 5 | 25 May | Chichibunomiya Stadium, Aoyama, Tokyo | 7–52 | Melbourne Rebels (5)
|
— | [10][11] | ||
| 6 | 2020 | 1 February | Level-5 Stadium, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka | 36–27 |  Sunwolves (1)
|
10,426 | [12] | |
| — | Cancelled (§ COVID-19 pandemic) | [13] | ||||||
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Patterson, Tim (17 March 2011). "Japan's Resolve is found in its language". Matador Network. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ Ward, Roy (5 February 2016). "Melbourne Rebels sign Japanese back Kotaro Matsushima for Super Rugby season". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ a b 17 March 2011 Rebels And Sunwolves Unveil Ganbatte Trophy Archived 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine（Official Website of Melbourne Rebels, 18 March 2016 Retrieved 20 March 2016）
- ^ Ganbatte Trophy 創設 Archived 1 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine（Official Website of Sunwolves, 18 March 2016 Retrieved 20 March 2016）
- ^ "Rebels roll Sunwolves 35–9 in Super Rugby". Special Broadcasting Service. 19 March 2016.
- ^ "Rebels roll Sunwolves for unbeaten start". Special Broadcasting Service. 3 March 2018.
- ^ Freeman, Rich (3 March 2018). "Rugby: Injury-hit Sunwolves no match for powerful Rebels". Kyodo News. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018.
- ^ "Rebels earn bonus-point win over Sunwolves". Special Broadcasting Service. 25 May 2018.
- ^ Ward, Roy (7 April 2019). "Super Rugby: Rebels sink Sunwolves as Reece Hodge scores hat-trick". Stuff. Stuff Ltd. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019.
- ^ Woods, Melissa (26 May 2019). "Melbourne Rebels run riot in Tokyo with big win over Sunwolves". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Rugby: Rebels rattle Sunwolves, score 8 tries in 52–7 win". Kyodo News. 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Rebels lose Super opener to Sunwolves". ESPN. 1 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020.
- ^ "All Super Rugby matches to be cancelled after Sunday's fixtures". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. 14 March 2020.
