Japanese League target Marcus Smith after Rugby World Cup
- 1870
Japan Rugby League One chairman Genichi Tamatsuka has stated his intentions to attract more big names to League and he hopes Eddie Jones can assist him in doing so.
The likes of Damian de Allende and Faf de Klerk head to Japan ahead of the new season where they will join the likes of Willie Le Roux, Quade Cooper, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ryan Crotty, Samu Kerevi and several other stars in the league.
However, Tamatsuka wishes to attract even more of the game's best in the coming seasons and hopes that England boss Eddie Jones can assist.
“It’s important my friend, our friend, Eddie Jones should recommend players to go to Japan Rugby League One,” Tamatsuka told inews. “That’s the critical, essential, element.
“We have been busy, on how we can expand our visibility in terms of broadcasting inside of the Japanese domestic market. But in the future, if the England people started watching our leagues, as an attractive event, that is really good. To realise that, I think we need more players from England.”
Chief operating officer of JRLO Hajime Shoji revealed to inews that Eddie Jones has played a major role in convincing stars to head to Japan: “What Eddie did previously, he played a very important role to get some players from New Zealand and Australia, and I think now he is getting some more clearer information about England players, in terms of who is suitable to Japan.”
Premiership stars George Kruis and Alex Goode recently played in the Japanese League as to did All Black playmaker Damian McKenzie, it is also believed that Richie Mo'unga will head to Japan for a stint at Suntory.
