Japan National University Rugby Football Championship Tournament 2026 Final Preview

The 62nd Japan National University Rugby Football Championship Tournament final will be played on Sunday, January 11, at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with Meiji University and Waseda University to compete for the title and facing each other for top honours for the first time in six years.

Meiji University, who wear purple and navy striped blue jerseys, defeated Kyoto Sangyo University 37-19 in their semifinal, with Shirai Akito adjudged MVP by their coach, while Waseda University beat Teikyo University 31-21.

The last time the two University teams met was in the Kanto Intercollegiate Championships match, which Meiji won 25-19 on December 7, 2025 – their first win over Waseda in five years and it was played in front of 39,084 fans! Mogami Taison was selected as Player of the Match (POM) from the victors.

Waseda are into their second consecutive national final and dispatched the four-time consecutive defending champions in the semifinal, which is no small feat considering Teikyo have played in 13 finals, winning 12, including a nine-title winning streak between 2010 and 2018, said the JRFU – and were the team to deny Waseda in 2o25 with a 33-15 win.

Waseda will now look to be crowned the best in Japan and continue their reign as the most successful university Japanese rugby team – they have previously won the title 16 times and have competed in 34 previous finals. However, their last win was in 2019, and they have lost three finals since that win.

Their opposition, Meiji University, is the second most successful team with 13 titles and 11 runner-up finishes, but their last win was in 2018, and they have also lost three finals since then, with both sides having fallen twice to the now knocked out Teikyo University, so the final should be a cracking game of rugby with so much at stake.

Meiji University were the number one-ranked university in the Kanto Intercollegiate League and won the last game played between the two in December, but Waseda have taken out the defending champions.

Tatsuhiko Otao, the head coach of the Waseda University rugby team and a former professional rugby player for Yamaha Jubilo, is determined to upset the odds. “Looking at the teams that have won in the past, the ones that have improved the most from the end of the intercollegiate competition to the university championship have been the ones that have won.”

The JRFU provides their preview here.

The Japan Rugby Football Union said of the tournament: “The university game holds a hugely significant place in Japanese rugby and for the universities that regularly contest the championship. University rugby is the primary pathway for nearly all domestic Japanese players before they progress to Japan Rugby League One and onto the national teams. As a result, the standard of play across the competition is consistently high, with the latter stages of the season in particular delivering outstanding rugby.”

The JRFU added that most players only represent their university for between one and three seasons, and that more than 30,000 match tickets have already been sold for the match.

How To Watch The Japan National University Championship 2026 Final

The match will be broadcast live in Japan on Sunday, January 11 (2 pm local time) on SpoLive Streaming, NHK Educational TV (NHK E-TV Live ), and NHK ONE LIVE.

Ticket information for the final is available here.

Asian Rugby News 2026

• The Ultimate New Player Signings Guide for the JRLO 2025-2026 Division 1 Season
• Hong Kong China Men’s 7s Feel Much Improved Heading Into HSBC SVNS 3 2026.
• Thailand Women’s Rugby 7s Are Aiming For the Global Stage.
• Asian International Rugby Tournaments 2026.