“Sports for Development” with the Rugby World Cup 2019 as a Trigger: A Case Study of the Asian Scrum Project

Abstract

    The purpose of this study was to clarify the current status of the Asian Scrum Project (ASP) as “Sports for Development” with the Rugby World Cup 2019, carried out by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU).
    The author investigated relevant ASP related documents and websites offered by JRFU and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Furthermore, 12 interested parties were interviewed to complement this investigation.
    The objectives of the ASP are to increase global participation and international competitiveness along with the World Rugby strategic plan. The ASP can be described as “sport plus” . JRFU built a relationship with JICA to overcome ASP issues including geographical location and type of sport. On the other hand, one of “JICA-JRFU Scrum Project” issues that can be pointed out is that the relationship between JICA and JRFU is limited to the range of finance and institution.