Second-year junior high school students on a rugby club in Miyazaki Prefecture were summoned one by one for a brief talk with the coach after a practice.
However, Shuhei Takeuchi’s name was not called.
He asked a teammate, “What was that about?”
After he heard the answer, it took a while for it to sink in.
The coach informed the players that they had been selected for the prefectural team. Takeuchi was the only one of the five players in that age group who did not make the cut.
“My mind went completely blank. I remember feeling sad after I got home, and I was about to cry,” Takeuchi, 27, recalled of the childhood disappointment.
But the letdown prompted him to train harder. And over the years, he honed his skills and added muscle to his late-blooming body.
Nowadays, when Takeuchi, a forward on Japan’s national rugby team, walks around in his hometown of Miyazaki, people say, “Is that really Shuhei?”
His climb up the ladder in the sport was not easy.
He started playing rugby in the sixth grade of elementary school, a bit earlier than most children. He had no doubt that he would be selected for the squad representing Miyazaki Prefecture, where rugby is not a major sport.
But in reality, he was a long shot.
His second-grader teammates were growing taller, bigger and faster while Takeuchi remained a chubby kid who was shorter than 160 centimeters.
He was also unable to run 50 meters in under 9 seconds.
However, his passion for rugby never faded, and he thought about what he could do to succeed in rugby despite not having a body suited for the sport.
Takeuchi repeatedly practiced so that his passes would be a continuous motion from catching to throwing.
He also focused on getting as close to the opponent’s feet as possible for tackles.
Success didn’t come overnight.
At the time, his muscles were still underdeveloped and his passes fell short of his teammates. And opponents could easily break through his tackles.
But after entering Miyazaki prefectural technical high school, Takeuchi’s height shot up, and the movements he pictured in his mind began to align with his actual actions.
“I thought, ‘If I run in here and take a step, I can dodge the opponent,’ and I actually did it. Back in junior high, only my face would move when I tried,” he said with a smile.
Takeuchi played a central role on the high school team as a forward, wearing the No. 8 jersey.
During his years at Kyushu Kyoritsu University, he worked strenuously to build his muscles and strength.
After graduation, he joined NTT Communications in the Top League, now called the Urayasu D-Rocks in League One.
Takeuchi’s current position is prop, a front-row forward. He said the movements he had ingrained in his body during junior high school have contributed to his play now.
Despite his 183-cm height and 115-kg weight, he is agile, highly skilled at passing and able to tackle low, traits not usually associated with props.
Eddie Jones, head coach of the national team, didn’t overlook Takeuchi’s qualities.
Jones, who promotes “ultra-fast rugby,” demands quick and rhythmic passing even from the forwards.
Low tackles are also a necessary technique for Japanese players hoping to bring down larger opponents from other countries.
Takeuchi’s style matched perfectly with the national team’s approach, and he secured a spot in the starting lineup and scrummed against powerhouses like England and New Zealand.
This summer, he made a surprise decision to leave the Urayasu D-Rocks and play overseas.
Unable to secure a contract abroad, he now plays for Tokyo Sungoliath of Suntory Holdings Ltd. in League One.
Still, Takeuchi firmly says, “Effort pays off.”
Looking back, he said he just kept practicing even after being left off the prefectural team in junior high. He turned the small, slow version of himself into a grown-up forward for the national team.
“I don’t think effort only bears fruit when you achieve your goal. If you gain something through the process of working hard, then that’s what I call ‘bearing fruit,’” he said. “I take pride in having built my career that way.”
Original Source: This article was originally published on Asahi Sports. Click the link to view the full article.