Misawa Snow Devils rugby players Junetsu Terasawa, left, and Ryan Wade, right, lift Michael Gros, center, in a Snow Devil line-out during a game at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Aug. 29, 2010. Snow Devils, Jon Leonard and Greg Teliczan stand ready at the backline. The Snow Devils hosted bi-lateral rugby games against the Japan Air Self-Defense Force rugby team. The teams played two games; the first game was a Snow Devils victory 24-17. The second was two teams of Snow Devils and JASDF players, combined, bi-laterally competing against one another. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Russell McBride/released)

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Misawa Snow Devils rugby player Matthew Duggan, center, prepares to juke Tetsu Hosono, right, while Snow Devil, Jon Leonard, back right, prepares to support during a game at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Aug. 29, 2010. Keisuke Ryu, left, chases Matt after the missed tackle. The Snow Devils hosted bi-lateral rugby games against the Japan Air Self-Defense Force rugby team. The teams played two games; the first game was a Snow Devils victory 24-17. The second was two teams of Snow Devils and JASDF players, combined, bi-laterally competing against one another. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Russell McBride/released)

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Misawa Snow Devils rugby players Matt Duggan, left, and Jeremy Sturges, right, lift Takanori Yasuda, center, during mixed teams game at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Aug. 29, 2010. The Snow Devils hosted bi-lateral rugby games against the Japan Air Self-Defense Force rugby team. The teams played two games; the first game was a Snow Devils victory 24-17. The second was two teams of Snow Devils and JASDF players, combined, bi-laterally competing against one another. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Russell McBride/released)

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Misawa's rugby team hosts bi-lateral games

Published Sept. 1, 2010
By Tech. Sgt. Russell J. McBride
35 Fighter Wing Public Affairs

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Misawa's rugby team, the Snow Devils, hosted bi-lateral rugby games against the Japan Air Self-Defense Force rugby team Aug. 29.

The teams played two games. The first game was a Snow Devils victory of 24-17. The second was two teams of Snow Devils and JASDF players, combined, bi-laterally competing against one another.

The Snow Devils consists of 25-30 players from the Misawa community. Because deployments and other commitments make it difficult to fill a 15-man team, the bi-lateral sports exchange teams played a modified game called Sevens.

"Sevens is generally a summer version of regular Rugby Union," said Coach Tech. Sgt. Christopher Mendonca. "Seven people per side is a lot harder than 15 people per side. You have fewer people on your team to help you ruck and maul so it's going to be really tough."

The Misawa Snow Devils rugby team was formed in 1991 and played through to the late 90's. Until Coach Mendonca recently restarted the program, with help of former coach Yu Hiromi, Misawa AB had been without a rugby team.

"I figured that I have three years to build a decent rugby team," said Coach Mendonca. "The team's ultimate goal is to be added to the Northern Japan Rugby conference schedule. I would absolutely love to play on a regular basis against teams from all over northern Japan."