An Ex-UBS Banker Is Battling to Keep Japan in Super Rugby
An Ex-UBS Banker Is Battling to Keep Japan in Super Rugby
(Bloomberg) -- Even when working as a private banker at Citigroup Inc. or heading the wealth management unit for UBS Group AG in Japan, rugby has dominated Yuji Watase’s life. Now, as chief executive officer of the Sunwolves Super Rugby franchise, he’s using everything he’s learned to keep the club alive after its exit from the competition next year.
The Sunwolves are set to be cut at the end of the 2020 season after administrators of the Southern Hemisphere’s premier professional league chose to trim it to 14 teams and return to a round-robin format. That decision came just months before Japan hosts the Rugby World Cup, shocking the club that has built a loyal following since its inaugural season in 2016, despite struggling to win games.
“In order to keep us in Super Rugby, I’m approaching things differently and have actually started discussions on it,” said Watase, who balanced a life as a banker, rugby player and later coach. “There are no M&As in rugby so we need to think about various possibilities, including forming a joint venture with overseas teams,” he said in an interview.
Japan, now ranked 11th, is hoping to reach the knockout phase of the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in Tokyo on Sept. 20, the first time it will be staged in Asia. The country pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history four years ago when it defeated two-time world champion South Africa.
The 56-year-old said the Japan Rugby Football Union is aware of the need to bridge the gap between the domestic Top League and the national side to make Japan a stronger force globally. Through the Sunwolves, players have gained experience competing against the top teams from Australia, Argentina, South Africa and No. 1-ranked New Zealand, even though they finished last this season with just two wins and 14 losses.
“Definitely we need something in between -- that was Super Rugby,’’ Watase said. He aims to maintain close ties with clubs in the competition with a view to working together in the future, even if that just involves lending players.
Watase started playing the sport in high school and was a Keio University fullback when the team clinched the national title. When working at Citigroup’s private banking unit in Japan, he also served as the head coach of his alma mater’s rugby team for two seasons in 2002 and 2003.
“I’d go to the office in the morning, leave for practice around noon and return to work after that. Eight hours of work, eight hours of rugby and eight hours for other things. I got about four and a half hours of sleep every night,” he said, looking back at the days when he juggled both his passions.
He broke away from the world of finance in 2015 when he left his position as the head of UBS’s Japan wealth management unit. Since then it’s been all about rugby.
Keeping the Sunwolves involved in Super Rugby will be no easy task. But Watase says he’s committed to giving back to the sport that has taught him key lessons in life to succeed professionally.
“There are no other sports where you fall down and get up so many times,” he said. “That spirit of picking yourself up is something I learned through rugby.”
--With assistance from Yuji Okada.
To contact the reporters on this story: Takako Taniguchi in Tokyo at ttaniguchi4@bloomberg.net;Russell Ward in Tokyo at rward16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kazunori Takada at ktakada17@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz
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