Rugby World Cup 2019. its in Japan!

When Japan was announced as a Host for the rugby World Cup in 2009 I will admit I was disappointed; I had been hoping for Argentina or a combined Argentina Uruguay tournament. But Japan in was. The 2015 tournament was held in England or London to be precise. We had tickets for the final and during the build up at the fan zone we visited the Japan Pavilion where the Japanese’s tourist board were handing out promotional information about the Rugby tournament. It was at this point that we made a firm commitment to attend the Rugby World Cup in Japan 2019.

So it was that after four years of saving and planning on 3^rd October 2019 we left Manchester terminal 2 bound for Tokyo – Narita- via Dusseldorf. The first leg was with ‘German wings’ Manchester to Dusseldorf. The short 1 hour flight was full and punctual; there were a few rugby fans on board! Upon arrival in Dusseldorf we arrived at the departure pier. In this space arriving and departing passengers mixed. It was a very basic space so I was glad it was a short wait until we boarded the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner bound for Tokyo.

ANA was such a pleasant surprise, the seats were great, with loads of room, and the catering was fantastic- I had the Japanese Menu, but gave the Eel to my partner- it was delicious. the crew were attentive. You could not fault the flight in any way and the safety video was the best I have ever seen.