Former Japan international Yoshiharu Yamaguchi is the recipient of the Spirit of Rugby Award, having been another who changed many a life for the better through his role as rugby coach, teacher and mentor at Fushimi Technical High School. On his arrival in the early 1970s, the under-performing school was plagued by delinquent behaviour and had little in the way of a sporting culture. Yamaguchi tackled the problems head-on, using Rugby’s core values as the driving force for change. Within seven years, the school had won the Japan National High Schools Championship and continued to be a dominant force in rugby throughout the next two decades.