Zane Hilton never knew he had a flair for languages until he became a rugby coach which is an absolute bonus for the Queensland Reds.
He speaks Japanese which means he is the team’s unofficial translator on tour as well as their expert lineout and scrum mentor.
For the next week, we will keep giving you glimpses into life on tour for the Reds as they build up to Monday’s clash against the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights in Kumagaya.
Japan Calling...Reds Tour Diary Part I
Hilton never studied a language at Nudgee College but that all changed when he first pursued his coaching overseas with Benetton Treviso in Italy in 2006.
“I was in at the deep end at Benetton. The team had no translator,” Hilton recalled.
“The reason I love the languages is all around the level of respect. I’ve worked hard at it over time.
"I just feel if you are foreigner in someone's country, it's important to converse in their tongue to get to know players and people and show that you care. There's no greater way than to speak their home language.”
It means Hilton speaks Japanese, after nine seasons with Japanese clubs, as well as Italian. He also speaks degrees of Samoan and Tongan from the two Pacific rugby nations he helped steer to World Cups in 2019 and 2023 respectively.
The Australia XV have a good one with their new assistant coach for two matches in England following this tour.
On the sidelines before last Sunday’s trial in Kumagaya, legendary former Japanese hooker Shota Horie walked by.
Hilton’s greeting and conversation in Japanese was a connection that helps bring this Reds-Wild Knights relationship even closer.
Not everyone in Reds’ history has grappled with language so well.
One of the club’s classic media moments came when the Reds were preparing to play the Bulls in South Africa in 1999.
Standout fullback Chris Latham was asked on camera what he thought of Brakpan.
“I’ve heard he's a very good player,” Latham said.
Oops. Brakpan was the obscure mining town they were to play in, not the opponent.
Day Five: Monday, October 28
Free day. With a rare eight-day turnaround between games, the Reds have a day off from training.
It’s a visit to Tokyo, a one hour, 40-minute trip away by two trains, including the famed Skinkansen.
The bullet train speeds at over 260km per hour which would mean a 42-minute sprint between Brisbane and Nerang rather than the current dawdle.
The team lands at Shibuya en masse. No visit here is complete without walking the famed Scramble Square crossing.
Incredibly, five pedestrian crossings at this intersection of roads handle more than two million people per day. At night, the shops rising around it are ablaze with neon signs.
Winger Floyd Aubrey grabs a photo for prosperity and the team strides onto the crossing before the sea of people coming from all sides swallow them up.
The players head off in all directions—shopping for electronic goods and clothes, the sights, a $12 pork ramen for lunch or just walking the bustling streets of a city of 14 million people.
Some like Ryan Smith, Sef Fa'agase, Josh Nasser and Co take in a culture stop by visiting Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine made even more peaceful by the surrounding forest.
"It's amazing to have such peace in the middle of a city this busy," Fa'agase says.
Separately, Les Kiss and his fellow coaches make the same visit.
Hilton explains “bushido”, the moral code of the samurai.
There are different codes but variations of integrity, respect, courage, honour, compassion, honesty and sincerity, loyalty and self-control are the attitudes.
Not bad pillars for a rugby team.
Tomorrow: Reds Tour Diary Part III
