Is rugby changing the Japanese perception about tattoos ?

During the Rugby World Cup played in Japan, i had read in several newspapers that rugby players from all over the world had been asked to cover their tattoos during their stay, except during matches.

Subsequently, i had also read some articles saying that seeing tattoos on so many legendary players had started (or at least contributed) to opening a small breach in Japanese culture regarding the socio-cultural opinion on tattoos.

Yesterday i watched the rugby match between Italy and Japan: in this regard, congratulations to the Brave Blossoms who absolutely deserved the victory against us.

During the match, i noticed several tattooed Italian players but this is normal, instead i was surprised to see a tattooed player of the Japanese team (think i also saw a second one).

Since from what i know rugby is a sport whose popularity is increasing in Japan, i wondered if the extreme widespread presence of tattoos in the world of rugby could somehow be contributing to a change in the Japanese perception of the tattoo itself understood as a symbol

PS: what is the actual current state of rugby's popularity in Japan ? Some sources say that it peaked during the World Cup but then there was a decline, other sources claim that the sport is nevertheless slowly growing in popularity and that it could soon become the third most played team sport in Japanese schools after baseball and soccer