Joseph Leads Top League Side Against Sunwolves

KITAKYUSHU (Feb. 17) – Japan national team coach Jamie Joseph said Friday he was confident the Top League All Stars could put in a good performance against the Sunwolves on Saturday.

Joseph, who oversees all aspects of Japanese rugby including the Sunwolves, is in charge of the All-Star side, which like the Super Rugby franchise, features a number of players who “are able to play for Japan at some stage in the next three years.”

“If we can get the ball and play well who knows what will happen,” Joseph said when asked how he thought his exciting backline could perform.

Keisuke Uchida and Hikaru Tamura line up at halfback with Derek Carpenter and Andre Taylor in the centres, Akihito Yamada and Karne Hesketh on the wings and Jamie-Jerry Taulagi at fullback.

“It’s going to be a fast expansive game with a lot of running rugby,” Joseph said.

Sunwolves coach Filo Tiatia said he expected the nine Sunwolves players in the Top League side to use the occasion to show what they are capable of.

“It’s a great chance for them to enjoy and express themselves. We are playing a good opposition and I am looking forward to it.”

The game is the first of any kind to be played at the brand new Mikuni World Stadium.

The stadium will host the Japan leg of the Women’s World Sevens Series on April 22-23.

“The stadium has a really good feel to it,” Joseph said. “It’s not too big and fans can really see and experience what is going on on the field.”

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HITO-Communications Sunwolves: 1- Masataka Mikami (Toshiba), 2- Shota Horie (Panasonic), 3- Heiichiro Ito (Yamaha), 4- Liaki Moli, 5- Naohiro Kotaki (Toshiba), 6- Willem Britz (NTT Communications), 7- Kin Sho-Kei (NTT Communications), 8- Edward Quirk (c), 9- Kaito Shigeno (NEC), 10- Hayden Cripps (Tokyo Gas), 11- Takaaki Nakazuru (Suntory), 12- Timothy Lafaele (Coca-Cola), 13- William Tupou (Coca-Cola), 14- Teruya Goto (NEC) and 15- Riaan Viljoen (NTT Docomo). Reserves: 16- Takeshi Hino (Yamaha), 17- Koki Yamamoto (Yamaha), 18- Takuma Asahara (Toshiba), 19- Koo Ji-Won (Takushoku University, 20- Malgene Ilaua (Toshiba), 21- Shuhei Matsuhashi (Ricoh), 22- Fumiaki Tanaka (Panasonic), 23- Harumichi Tatekawa (Kubota), 24- Shota Emi (Suntory) and 25- Jumpei Ogura (NTT Communications).

Top League All Stars: 1- Kohei Asahori (Toyota), 2- Yusuke Niwai (Canon), 3- Yasuo Yamaji (Canon), 4- Yuya Odo (Yamaha), 5- Kotaro Yatabe (Panasonic), 6- Yoshitaka Tokunaga (Toshiba), 7- Yuhimaru Mimura (Yamaha), 8- Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco (NTT Communications), 9- Keisuke Uchida (Panasonic), 10- Hikaru Tamura (Toshiba), 11- Karne Hesketh (Sanix), 12- Derek Carpenter (Suntory), 13- Andre Taylor (Kintetsu), 14- Akihito Yamada (Panasonic) (c) and 15- Jamie Jerry Taulagi (Sanix). Reserves: 16- Atsushi Sakate (Panasonic), 17- Shuntaro Ishihara (Suntory), 18- Takayuki Watanabe (Tokai University), 19- Ryuichiro Fukutsubo (Sanix), 20- Yoshiya Hosoda (NEC), 21- Naoki Ozawa (Suntory), 22- Yutaka Nagare (Suntory), 23- Rikiya Matsuda (Teikyo University) and 24- Ryohei Yamanaka (Kobe).