Top League Profiles 2018-2019: Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles
2018-2019 Introduction: In the 2017-2018 season, Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles finished twelfth overall on the final Japan Rugby Top League table.
The Shuttles finished second to last in 2016-2017 and although the team moved ahead last year, head coach Leon Holden will be looking for a vast improvement in the on-field performances this year. The experienced local representative players such as props Yusuke Nagae and Naoki Kawamata, centre Katsuyuki Sakai and wing Hajime Yamashita will be the cement that hold the Toyota campaign together this season. Meanwhile, the foreign players such as former Wallabies and Brumbies lock Peter Kimlin, former Springbok centre JJ Engelbrecht and playmakers Sam Greene and Christian Leali’ifano will have to ignite the sparks that create the wins.
The Coach: New Zealander Leon Holden is in his second year as head coach at Toyota Industries for the 2018-2019 season.
The Captain: Flanker Scott Fuglistaller and centre Hitoshi Matsumoto are co-captains at Toyota Industries in the 2018-2019 season.
The 2018-19 Squad: (45) the list starts with captain and vice-captains and continues through forwards and backs in order from props to fullbacks. All Japanese family names come last.
Scott Fuglistaller (co-c), Hitoshi Matsumoto (co-c). Forwards: Yusuke Nagae, Yuki Namioka, Yusuke Yamada, Naoki Kawamata, Nobuhisa Takahashi, Hyosuke Watanabe, Ken Mizuno, Hikaru Ishizawa, Tomoya Watanabe, Hiroki Murakawa, Shota Hirono, Hirotaka Hirabara, Tsuyoshi Matsuoka, Yuji Hasegawa, Toshiki Fujii, Cayden Neville, Taishi Nakamura, Kento Takeuchi, Yuta Isobe, Ryosei Kohara, Finau Phillip Searle, Takuya Takeuchi, Socieni Tokoqio and Peter Kimlin. Backs: Daiki Konishi, Ryoya Shimohira, Takahiro Kimura, Jono Hickey, Manato Hasegawa, Yasunori Katagiri, Sam Greene, Christian Leali’ifano, Joseph Vaka, Wataru Kawai, Katsuyuki Sakai, Ben Saunders, Shin Ohashi, Sifa Risale, Tevita Taufu’i, Takashi Toyomae, Kento Matsui, Hajime Yamashita and Yuki Omichi. Coach: Leon Holden (47).