Japan Squad for World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2019
On 17 July 2019, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced the 31-man Japan squad for the 2019 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.
Japan Squad for 2019 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup
| Name (Japan player number) | Club | DOB | Age | Hgt/Wgt | Caps |
| Keita INAGAKI (582) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 02/06/1990 | 29 | 186/116 | 25 |
| Yusuke KIZU (uncapped) | Toyota Verblitz | 02/12/1995 | 23 | 178/113 | – |
| Shogo MIURA (607) | Toyota Verblitz | 08/06/1995 | 24 | 180/113 | 5 |
| Asaeli Ai VALU (653) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 07/05/1989 | 30 | 187/115 | 5 |
| Atsushi SAKATE (604) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 21/06/1993 | 26 | 180/104 | 13 |
| Shota HORIE (530) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 21/01/1986 | 33 | 180/104 | 58 |
| Kosuke HORIKOSHI (647) | Suntory Sungoliath | 02/06/1995 | 24 | 175/100 | 2 |
| Luke THOMPSON (493) | Kintetsu Liners | 16/04/1981 | 38 | 196/110 | 64 |
| Wimpie van der WALT (652) | NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes | 06/01/1989 | 30 | 188/106 | 9 |
| Uwe HELU (621) | Yamaha Jubilo | 12/07/1990 | 29 | 193/113 | 11 |
| James MOORE (uncapped) | Munakata Sanix Blues | 11/06/1993 | 26 | 195/102 | – |
| Hendrik TUI (565) | Suntory Sungoliath | 13/12/1987 | 31 | 189/108 | 43 |
| Yoshitaka TOKUNAGA (638) | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 10/04/1992 | 27 | 185/100 | 10 |
| Shunsuke NUNOMAKI (631) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 13/07/1992 | 27 | 178/98 | 7 |
| Michael LEITCH (518) (c) | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 07/10/1988 | 30 | 190/110 | 59 |
| Pieter LABUSCHAGNE (uncapped) | Kubota Spears | 11/01/1989 | 30 | 189/105 | – |
| Kazuki HIMENO (651) | Toyota Verblitz | 27/07/1994 | 24 | 187/108 | 9 |
| Amanaki Lelei MAFI (580) | NTT Communications | 11/01/1990 | 29 | 189/112 | 22 |
| Kaito SHIGENO (616) | Toyota Verblitz | 21/11/1990 | 28 | 170/75 | 7 |
| Fumiaki TANAKA (510) | Canon Eagles | 03/01/1985 | 34 | 166/72 | 69 |
| Yutaka NAGARE (639) | Suntory Sungoliath | 04/09/1992 | 26 | 166/71 | 15 |
| Yu TAMURA (555) | Canon Eagles | 09/01/1989 | 30 | 181/92 | 54 |
| Rikiya MATSUDA (617) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 03/05/1994 | 25 | 181/92 | 16 |
| Kenki FUKUOKA (569) | Panasonic Wild Knights | 07/09/1992 | 26 | 175/83 | 30 |
| Ataata MOEAKIOLA (605) | Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers | 06/02/1996 | 23 | 185/114 | 3 |
| Lomano Lava LEMEKI (624) | Honda Heat | 20/01/1989 | 30 | 177/92 | 8 |
| William TUPOU (650) | Coca-Cola Red Sparks | 20/07/1990 | 28 | 188/101 | 6 |
| Ryoto NAKAMURA (573) | Suntory Sungoliath | 03/06/1991 | 28 | 178/92 | 16 |
| Timothy LAFAELE (629) | Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers | 19/08/1991 | 27 | 186/98 | 14 |
| Kotaro MATSUSHIMA (576) | Suntory Sungoliath | 26/02/1993 | 26 | 178/88 | 30 |
| Ryohei YAMANAKA (541) | Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers | 22/06/1988 | 31 | 188/95 | 12 |
Staff
| Position | Name | |
| High Performance Vice-chairman | Yuichiro Fujii | JRFU |
| Head Coach | Jamie Joseph | JRFU |
| Attack Coach | Tony Brown | JRFU |
| Defence Coach | Scott Hansen | JRFU |
| Scrum Coach | Shin Hasegawa | JRFU |
| S&C Coach | Simon Jones | JRFU |
| S&C Coach | Chihito Ota | Keio University |
| Team Doctor | Sohei Takamori | Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital |
| Performance Coordinator | Karl McDonald | JRFU |
| Physiotherapist | Hidenori Izawa | Dome Co., Ltd. |
| Physiotherapist | Junnosuke Aono | Secom Ruggets |
| Analyst | Andrew Watts | JRFU |
| Analyst | Shumpei Hamano | JRFU |
| Analyst | Takashi Toda | JRFU |
| Interpreter | Hidenori Sato | EHB International |
| Team Manager | Takenori Omura | JRFU |
| Assistant | Randle Yamamuro | JRFU |
Schedule
The World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2019 will be played over three weekends in late July and early August across four different countries. The six teams participating in the tournament are Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the USA.
Japan are in Pool B with three games against the teams from the opposing Pool A. In round one, Japan play Fiji at the Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture on Saturday, 27 July 2019. In round two, Japan play Tonga at the Higashiosaka Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka Prefecture on Saturday, 3 August 2019. In the third and final round, Japan travel to Fiji to play the USA at the ANZ Stadium in Suva on Saturday, 10 August 2019.
Later in the year at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Fiji will play Uruguay at Kamaishi in their Pool D match on 25 September, while Tonga will play Argentina in their Pool C match at Hanazono on 28 September.
| Round | Date | Team | Score | Team | Kick-off | Venue |
| One | Sat., 27 Jul. 2019 | Fiji | – | Japan | 2:50 pm | Kamaishi, Iwate |
| USA | – | Canada | 6:00 pm | Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado | ||
| Tonga | – | Samoa | 3:00 pm | Apia Park, Apia | ||
| Two | Sat., 03 Aug. 2019 | Tonga | – | Japan | 7:10 pm | Hanazono, Osaka |
| USA | – | Samoa | 2:30 pm | ANZ Stadium, Suva | ||
| Fiji | – | Canada | 5:15 pm | ANZ Stadium, Suva | ||
| Three | Fri., 09 Aug. 2019 | Tonga | – | Canada | 4:00 pm | Churchill Park, Lautoka |
| Sat., 10 Aug. 2019 | USA | – | Japan | 4:35 pm | ANZ Stadium, Suva | |
| Fiji | – | Samoa | 7:15 pm | ANZ Stadium, Suva |
| Pool A | P | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts |
| Fiji | |||||||
| Tonga | |||||||
| USA |
| Pool B | P | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts |
| Canada | |||||||
| Japan | |||||||
| Samoa |