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        

 

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