Japan Team Announced to Take on Wales

Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has today announced the Sakura Fifteen Team to take on Wales this Sunday, November 7 at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff.

Commenting ahead of the match, Lesley McKenzie said:

“It’s a huge opportunity for us to play the three Celtic nations, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. They’re all incredibly proud teams, from proud rugby cultures and playing them away will be a formidable challenge. We are looking towards next year’s World Cup in New Zealand and have brought a lot of new players into the group. We’re building a robust squad with players capable of competing for World Cup spots. These three matches will provide invaluable experience and we couldn’t be more excited.

“As a group we’re in a very positive place. The support of the JRFU and our high-performance department has enabled us to have the number of camps and spend the number of days together to prepare for this tour. The opportunities we’ve had is a real mark of the investment in the future of women’s rugby. I feel very lucky to be at the head of the program at a time when there has been so much focus and investment in the women’s game.”

No.	Name	DOB	cm	kg	Club Team	Caps
1	Saki MINAMI	1995/11/18	163	72	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	16
2	Nijiho NAGATA	2000/12/06	163	77	International Budo Univ.	0
3	Yuka SADAKA	1994/11/02	167	91	Nagoya Ladies R.F.C.	5
4	Ayano SAKURAI	1996/04/15	167	72	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	15
5	Yuna SATO	1998/09/11	170	75	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	2
6	Seina SAITO	1992/05/30	164	67	MIE WOMEN’S RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB PEARLS	23
7	Iroha NAGATA	1998/12/21	167	70	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	7
8	Ayano NAGAI	1997/10/14	169	86	YOKOHAMA TKM	2
9	Megumi ABE	1998/04/28	147	53	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	2
10	Minori YAMAMOTO	1996/12/09	168	72	Worcester Warriors Women	14
11	Hinano NAGURA	1997/03/22	170	71	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	2
12	Shione NAKAYAMA	1999/01/18	167	70	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	2
13	Mana FURUTA	1997/11/16	167	68	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	6
14	Noriko TANIGUCHI	1992/09/07	166	66	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	5
15	Ria ANOKU	1996/10/02	160	57	MIE WOMEN’S RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB PEARLS	2
16	Ayumu KOKAJI	2000/11/24	160	80	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	3
17	Sachiko KATO	2000/02/19	164	78	Exeter Chiefs Women	6
18	Makoto LAVEMAI	1997/07/02	164	67	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	9
19	Kie TAMAI	1992/10/24	168	76	MIE WOMEN’S RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB PEARLS	4
20	Yuki ITO	1996/10/24	163	64	MIE WOMEN’S RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB PEARLS	5
21	Moe TSUKUI	2000/03/28	153	53	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars /Aoyama Gakuin Univ.	13
22	Komachi IMAKUGI	2002/01/06	157	56	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA /Rissho Univ.	2
23	Kanako KOBAYASHI	1998/11/13	162	70	Exeter Chiefs Women	2