Sakura Fifteen Team Announced for Italy Test
Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has today named her Sakura Fifteen team to face Italy in their one-off tour match on Saturday, September 14 at Stadio Walter Beltrametti in the northern Italian town of Piacenza. Kicking off at 14:00 local Italian time (21:00 JST), the match will be available to stream live via Italy Rugby’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fSHyHeBca8.
McKenzie will be hoping history can repeat itself following Japan’s 24-25 victory over Le Azzurre last year in Palma. That fixture was played as a one-off warm up before both teams departed for World Rugby’s inaugural WXV2 tournament in South Africa. The same will happen this year, with both sides departing for the tournament following the match, however unlike last year, they’re not due to face each other down in South Africa.
Captained by openside flanker Iroha Nagata, the Sakura Fifteen will welcome one new debutant into their matchday 23, with Anan Seo from Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix named on the bench as the reserve halfback. The match will also see a significant milestone for Mana Furuta, with the hard running outside centre set to earn her 30th test cap for Japan.
Commenting on the team announcement, Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie said:
“We’ve had a great week here in Piacenza. The girls have been prepping really well and we’re looking forward to the game. Italy is a team we’re starting to develop some history with, so the team is really looking forward to playing them again this weekend.
“Italy have picked a team really consistent to their teams of past years. They’re similar to us in terms of player numbers. They don’t have an extensive domestic competition, so a lot of their top players play in the French and English professional leagues. There are not too many surprises in their roster, apart from a couple of new faces.”
Following their match against Le Azzurre, Japan depart for Cape Town to begin preparations for their opening WXV2 match against South Africa on Friday, September 27 at 16:00 local South African time (23:00 JST). Japan then face Scotland on Saturday, October 5 at 14:00 local time (21:00 JST) and Wales on Friday, October 11 at 16:00 local time (23:00 JST).
Their match against South Africa will take place at the iconic DHL Stadium, a stunning, 55,000 capacity venue located in central Cape Town. Matches two and three will be held at Athlone Sports Stadium, just outside of central Cape Town.
Fans looking to catch the action from South Africa, along with all the WXV1 and WXV3 matches taking place in Canada and Dubai respectively, will be delighted that the entire tournament will be broadcast on RugbyPass TV, World Rugby’s global streaming platform.
Team List:
| No | Name | Club | Affiliation | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Sachiko KATO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | SECOM CO., LTD. | 164 | 90 | 2000/2/19 | 24 |
| 2 | Kotomi TANIGUCHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NKS Corp | 163 | 75 | 1995/4/10 | 19 |
| 3 | Nijiho NAGATA | MIE PEARLS | SEIBUNSHA Co., Ltd. | 162 | 80 | 2000/12/6 | 22 |
| 4 | Yuna SATO | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 170 | 76 | 1998/9/11 | 16 |
| 5 | Otoka YOSHIMURA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Saitamaken Shinkin Bank. | 174 | 83 | 2001/5/15 | 21 |
| 6 | Masami KAWAMURA | – | － | 173 | 75 | 1999/7/13 | 15 |
| 7 | Iroha NAGATA (C) | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd. | 168 | 70 | 1998/12/21 | 33 |
| 8 | Jennifer NDUKA | Hokkaido Barbarians Diana | Medical System Network | 168 | 80 | 2000/10/18 | 7 |
| 9 | Moe TSUKUI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | LIBEST Corp. | 153 | 53 | 2000/3/28 | 34 |
| 10 | Minori YAMAMOTO | YOKOHAMA TKM | － | 169 | 70 | 1996/12/9 | 31 |
| 11 | Komachi IMAKUGI | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | OKINAYA Co.,Ltd. | 158 | 60 | 2002/1/6 | 25 |
| 12 | Ayasa OTSUKA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Inose Logistics Service Co., Ltd. | 163 | 65 | 1999/5/5 | 27 |
| 13 | Mana FURUTA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | NTT Facilities Inc. | 167 | 70 | 1997/11/16 | 29 |
| 14 | Mele Yua Havili KAGAWA | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | CellSource Co., Ltd. | 171 | 75 | 2001/9/29 | 1 |
| 15 | Sora NISHIMURA | MIE PEARLS | Choko Co.，Ltd. | 167 | 68 | 2000/9/29 | 13 |
| 16 | Hinata KOMAKI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 165 | 78 | 2001/5/9 | 16 |
| 17 | Asuka KUGE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Goto Hygine Consultant | 164 | 78 | 1994/9/22 | 14 |
| 18 | Wako KITANO | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems | 167 | 92 | 1999/9/8 | 14 |
| 19 | Sakurako KORAI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 168 | 73 | 2003/4/9 | 15 |
| 20 | Kyoko HOSOKAWA | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems,Ltd. | 164 | 73 | 1999/7/8 | 12 |
| 21 | Ayano NAGAI | YOKOHAMA TKM | Yokohama Mirai Healthcare System | 168 | 92 | 1997/10/14 | 25 |
| 22 | Anan SEO | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | OSP HOLDINGS CO., LTD. | 155 | 59 | 2001/7/16 | 0 |
| 23 | Misaki MATSUMURA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Waseda Univ. | 169 | 72 | 2005/3/6 | 7 |