Sakura Fifteen’s Squad Announced for Tour Downunder

The Japan Rugby Football Union is pleased to announce the Japan Women’s National Team squad for their upcoming tour to Australia. The tour will see the Sakura Fifteen play a test match each against both Fiji and Australia, as well as a non-test match fixture against an Australian Barbarians side.

Captained by Saki Minami, the 37 member squad includes front-row forward Makoto Lavemai and center Mana Furuta, both of whom play in Australia’s Super W competition with the Canberra Brumbies. With the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand kicking off in October and with an eye towards developing future talent, the squad also includes 10 new debutants who will be competing for their first test caps on tour.

Lesley McKenzie, Sakura Fifteen’s Head Coach commented:

“We learned a lot in our November test matches, we had opportunities to see what works and what doesn’t and now we’re moving forward and that is what really important.

Our Australian tour is compiled of three games to a level that we cannot find here in Japan and there’s nothing better than that. It’s a great opportunity to take the team overseas and prepare for a high level competition.

With ten uncapped players in the squad, I’m excited to see what the new talent can bring to the team and am I’m really impressed with these young players for raising their hands for a spot at the Rugby World Cup.

It’s been very exciting watching the Fijiana team at Super W take control of some great games. Playing against some of those players is an aspect that I’m really looking forward to and it’ll be a huge challenge for us.”

The Sakura Fifteen will depart Japan on April 18 and return on May 13. They will play their test matches against Fiji on Sunday, May 1, and Australia on Tuesday, May 10, with both fixtures taking place at Bond University on the Gold Coast. The team will play their non-test match fixture against the Australian Barbarians on Friday, May 6 at Wests Bulldogs Rugby Memorial Park in Brisbane. Kick-off times for all three matches will be announced in due course.

Position	Name	Club Team	cm	ｋｇ	D・O・B	caps
PR	SACHIKO KATO	Exeter Chiefs Women/YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	164	87	2000/02/19	9
PR	HINATA KOMAKI	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	166	76	2001/05/09	1
PR	YUKA SADAKA	Hirosaki sakura ovals	167	91	1994/11/02	6
PR	SAKI MINAMI (C)	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	163	70	1995/11/18	19
PR	MAKOTO LAVEMAI	Brumbies/YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	163	70	1997/07/02	11
PR/LO	MIO NISHIMURA	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	169	82	2002/11/29	－
HO	ASUKA KUGE	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	163	75	1994/09/22	－
HO	KOTOMI TANIGUCHI	MIE PEARLS	163	74	1995/04/10	1
HO	NIJIHO NAGATA	International Budo Univ.	162	79	2000/12/06	3
HO/ Back Row	MEI JIZODO	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	163	73	2002/01/30	－
LO	MASAMI KAWAMURA	RKU GRACE	173	70	1999/07/13	－
LO	YUNA SATO	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	170	75	1998/09/11	4
LO	MAKI TAKANO	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	170	77	1995/08/17	12
LO	KIE TAMAI	MIE PEARLS	168	78	1992/10/24	7
LO	OTOKA YOSHIMURA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA/ Rissho Univ.	174	83	2001/05/15	1
Back Row	YUKI ITO	MIE PEARLS	163	63	1996/10/24	8
Back Row	SAKURAKO KORAI	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	167	67	2003/04/09	－
Back Row	SEINA SAITO	MIE PEARLS	164	72	1992/05/30	26
Back Row	MISAKI SUZUKI	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	164	66	1992/04/09	25
Back Row	AYANO NAGAI	YOKOHAMA TKM	168	83	1997/10/14	5
Back Row	IROHA NAGATA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	167	70	1998/12/21	10
Back Row	SAKURAKO HATADA	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	161	65	2003/05/08	－
Back Row	KYOKO HOSOKAWA	MIE PEARLS	164	70	1999/07/08	4
Back Row	MATEITOGA BOGIDRAUMAINADAVE	MIE PEARLS	170	96	1984/06/06	11
SH	MEGUMI ABE	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	147	53	1998/04/28	5
SH	MOE TSUKUI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	153	53	2000/03/28	16
SO	KOMACHI IMAKUGI	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA/ Rissho Univ.	158	62	2002/01/06	4
SO	AYASA OTSUKA	RKU GRACE	163	60	1999/05/05	4
SO	KOTONO YASUO	BRAVE LOUVE	156	61	2001/10/02	－
WTB	MIKASA ISOGAI	Nagato Blue Angels	165	66	1995/11/12	－
WTB	HINANO NAGURA	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	170	75	1997/03/22	5
CTB/WTB	RIHO KUROGI	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	165	65	1998/05/02	10
CTB/WTB	RINKA MATSUDA	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	170	75	2001/12/05	－
CTB	SHIONE NAKAYAMA	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	166	70	1999/01/18	3
CTB	MANA FURUTA	Brumbies/Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	167	69	1997/11/16	9
FB	RIA ANOKU	MIE PEARLS	160	60	1996/10/02	4
FB	SORA NISHIMURA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA/Rissho Univ.	167	68	2000/09/29	－
FB	AI HIRAYAMA	JSDF Physical Training School	156	61	1992/05/07	3