Sakura Fifteen Squad Announced for USA Tour
The Japan Rugby Football Union is delighted to announce the Sakura Fifteen squad for their tour to the USA. Featuring 29 core squad players and five additional ‘training players’, the Sakura Fifteen will be on tour in the USA from April 12 to 28.
The tour will see Japan play a test match against the USA Women’s Eagles on Saturday, April 26 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles. Kicking off at 17:30 local time (09:30 JST Sunday, April 27 Japan time), the fixture will be part of a double-header alongside the Major League Rugby, all-Californian derby featuring home side, Rugby FC Los Angeles taking on San Diego Legion.
Going into a Rugby World Cup year, Sakura Fifteens Head Coach, Lesley McKenzie has picked an experienced and settled squad, with an average of 19 test caps across the 29-member core squad. Young halfback, Arisa Nishi is the only uncapped player to make the squad following her selection in the Sakura Sevens in 2024, which she capped off with a call-up to Japan’s 2024 Olympic squad for the Paris Olympics.
Commenting last month upon the announcement of the tour, Sakura Fifteens Head Coach, Lesley McKenzie said:
“I anticipate a really good match from the Eagles. We didn’t perform at our best last year when we hosted them in Japan. We know what we are looking for from our own game, and we’ll keep those things to ourselves. The test in Los Angeles will be a real examination for us, and at an essential level of challenge in a World Cup year.”
Japan’s 2025 tour to the USA follows the Eagles two-match tour to Japan last summer. The Sakura Fifteen came the closest they had ever come to beating the USA with a 17-all draw in the first test in Fukuoka. This was followed by another close match the following week in Shizuoka, where Japan narrowly fell short, losing the second test 8-11.
With the Women’s Rugby World Cup kicking off in England this August, the match in Los Angeles will serve as a major test for both teams as they look to launch their international seasons in the best possible way.
Japan, currently ranked 11th in World Rugby’s global standings, are still chasing their first victory over a USA side placed eighth in the world. While the Eagles recorded a commanding 121-0 win in their first-ever meeting at Rugby World Cup 1994 in Scotland, the Sakura Fifteen have shown steady progress across their three subsequent encounters.
Prior to last year’s home series, Japan last faced the USA in 2022 at Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, where they went down 17-30. That performance reflected the significant gains in the Sakura Fifteen’s ability to contend with the physicality and size of a USA team that was among the earliest national sides to transition into a high-performance environment.
Japan’s performances at home in 2025 further underlined how much the gap has narrowed. The challenge now will be to rise to the occasion once again, for the first time on American soil, against a fired-up Eagles outfit.
Sakura Fifteen 2025 USA Tour Squad
| Name | Club Team | Company/School | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Megumi ABE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | RDC Co.,Ltd. | 147 | 55 | 1998/4/28 | 28 |
| Nao ANDO | BRAVE LOUVE | Valuence Holdings Inc. | 169 | 64 | 2001/7/17 | 9 |
| Komachi IMAKUGI | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | OKINAYA Co., Ltd. | 158 | 60 | 2002/1/6 | 29 |
| Mele Yua Havili KAGAWA | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | CellSource Co., Ltd. | 171 | 75 | 2001/9/29 | 2 |
| Sachiko KATO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | SECOM CO., LTD. | 164 | 90 | 2000/2/19 | 28 |
| Masami KAWAMURA | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | Samko Gakuen Tokyo Resort & Sports vocational school | 173 | 75 | 1999/7/13 | 19 |
| Wako KITANO | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems | 167 | 92 | 1999/9/8 | 18 |
| Asuka KUGE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Goto Hygiene Consultant | 164 | 78 | 1994/9/22 | 18 |
| Sakurako KORAI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 168 | 73 | 2003/4/9 | 17 |
| Ayumu KOKAJI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | OSP Holdings co., ltd. | 160 | 80 | 2000/11/24 | 8 |
| Kanako KOBAYASHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars/ Exeter Chiefs | Shonan Kamakura General Hospital | 164 | 68 | 1998/11/13 | 17 |
| Hinata KOMAKI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 165 | 78 | 2001/5/9 | 17 |
| Ayano SAKURAI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NTT Facilities Inc. | 167 | 73 | 1996/4/15 | 20 |
| Yuna SATO | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 170 | 76 | 1998/9/11 | 20 |
| Kotomi TANIGUCHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NKS Corp | 163 | 75 | 1995/4/10 | 23 |
| Moe TSUKUI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | LIBEST Corp. | 153 | 53 | 2000/3/28 | 38 |
| Iroha NAGATA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd. | 168 | 70 | 1998/12/21 | 37 |
| Nijiho NAGATA | MIE PEARLS | SEIBUNSHA Co., Ltd. | 162 | 80 | 2000/12/6 | 26 |
| Arisa NISHI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Rikkyo Univ. | 165 | 62 | 2004/5/29 | 0 |
| Sora NISHIMURA | MIE PEARLS | Choko Co.，Ltd. | 167 | 68 | 2000/9/29 | 17 |
| Haruka HIROTSU | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | Kyushu Fuundo Sales Co., Ltd. | 169 | 71 | 2000/10/29 | 13 |
| Mana FURUTA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | NTT Facilities Inc. | 167 | 70 | 1997/11/16 | 33 |
| Kyoko HOSOKAWA | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems,Ltd. | 164 | 73 | 1999/7/8 | 14 |
| Miharu MACHIDA | Japan Univ..of Economics | Japan Univ..of Economics | 172 | 90 | 2004/5/26 | 1 |
| Rinka MATSUDA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Toppan Inc. | 171 | 74 | 2001/12/5 | 11 |
| Manami MINE | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 163 | 77 | 2003/9/11 | 10 |
| Minori YAMAMOTO | YOKOHAMA TKM | – | 169 | 70 | 1996/12/9 | 34 |
| Otoka YOSHIMURA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Saitamaken Shinkin Bank. | 174 | 83 | 2001/5/15 | 25 |
| Jennifer NDUKA | Hokkaido Barbarians Diana | Medical System Network | 168 | 80 | 2000/10/18 | 11 |
Additional Training Members
| Name | Club Team | Company/School | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Ayasa OTSUKA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | One Logistics Co., Ltd. | 163 | 65 | 1999/5/5 | 31 |
| Sakurako HATADA | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 160 | 67 | 2003/5/8 | 6 |
| Misaki MATSUMURA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Waseda Univ. | 169 | 72 | 2005/3/6 | 10 |
| Kotono YASUO | BRAVE LOUVE | Valuence Holdings Inc. | 156 | 60 | 2001/10/2 | 11 |
| Mei YOSHIMOTO | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | Chikushino Smile Shiika Syonishika Iiin | 168 | 70 | 2002/3/21 | 2 |
Japan vs USA Past Results:
August 17, 2024 (L) 8-11 Fukuoka, Japan
August 11, 2024 (D) 17-17 Fukuoka, Japan
October 15, 2022 (L) 17-30 Whangarei, New Zealand (RWC)
April 15, 1994 (L) 0-121 Melrose, Scotland (RWC)