Sakura Fifteen Team Announced for USA Eagles Clash

Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has named her Sakura Fifteen team to face the USA Women’s Eagles in their one-off test match 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.  

Being Japan’s first test match in what will be a hugely important, Rugby World Cup year, McKenzie has picked an experienced and settled team, with an average of 21 test caps across her matchday 23. She will no doubt be looking for the leaders in the team to front up against a fired-up Eagles side eager to put their best foot forward for their season, in front of their home fans.

Captained by openside flanker Iroha Nagata, the Sakura Fifteen will welcome one new debutant in their matchday 23, with Nana Tarekado named on the bench as a reserve back. The match will also see a significant milestone for Komachi Imakugi, who is set to earn her 30^th cap on the left wing.

During the Eagles’ two-match tour to Japan last summer, the Sakura Fifteen came the closest they had ever come to beating the USA. Their first match in Fukuoka finished in a 17-all draw which they then followed with a narrow 8-11 loss the following weekend in Shizuoka.

While having never tasted victory over the USA, Japan’s performances at home in 2024 underlined just how much the gap between the two teams has narrowed. The challenge this weekend will be to once again rise to the occasion, against a motivated Eagles outfit playing on home soil.

The match will be broadcast live on J Sports 4 from 09:20 JST on Sunday, 27 April. It will also be streamed live, and via catch up via J Sports On-Demand.

Sakura Fifteen Team List:

	Name	Team	Company	Height(cm)	Weight(kg)	DOB	Cap
1	Sachiko KATO	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	SECOM CO., LTD.	164	90	2000/2/19	28
2	Asuka KUGE	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Goto Hygine Consultant	164	78	1994/9/22	18
3	Wako KITANO	MIE PEARLS	Sumitomo Wiring Systems	167	92	1999/9/8	18
4	Yuna SATO	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Sankyu Inc.	170	76	1998/9/11	20
5	Otoka YOSHIMURA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Saitamaken Shinkin Bank.	174	83	2001/5/15	25
6	Masami KAWAMURA	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	Sanko Gakuen Tokyo Resort & Sports vocational school	173	75	1999/7/13	19
7	Iroha NAGATA (C)	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd.	168	70	1998/12/21	37
8	Jennifer NDUKA	Hokkaido Barbarians Diana	Medical System Network	168	80	2000/10/18	11
9	Moe TSUKUI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	LIBEST Corp.	153	53	2000/3/28	38
10	Minori YAMAMOTO	YOKOHAMA TKM	－	169	70	1996/12/9	34
11	Komachi IMAKUGI	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	OKINAYA Co.,Ltd.	158	60	2002/1/6	29
12	Haruka HIROTSU	Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA	Kyushu Fuundou Sales Co., Ltd.	169	71	2000/10/29	13
13	Mana FURUTA	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	NTT Facilities Inc.	167	70	1997/11/16	33
14	Rinka MATSUDA	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	TOPPAN Inc.	171	74	2001/12/5	11
15	Sora NISHIMURA	MIE PEARLS	Choko Co.，Ltd.	167	68	2000/9/29	17
16	Kotomi TANIGUCHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	NKS Corp	163	75	1995/4/10	23
17	Hinata KOMAKI	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Sankyu Inc.	165	78	2001/5/9	17
18	Nijiho NAGATA	MIE PEARLS	SEIBUNSHA Co., Ltd.	162	80	2000/12/6	26
19	Ayano SAKURAI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	NTT Facilities Inc.	167	73	1996/4/15	20
20	Sakurako KORAI	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	168	73	2003/4/9	17
21	Megumi ABE	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	RDC Co.,Ltd.	147	55	1998/4/28	28
22	Nao ANDO	BRAVE LOUVE	Valuence Holdings Int.	169	64	2001/7/17	9
23	Nana TAREKADO	Nippon Univ. of Economics	Nippon Univ. of Economics	167	74	2004/7/27	0