Sakura Fifteen Secure Sixth Straight Asia Rugby Women’s Championship
The Sakura Fifteen have won the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship for a record sixth time in a row following their commanding 63-5 victory over Hong Kong China in the third and final round of this year’s competition. This followed their earlier, and equally dominant 90-0 defeat over Kazakhstan which gave Japan an impressive +148 positive points difference across their two tournament matches.
Hosted at JAPAN BASE – Japan Rugby’s high performance national training centre on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, the competition gave the Sakura Fifteen coaching team a valuable opportunity to broaden the depth of the squad ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Seven players where handed their first test caps across the two fixtures, while several emerging and fringe players with national team experience earned the opportunity to stake their claim for future national team honours.
Japan’s unbeaten record in the competition started in 2015 and ran until 2017. The tournament went into a four-year hiatus from 2018 to 2022, resuming again in 2023. The Sakura Fifteen picked up where they left off, winning all three competitions from 2023 to 2025.
Commenting following their win over Hong Kong China, Sakura Fifteen’s Acting Head Coach Keita Imada, who took over as coach temporarily for the tournament, said:
“I’ve been delighted by how the player’s hard work in training has been demonstrated in the strength and improvement they’ve shown across both matches. I’m very proud that they’ve continued to embody high-speed rugby with these wonderful performances and of the contribution of the entire team. We look forward to the continued support of our fans as the team works towards the World Cup.”
Captain Sakurako Korai added:
“Thank you to all the fans who turned up to support us despite the bad weather. I’m very happy that we were able to win both of our games. This is down to the strength of not only those who played, but also the powerful contribution of the support staff and wider squad members. As a team, we put pressure on ourselves at times through some mistakes in both matches, but we were able to embody the explosive speed of play we were aiming for while also working through our mistakes. From here, we will work hard to continue the growth of the team.”
2025 Asia Rugby Women’s Championship Results
| Round One | THU 15 MAY | Japan v Kazakhstan | 90-0 |
| Round Two | TUE 20 MAY | Hong Kong China v Kazakhstan | 29-12 |
| Round Three | SUN 25 MAY | Japan v Hong Kong China | 63-5 |