Sakura Fifteen Rugby World Cup Squad Announced
The Japan Rugby Football Union has today announced the 32 players and team staff making up the Japan Women’s National Team that will compete at Rugby World Cup 2025 in England. Kicking off on Friday, August 22 when hosts England take on the USA, this year’s tournament promises to be the biggest ever for the women’s game.
Drawn in Pool C, Japan are set to face Ireland, Spain and six-time RWC Champions and current two-time defending Champions, New Zealand. The Sakura Fifteen will be looking to put in their strongest ever World Cup performance, with reaching the Quarter Finals and making the last-eight being the stated aim of the team.
The Sakura Fifteen will depart Japan for Italy on August 2 where they will play Le Azzurre in a warm-up test on Saturday, August 9 in Calvisano, 100 kilometres east of Milan. They will then head to England for their pre-World Cup camp as they make their final preparations for their must-win opening Pool C match against Ireland on Sunday, August 24 at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton.
They will then face New Zealand at Sandy Park in Exeter, on England’s South Coast, before heading north for their final pool match against Spain in York, at York Community Stadium. If they make it out of their pool, they will return to Sandy Park in Exeter for the Quarter Finals. The two Semi Finals will be held at Ashton Gate in Bristol, with the Final and Third Place Play-Off to be played at Twickenham, the home of English Rugby.
With an unbeaten, five-match winning streak in 2025, including their first ever win over the USA and a two-match home series win over their Pool C rivals Spain, the Sakura Fifteen depart Japan well prepared and full of confidence. Their away match against Italy will provide a stern test ahead of what will be three hugely challenging Pool C matchups.
Captained by 39-cap veteran Iroha Nagata, the 32-member squad consists of 18 forwards and 14 backs. It combines a solid mix of experience and leadership, with an average of 23 test caps per player across the squad. This includes 12 players with 25 caps or more, while only three players hold less than 10 caps. This level of experience is a notable feature of Japan’s 2025 World Cup squad, with the Sakura Fifteen benefiting from the expanded annual test match calendar since the introduction of World Rugby’s WXV tournament in 2023.
Speaking at a press conference when the squad was announced at Tokyo’s famous Meiji Kinenkan, Sakura Fifteen Head Coach Lesley McKenzie commented:
“I’m immensely proud to announce this squad. It’s been three years since this World Cup cycle began and thanks to the support of the JRFU, the new competitions from World Rugby and the work, dedication and passion of the players and staff, we’re a very different team than when we set out three years ago. The challenge that lies ahead is a little more familiar, yet it’s no less exciting. It’s starting to get very tangible as we leave next week for the Italy warm-up.
“We’ve got a fairly tough pool sequence in that we start with Ireland who have in two years gone from the third tier to the first tier of the WXV competition. They’ve grown in leaps and bounds over the last two years, including beating New Zealand last year. They will be our toughest challenge and our benchmark for success in terms of working towards a Quarter Final spot.
“Following Ireland, we will play the Black Ferns who are two-time defending Champions, which is enough to put a spark up any training week. We then finish our pool against Spain who have just been here in Japan for two weeks and you can see how rapidly they progressed from the first game to the second. We’re anticipating really challenging, high quality and determined opposition in the pool phase, which is exciting and will offer a real spectacle. These matches are going to be some real hallmarks of what women’s World Cup rugby looks like.”
Sakura Fifteen Rugby World Cup 2025 Squad
(C) Captain
| Position | Name | Club Team | Company/School | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Caps |
| PR | Sachiko KATO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | SECOM CO., LTD. | 164 | 90 | 2000/2/19 | 29 |
| PR | Wako KITANO | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems | 167 | 92 | 1999/9/8 | 21 |
| PR | Hinata KOMAKI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 165 | 78 | 2001/5/9 | 21 |
| PR | Nijiho NAGATA | MIE PEARLS | SEIBUNSHA Co., Ltd. | 162 | 80 | 2000/12/6 | 29 |
| PR | Miharu MACHIDA | Japan Univ. of Economics | Japan Univ. of Economics | 172 | 90 | 2004/5/26 | 3 |
| PR | Manami MINE | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 163 | 77 | 2003/9/11 | 11 |
| HO | Asuka KUGE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Goto Hygiene Consultant | 164 | 78 | 1994/9/22 | 21 |
| HO | Ayumu KOKAJI | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | OSP Holdings co., ltd. | 160 | 80 | 2000/2/19 | 11 |
| HO | Kotomi TANIGUCHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NKS Corp | 163 | 75 | 1995/4/10 | 25 |
| LO | Ayano SAKURAI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NTT Facilities Inc. | 167 | 73 | 1996/4/15 | 22 |
| LO | Yuna SATO | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Sankyu Inc. | 170 | 76 | 1998/9/11 | 23 |
| LO | Otoka YOSHIMURA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Saitamaken Shinkin Bank. | 174 | 83 | 2001/5/15 | 28 |
| BR | Masami KAWAMURA | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | Samko Gakuen Tokyo Resort & Sports vocational school | 173 | 75 | 1999/7/13 | 21 |
| BR | Sakurako KORAI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 168 | 73 | 2003/4/9 | 21 |
| BR | Seina SAITO | MIE PEARLS | Eiwatech Co.,Ltd. | 164 | 72 | 1992/5/30 | 49 |
| BR | Iroha NAGATA (C) | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd. | 168 | 70 | 1998/12/21 | 39 |
| BR | Kyoko HOSOKAWA | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. | 164 | 71 | 1999/7/8 | 17 |
| BR | Jennifer NDUKA | Hokkaido Barbarians Diana | Medical System Network | 168 | 80 | 2000/10/18 | 14 |
| SH | Megumi ABE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | RDC Co.,Ltd. | 147 | 55 | 1998/4/28 | 31 |
| SH | Moe TSUKUI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | LIBEST Corp. | 153 | 53 | 2000/3/28 | 41 |
| SO | Ayasa OTSUKA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | One Logistics Co., Ltd. | 163 | 65 | 1999/5/5 | 35 |
| SO | Minori YAMAMOTO | YOKOHAMA TKM | – | 169 | 70 | 1996/12/9 | 37 |
| CTB | Nao ANDO | BRAVE LOUVE | Valuence Holdings Inc. | 169 | 64 | 2001/7/17 | 12 |
| CTB | Kanako KOBAYASHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | Shonan Kamakura General Hospital | 164 | 68 | 1998/11/13 | 20 |
| CTB | Sakurako HATADA | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 161 | 65 | 2003/5/8 | 8 |
| CTB | Mana FURUTA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | NTT Facilities Inc. | 167 | 70 | 1997/11/16 | 35 |
| CTB | Haruka HIROTSU | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | Kyushu Fuundo Sales Co., Ltd. | 169 | 71 | 2000/10/29 | 16 |
| WTB | Komachi IMAKUGI | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | OKINAYA Co.,Ltd. | 158 | 60 | 2002/1/6 | 30 |
| WTB | Mele Yua Havili KAGAWA | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | CellSource Co., Ltd. | 171 | 75 | 2001/9/29 | 5 |
| WTB | Misaki MATSUMURA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Waseda Univ. | 169 | 72 | 2005/3/6 | 12 |
| FB | Sora NISHIMURA | MIE PEARLS | Choko Co.，Ltd. | 167 | 68 | 2000/9/29 | 20 |
| FB | Rinka MATSUDA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Toppan Inc. | 171 | 74 | 2001/12/5 | 14 |
Sakura Fifteen Upcoming Match Schedule 2025
Saturday 9 August
Italy v Japan
Calvisano, Italy
Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool C
Sunday 24 August
Ireland v Japan
Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
Sunday 31 August
New Zealand v Japan
Sandy Park, Exeter
Sunday 7 September
Japan v Spain
York Community Stadium, York