Japan national rugby union team
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| Nickname (s) | Cherry blossoms | ||
| Association | Japan Rugby Football Union | ||
| Trainer |
 Jamie Joseph
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| captain | Michael Leitch | ||
| WR abbreviation | JPN | ||
| WR rank | 8. (79.28 points) (as of February 4, 2020) |
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Most international matches Hitoshi Ono (98) |
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Most Points Scored Ayumu Goromaru (708) |
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Most attempts scored Daisuke Ohata (69) |
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First international match Japan 9-8 Canada (January 31, 1932) .svg){kind=small} |
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Biggest win : Japan 155-3 Taiwan (July 6, 2002)  |
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Biggest defeat New Zealand 145: 17 Japan (June 4, 1995) |
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World Championship participations: 9 Best result: quarter-finals 2019 |
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The Japanese national rugby union team ( Japanese ラ グ ビ ー 日本 代表 , Ragubī Nihon Daihyō ) represents Japan in the sport of rugby union . She belongs to the High Performance Teams and has so far participated in all Rugby Union World Cups and reached the quarter-finals for the first time at the Rugby Union World Cup 2019 .
history
Rugby was first played in Japan in 1899. The Yokohama-born professor Edward Bramwell Clarke introduced the sport to his students at Keio University that year . Japan played their first international match against Canada on January 31, 1932 , winning it 9: 8. The most important successes in the following decades include the win against the New Zealand youth team in 1968 and the two narrow defeats against England (3: 6) in 1971 and Wales (24:29) in 1983. One of the greatest successes of Japan followed in 1989 when one Scotland beat in Tokyo with 28:24.
Japan has participated in all of the finals since the Rugby Union World Cup was launched. In 1995 they caused the biggest defeat that a team has ever conceded at a Rugby Union World Cup. Against New Zealand the game was lost in the preliminary round 17: 145. During the qualification for the Rugby Union World Cup 2003 , the Japanese managed to celebrate the highest victory in their history. On July 5, 2002, Taiwan was beaten 155-3. However, they continued to ensure record victories for their opponents. Scotland achieved their historical successes against Japan in 2004 with 100: 8 and Wales with 98: 0.
On May 14, 2006 Daisuke Ohata broke the world record for attempts with his hat-trick in a 31: 7 against Georgia . With his 65 attempts he had at the time one more than the previous record holder David Campese . Ohata has now made 69 attempts.
In early 2007, the Japanese Rugby Federation signed New Zealand rugby legend John Kirwan as coach of the national team. Kirwan set himself the ambitious goal of achieving two victories in the preliminary round at the subsequent Rugby Union World Cup in France in 2007 . Above all, he wanted to use Japanese strengths such as speed and agility in a targeted manner. However, the Japanese did not get beyond a draw in the final group game against Canada. Before that, they had clearly lost against Australia and Wales and only narrowly failed due to a surprise against Fiji , so that the performance at the tournament was considered a success and Kirwan was able to continue his concept for the time being. In 2008 Japan confidently won the first Asian Five Nations staging through victories over South Korea , Kazakhstan , Hong Kong and an Arab selection .
In 2012, the former Australian rugby player Eddie Jones was finally hired as a coach. The Japanese-born Jones had already gained experience in Japan in the 1990s and immediately before that he had coached the Japanese professional club Suntory Sungoliath for three years . The current captain is Michael Leitch , who was born in Australia to a family from Fiji but immigrated to Japan at the age of 15.
At the 2015 World Cup , Japan put in their strongest finals performance to date, claiming three wins in four games, including a 34:32 against South Africa, which was one of the greatest sensations in international rugby history. However, due to the unfortunate constellation in Group B, the team was eliminated in the preliminary round. In 2016, Jamie Joseph was hired as a coach.
Most of the players playing for Japan have been fed by the country's top division, the Top League , since 2003 . The 2019 Rugby Union World Cup took place in Japan. Surprisingly, the team managed to defeat all four opponents drawn (Russia, Ireland, Samoa and Scotland) in the preliminary round. In the quarterfinals she failed at the eventual world champions South Africa.
successes
Test matches
Japan has won 200 of its 327 test matches (as of the end of July 2020), which corresponds to a win rate of 61.16%.
| country | Games | Won | undecided eliminated |
Lost | % Victories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Arabia
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Argentina
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6th | 1 | 0 | 5 | 16.67 |
 Australia
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5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 |
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Chinese Taipei
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17th | 17th | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 England
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
 Fiji
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18th | 4th | 0 | 14th | 22.22 |
 France
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4th | 0 | 1 | 3 | 100 |
 Georgia
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6th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 83.33 |
 Hong Kong
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36 | 31 | 1 | 4th | 86.11 |
 Ireland
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8th | 1 | 0 | 7th | 12.50 |
 Italy
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8th | 2 | 0 | 6th | 25.00 |
 Canada
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25th | 15th | 2 | 8th | 60.00 |
 Kazakhstan
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6th | 6th | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Malaysia
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6th | 6th | 0 | 0 | 100 |
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New Zealand
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4th | 0 | 0 | 4th | 0.00 |
 Netherlands
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
 Philippines
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Romania
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6th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 83.33 |
 Russia
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7th | 6th | 0 | 1 | 85.71 |
 Samoa
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17th | 5 | 0 | 12 | 29.41 |
 Scotland
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7th | 1 | 0 | 6th | 14.29 |
 Zimbabwe
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Singapore
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8th | 8th | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Spain
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Sri Lanka
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10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 South Africa
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33.33 |
 South Korea
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41 | 33 | 1 | 7th | 80.49 |
 Thailand
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9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Tonga
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18th | 9 | 0 | 9 | 50.00 |
 Uruguay
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67 |
.svg){kind=small} Wales
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10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10.00 |
 United Arab Emirates
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 United States
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24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 41.67 |
| Total | 327 | 200 | 6th | 121 | 61.16 |
Results at world championships
- World Cup 1987 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Cup 1991 : preliminary round (one win)
- World Cup 1995 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Cup 1999 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Championship 2003 : preliminary round (no win)
- World Cup 2007 : preliminary round (one draw)
- World Cup 2011 : preliminary round (one draw)
- World Championship 2015 : preliminary round (three wins)
- World Championship 2019 : quarter-finals
- World Championship 2023 : qualified
player
Current squad
The following players make up the squad during the 2019 World Cup :
Known players
- James Arlidge
- Ayumu Goromaru
- Keiji Hirose
- Takuro Miuchi
- Daisuke Ohata
- Hiroto Onozawa
- Ruatangi Vatuvei
Web links
- Official website
- Rugby News ( Memento of October 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- International match statistics at RugbyData
Individual evidence
- ^ World Rugby Rankings. world.rugby, February 4, 2020, accessed November 26, 2019 .
- ^ International Rugby Union Statistics - Japan. ESPNscrum, accessed August 19, 2020 .
- ^ Thompson set for fourth Rugby World Cup. Rugby World Cup, August 29, 2019, accessed September 3, 2019 .