John Kirwan announces Japan’s 50-man provisional squad for 2011 Rugby World Cup
Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) national team coach, John Kirwan, has announced the 50-man provisional squad for the upcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). John Kirwan and Japan’s team manager, Osamu Ota, announced the provisional squad in a statement released
on JRFU’s official website on Friday, June 17.
Kirwan has not ruled out the inclusion of other players before announcing his final 30-man squad in August. However, he confirmed that most members of the final squad will be selected from the announced 50-man squad.
The comments were very refreshing for Japan A team players who are currently on tour of New Zealand. Some impressive players like Masakazu Toyota, Ippei Asada, Ayumu Goromaru and Ryuta Ueno are in New Zealand.
Ota confirmed that their performance can help them earn a place in the national team for their 2011 RWC campaign. He said, “The door is still open for other players especially those in New Zealand at the moment with the Japan A side.”
The team announced by the Kirwan and Ota include Masato Toyoda and Yasunori Nagatomo who earlier were left out of the Japan’s national rugby union team for the recently concluded HSBC Asian Five Nations Cup.
The 50-man squad will participate in different training and physical conditioning camps besides playing in the upcoming International Rugby Board 2011 Pacific Nations Cup and pre-World Cup preparations matches against the Azzuri’s and Eagles in August.
The 50-man squad announced for Japan’s 2011 RWC campaign consists of 28 backs and 22 forwards. The Complete squad consists the following players:
Backs :
Hisateru HIRASHIMA (KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers ), Kensuke HATAKEYAMA (SUNTORY Sungoliath ), Naoki KAWAMATA (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Hiroshi YAMASHITA (KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers), Nozomu FUJITA (HONDA Heat), Shinsuke NAKAMURA (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Tateo
KANAI (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Yusuke AOKI (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Shota HORIE (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Hiroki YUHARA (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Takeshi KIZU (KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers), Ryuta UENO (TOYOTA Verblitz), Hitoshi ONO (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Toshizumi
KITAGAWA (TOYOTA Verblitz), Luke THOMPSON (NZ/JPN) (KINTETSU Liners), Yuji KITAGAWA (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Justin IVES (NZ) (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Shinya MAKABE (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Takashi KIKUTANI (TOYOTA Verblitz),
Toetuu TAUFA (TGA/JPN) (KINTETSU Liners), Michael LEITCH (NZ) (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Yoshitaka NAKAYAMA (TOYOTA Verblitz), Sione VATUVEI (TGA) (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Tadasuke NISHIHARA (Panasonic Wild Knights), Ryukoliniasi HOLANI (TGA/JPN) (PANASONIC Wild
Knights), Masakazu TOYOTA (COCA COLA West Red Sparks), Itaru TANIGUCHI (KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers), Masato TOYODA (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus).
Forwards:
Fumiaki TANAKA (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Tomoki YOSHIDA (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Koji WADA (TOYOTA Verblitz), Atsushi HIWASA (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Ippei ASADA (TOYOTA Verblitz), James ARLIDGE (NZ) (Nottingham (ENG)), Shaun WEBB (NZ) (COCA-COLA West Red Sparks),
Bryce ROBINS (NZ) (HONDA), Murray WILLIAMS (NZ) (Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles), Yuta IMAMURA (KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers), Ryan NICHOLAS (NZ) (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Koji TAIRA (SUNTORY Sungoliath),
Alisi TUPUAILAI (SAM) (CANON EAGLES), Taihei UEDA (HONDA Heat), Hirotoki ONOZAWA (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Kosuke ENDO (TOYOTA Verblitz), Yasunori NAGATOMO (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Takeshisa USUZUKI (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Akihito YAMADA (PANASONIC Wild Knights), Goshi
TACHIKAWA (TOSHIBA Brave Lupus), Go ARUGA (SUNTORY Sungoliath), Ayumu GOROMARU (YAMAHA Jubilo).
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