Japan Rugby League Team

Rugby League first appeared in Japan in 1993, thanks to Australian Max Manniks , who played for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and Illawarra Stillers National Rugby League clubs. In Japan, he contacted the leadership of Australia's Rugby League and requested that the Japanese team be admitted to the 1994 World Rugby League-7 tournament, scheduled to be held in Sydney. Mannix was given time to prepare the Japanese team, and in five months he managed to transfer several Japanese rugby players to rugby league. With the help of their brother Greg and Masayuki Watabe, the players conducted training on the coast of the Tama River in the vicinity of Tokyo.

In September 1993, the Japanese were invited to take part in a rugby league 7 tournament. The Japanese rugby union threatened players with disqualification if they participated in the tournament, but the team refused to withdraw from the tournament. At the rugby tournament, she played against the teams of Tonga, Great Britain and Russia, having lost all three matches, but the fans fiercely supported her, and the team was offered to return to the tournament in 1995. In 1996, the student world championship was held, where the Japanese team participated under the leadership of Max Mannix as head coach and Ken Isaacs as a manager. In English, Warrington, the Japanese played against the teams of Scotland, England, France and the United States. Ken Isaacs was a coach at the University World Cup in 1997, and Shoji Watanabe became manager. Then in Japan, the first player of the professional rugby club Kenji Imanaga appeared, who received a scholarship from the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs , and was followed by Ryoichi Ojima. With the support of Peter Bullfrog Moore, they became players in the foundations of the Murbank club, led by Kevin Moore .

In 1995, the Japanese national team in Brisbane held its first official rugby match, defeating Canada , but the Japanese team was disqualified, accusing it of releasing an unregistered player on the field. The Japanese responded by saying that their player was not registered due to racial discrimination, but the Japanese protest was ignored. The team of New South Wales under 20 visited Japan in 1997, and in 1998 the team of Lebanon . In 1999, another game was played against Canada as part of the selection for the 2000 World Cup , which the Japanese won 14-0. However, a defeat from the United States in the previous round deprived them of their trip to the World Cup. In 2000, the Japanese played in the Tournament of Developing Nations under the leadership of Tony Smith , who later became famous for his work in 2008-2009 with the England team .

Rugby League in Japan is developing very poorly, because due to a short vacation and a penchant for rugby-15 and rugby-7 players are almost not going to. In 2014, Japan discussed the possibility of participating in the Asian Rugby League Championship and joining the national teams of Thailand and the Philippines .

Application for the 2018 World Cup among Developing Nations ^[2] .

• Kazuki Fukushige
• Laclane Mane
• Amane Konishi
• Yuki mochizuki
• Itaru Matsuo
• Enemarks Shibasaki
• Gehamat Sibasaki
• Kenji Tsutsui
• Sean Gabes
• Tou Sugano
• Gerediaga Hill Echaburu
• Hiroshi Fukasawa
• Kenta Carino
• Kohei Ishikawa
• Keisuke nakai
• Akihito Kashiwaba
• Jay brown
• Futosi Carino
• Reiji Sano
• Douglas Streeter

Japan is not a full member of the International Rugby League Federation; therefore, since November 2012, it has not been listed in its ranking of national teams. In 2009, she took 17th place ^[3] , going down to 20th place.

• World Rugby League 7 Tournament: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997; qualification stages 2003 and 2004
• Rugby League World Tournament 9: 1996, 1997
• Tournament of Developing Nations: 2000
• Rugby League 9 tournament in New South Wales: 2004-2013

In 2002 and 2003, Japan participated in the East-West Challenge in the United States. In 2003, the Challenge of the North Pacific Clubs was held - a match between the champions of Japan and the USA. Club “Kagoshima Broncos” in one of these matches defeated the American club “New York Knights” ^[1] .

• Official site of the Japanese Rugby League Association (Japanese)
• Japan Rugby League Association Facebook Page (Japanese)

Pattern: Japan National Sports Teams