Toyota Verblitz

Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of verde (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and blitz (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is not to be confused with the Toyota Industries Shuttles rugby team, owned by Toyota Industries. It shares Toyota Stadium in the city of Toyota, Aichi with the football club Nagoya Grampus which also used to be owned by Toyota Motors.

Toyota Verblitz
トヨタ自動車ヴェルブリッツ
Full nameToyota Verblitz
UnionJapan Rugby Football Union
Founded1941
LocationToyota, Aichi, Japan
Ground(s)Toyota Stadium
Mizuho Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 45,000
15,000)
Director of RugbySteve Hansen
Coach(es)Ben Herring
Captain(s)Kaito Shigeno
League(s)Japan Rugby League One
20225th
1st kit
2nd kit

Honours

  • All-Japan Championship
    • Champions: 1969, 1968, 1987
    • Runners-up: 2007

Results

Verblitz (surprisingly given the team's pedigree) failed to make the cut for the first season of the Top League (2003-4) but entered the Top League in the second season and were a contender for the second Microsoft Cup. They lost the Japan Championship final on February 27, 2005, to NEC Green Rockets 13–17.

Current squad

The Toyota Verblitz squad for the 2023-24 season is:[1]

Toyota Verblitz squad

Props

  • Japan Shogo Miura
  • Japan Gaku Shimizu
  • Japan Ryunosuke Momoji
  • Japan Shunsuke Asaoka
  • Japan Genki Sudo
  • Japan Yusuke Kizu
  • South Korea Che Runya*
  • Japan Yuji Takei
  • Japan Taiga Kawasaki REP
  • Japan Takuma Nishino REP

Hookers

  • Japan Ryuhei Arita
  • Japan Yoshikatsu Hikosaka
  • Japan Ryusei Kato
  • Japan Toshikazu Nobeyama
  • Japan Mitsuru Furukawa
  • Japan Shintaro Fukazawa REP

Locks

  • Japan Daichi Akiyama
  • Japan Ryoma Nishimura
  • Japan Issa Yamakawa
  • New Zealand Josh Dickson
  • New Zealand Tom Robinson

Flankers

  • Japan Ryusei Koike
  • Japan Kazuki Himeno (cc)
  • South Africa Pieter-Steph du Toit
  • New Zealand Isaiah Mapusua
  • Japan Masato Furukawa
  • Japan Will Tupou
  • Japan Jingo Murata REP
  • Japan Kosei Miki REP
  • Japan Akito Okui REP

No8s

  • Japan Fetuani Lautaimi

Scrum-halves

  • New Zealand Aaron Smith
  • Japan Kenta Fukuda
  • Japan Kaito Shigeno (cc)
  • South Korea Ryang Jong-chu*
  • Japan Kaisei Tamura


Fly-halves


Centres

  • New Zealand Charlie Lawrence*
  • Japan Chihiro Matsuyama
  • Fiji Vatilai Tuidraki*
  • Japan Siosaia Fifita
  • Japan Yuki Okada
  • New Zealand Dick Wilson*

Wingers

  • Japan Shuhei Yamaguchi
  • Australia Viliami Lea
  • Fiji Viliame Tuidraki*
  • Japan Taichi Takahashi
  • Japan Masakatsu Hikosaka
  • Fiji Jone Nabetelevu
  • Japan Yuichiro Wada
  • Japan Kota Oyabu

Fullbacks

  • Japan Kippei Taninaka
  • Japan Takemichi Nakano

Utility Backs

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped
  • * denotes players qualified to play for the Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Former players

  • Troy Flavell - lock (now in France with Bayonne)
  • Tamaiti Horua - No. 8 (formerly Brumbies), now Western Force in 2008 season
  • Orene Aii
  • Filo Tiatia - No. 8 (now in Wales with the Ospreys}
  • Dominic Day 2016 - Lock (Now playing for Saracens in the (English Premiership)
  • Takashi Kikutani (2004–13, 114 games) Loose forward, Japanese International (2005–14, 68 caps)
  • Toshizumi Kitagawa (2004-19, 102 games) Lock, Japanese International (2005–13, 43 caps)
  • Wycliff Palu (2016-17, 14 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2006–16, 58 caps)
  • Lionel Cronjé (2017–22, 48 games) Fly-half
  • Kieran Read (2020-21, 10 games) Loose forward, All Black (2008–19, 128 caps)
  • Michael Hooper (2021, 10 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2012–, 121 caps)

Stadium

References

  1. "Toyota Verblitz: The Team" (in Japanese). Toyota Verblitz. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
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