Current All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith will join the Toyota Verblitz after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, giving the fledgling league more star power.
“I think we were able to present a new image of rugby to the Japanese audience,” noted the new league’s executive director, Hajime Shoji.
The 30-year-old scrum-half joins the growing list of prominent foreign players to join Japan Rugby League One squads.
While China has pulled out as the host nation due to COVID-19, Japan is an option. “We were sounded out,” ーJFA President Kozo Tashima.
Manager Kei Hoshikawa’s squad captures the women’s soccer league’s inaugural title.
The 2021 Super Rugby points leader has amassed 20 or more points in five matches this season.
The region’s recovery from the 3.11 disasters is deeply connected to its residents’ leisure activities and their fervent support of individual athletes and teams.
The transition to professional teams from corporate clubs is a necessary step forward in order to develop a financially sustainable league and teams with local support.
A rise in COVID-19 cases in Okinawa and among B. League teams are cited as factors in the decision.
The two-time Olympic silver medalist completed a stunning triple-cork jump in a recent Dew Tour snowboarding competition in Colorado.
