Japan captain Warner Dearns has revealed that he turned down an approach to switch allegiances to represent his native New Zealand after a title-winning Super Rugby campaign with the Hurricanes. Dearns, 24, who will win his 33rd cap for the Brave Blossoms in Saturday’s Nations Championship clash against Italy, confirmed that he was approached about the possibility of standing down from Test rugby for three years in order to become eligible for New Zealand. © JRFU The Toshiba

Yokohama Canon Eagles has unveiled 10 new signings including All Blacks Stephen Perofeta and Samipeni Finau. Leon MacDonald’s side has significantly bolstered their ranks for the 2026-2027 campaign after a lowly 10th-placed finish last season. The headline signings of Perofeta and Finau, who have effectively ended their All Blacks careers by moving to Japan, were possible after the departures of Springboks star Faf de Klerk, retiring Italian international Dino Lamb and ex-All

Crusaders captain and All Black David Havili will join two-time League One champions Toshiba Brave Lupus, RugbyJP.com understands. Havili, 31, has spent his entire Super Rugby career with the Christchurch-based powerhouse franchise and this year’s semi-finalists announced on Tuesday that he will be taking up a new opportunity in Japan. The 32-cap All Black finished the season strongly in red and black and is proud of the legacy he will leave behind at incoming head coach Scot

Kubota Spears full-back Shaun Stevenson has pledged his allegiance to Samoa for his return to Test rugby, RugbyJP.com can exclusively reveal. The 29-year-old full-back played the full 80 minutes in the League One final loss to Dave Rennie’s Kobe Steelers on 7 June despite picking up a leg injury 30 minutes into the first half. One-cap All Black Stevenson made 133 metres for Frans Ludeke’s back-to-back runners up – more than double second-placed Ardie Savea (65m) - and made fi

Urayasu D-Rocks assistant coach Isaac Ross’ teenage son Stanley Ross has signed for French giants Stade Francais. Ex-All Black Ross, 41, who spent nine seasons as a player with Urayasu (then NTT Shining Arcs), is currently part of Graham Rowntree’s coaching team at the division one side. The former Crusaders second row hails from a family blessed with an extraordinary rugby pedigree with his father Jock an All Black tourist in 1981 while his mother Christine Ross played for t

World Cup-winning All Black Andy Ellis is set to replace new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie at League One champions Kobe Steelers, RugbyJP.com can exclusively reveal. The 2011 World Cup winner, who kicked the ball out to seal the All Blacks’ 8-7 win over France as the hosts lifted the Webb Ellis trophy for the second time, spent six years playing for the Japanese side from 2014 to 2020 and was part of their Top League championship win in 2018 under Dave Dillon. © JRLO Elli

New All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and former World Player of The Year Ardie Savea signed off from Japanese rugby by leading Kobe Steelers to the League One title as they beat Kubota Spears 22-13 on Sunday. All Black-laden Kobe, who were led by talismanic captain and player of the match Brodie Retallick, proved to be too strong for Frans Ludeke’s Kubota side who were missing World Player of The Year Malcolm Marx who was ruled out with a biceps injury. © JRLO Kubota have n

Kobe Steelers loose-forward Ardie Savea is eyeing League One glory against Kubota Spears on Sunday but admits his former club Moana Pasifika are still in his thoughts as uncertainty continues to surround the Super Rugby franchise's future. The 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year starts at openside flanker for Dave Rennie's side who are gracing the League One final for the first time. Table-topping Kobe, who are led by free-scoring captain Brodie Retallick, will face Bernard F

Kubota Spears overpowered defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus 26-3 in the League One quarter-finals as Richie Mo’unga’s bid for an unprecedented 'three-peat' was ended by Bernard Foley and Malcolm Marx’s 2023 winners. In an absorbing encounter at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Frans Ludeke’s Kubota outmuscled their opponents up front and starved them off possession for long periods of the game to go some way to avenging last year’s loss in the final. Ex-Wallabies f

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga is confident that the back-to-back champions can keep their ‘three-peat’ dream alive when they face Kubota Spears in Sunday’s quarter-final. Two-time MVP Mo’unga, 31, who will return to New Zealand when his three-year deal finishes in June, spoke to the media at the club’s headquarters in Fuchu as Todd Blackadder’s side prepare to face Frans Ludeke’s Kubota in a rematch of last year’s final. Champions Toshiba had a wildly inconsiste

League One’s division one play-offs kick off on Saturday with TJ Perenara’s Black Rams Tokyo facing Sam Cane’s Suntory Sungoliath as World Cup winners and ex-All Blacks teammates clash at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium. The history-making Rams are making their first appearance in the top-flight post-season after former All Blacks centre Tabai Matson, who played for then-Top League side Yamaha Jubilo (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) from 2001 to 2006, impressively steered the To

Ex-All Blacks wing Charles Piutau and former URC Player of The Year Sanele Nohamba have both left division one Japanese side Shizuoka Blue Revs. Yuichiro Fujii’s side, who are captained by Springboks star Kwagga Smith, has endured a disappointing campaign as they narrowly missed out on a play-offs spot with a seventh-placed finish. The Yamaha-backed Blue Revs will make wholesale changes to their squad this summer after announcing the departure of 14 players today including tw

World Cup-winning former All Blacks head coach Sir Graham Henry believes that New Zealand Rugby (NZR) should take a flexible approach regarding the eligibility of Japan-based Richie Mo’unga, Shannon Frizell and Brodie Retallick this summer. Henry, 79, was this week appointed as a NZR selector as new head coach Dave Rennie announced the legendary coach’s return to the All Blacks fold during his press conference in Auckland on Tuesday. The former Wales boss has had several shor

Blacks Rams Tokyo’s World Cup-winning captain TJ Perenara lauded Suntory Sungoliath full-back Cheslin Kolbe as one of the best players in the world ahead of their League One quarter-final next week. Perenara, who was speaking at the Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) Play-Offs Media Conference in Akihabara, Tokyo, on Thursday afternoon, identified the Springboks superstar - who finished the regular season as the top points scorer - as the greatest threat posed by their Tokyo rival

Newly-appointed New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster has reiterated the organisation's stance on the eligibility of overseas players and confirmed that Toshiba’s Richie Mo’unga will not be available for selection this summer. Back-to-back League One winner and MVP Mo’unga, 31, is in the final month of his three-year contract with Todd Blackadder’s Toshiba Brave Lupus and will return to New Zealand in June on an 18-month contract. The contract, which was announced

Blues playmaker Stephen Perofeta is set to become the latest All Black to quit New Zealand Rugby for a lucrative deal in Japan. Perofeta, 29, who won the last of his six All Blacks caps against Ireland in November 2024, will reunite with former Blues coach Leon MacDonald at Yokohama Canon Eagles who are captained by Springboks star Jessie Kriel. SportNation broke the story on Monday that the 2024 Super Rugby winner will move overseas at the end of the season as he joins a gro

Toyota Verblitz head coach Steve Hansen announced his resignation and took aim at the standard of refereeing in Japan after his team’s loss to Honda Heat in the final round of the regular season. World Cup-winning Hansen has stepped down with his co-coach and fellow ex-All Blacks boss Ian Foster taking over as head coach in Aichi from next season. Former Wales coach Hansen, who won the World Cup in 2015 with New Zealand, was appointed as the team’s Director of Rugby in 2019 a

All Blacks XV back-rower Devan Flanders will leave Super Rugby leaders the Hurricanes this summer to join an unnamed Japanese side. Havelock North native Flanders, 26, made three appearances for Jamie Joseph’s All Blacks XV in November and, having played a key role for Clark Laidlaw’s table-topping side this season, was expected to be in contention for Dave Rennie’s All Blacks. The highly-regarded flanker, who has scored two tries in 10 appearances this year, is a product of

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga believes that he is returning to New Zealand as a better player and is open to a possible return to Japan in 2028. The 31-year-old has won back-to-back titles and MVP awards and, while the champions have not reached the same level as their two title-winning campaigns, they’re narrowly holding onto the last play-off spot with two games to go. Mo’unga and All Blacks teammate Shannon Frizell, 32, who will also return home to become eli

Black Rams Tokyo captain TJ Perenara faced his long-time former All Blacks colleague Aaron Smith for possibly the last time on Sunday as the latter’s Toyota Verblitz prevailed 40-28 to keep alive their play-off hopes. Perenara, 34, has been the driving force behind the Black Rams’ impressive season with Tabai Matson’s fourth-placed team on the verge of booking a play-off spot for the first time in the League One era. The 89-cap All Black, an ever-present for the Rams in his s