Kenyan rugby starlet Andy Cole Omolo is set to move to Japan to join Tenri University on an educational scholarship. KCB Rugby Club’s highly-rated young lock, 21, has established himself as a key player for the Nairobi-based club, scooping multiple Player of The Match Awards this season and he has chipped in with eight tries in nine games. The former Chavakali High School standout, who will study International Relations in Nara Prefecture, captained Kenya’s u20 side at the Wo

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga believes that the misfiring back-to-back champions can turn their fortunes around and hold on to a top six play-off spot as they cling on to hopes of a League One ‘three-peat’. Two-time MVP Mo’unga, 31, saw his side slip to a sixth consecutive defeat when Honda Heat’s Japan-qualified utility-back Dawid Kellerman kicked an 82nd minute penalty for a dramatic 24-22 win at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on Sunday. “It's funny to s

Mie Honda Heat full-back Lomano Lemeki was not surprised to see centre cum fly-half Dawid Kellerman kick an 82nd minute penalty from long range to complete an impressive double over champions Toshiba Brave Lupus. Evergreen Lemeki, 37, who has represented his adopted country at the 2019 and 2023 World Cup tournaments as well as the Rio 2016 Olympics, saw Sunday’s trip to Tokyo as a make-or-break game for Kieran Crowley’s visitors. “Toshiba are the back-to-back champions and ou

Black Rams Tokyo’s Japan-qualified full-back Isaac Lucas has spoken of his desire to play Test rugby as his club closes in on achieving their best League One finish. The 27-year-old Brisbane native has been an ever-present for Tabai Matson’s high-flying side who are currently fifth in the table and are on the verge of clinching a top six play-off berth spot for the first time. Lucas played the full 80 minutes in their 37-33 triumph over play-off rivals Shizuoka Blue Revs in K

Division two side NEC Green Rockets has announced that their ex-Japan international Amanaki Lotoahea was arrested on suspicion of assault on Sunday March 8. Tonga-born centre Lotoahea, 35, who has eight caps for Japan after qualifying on residency grounds, has scored two tries in four appearances this season. The former Black Rams Tokyo back was arrested after reportedly assaulting a restaurant employee on the street in Shibuya while being intoxicated. Rotoahea was believed t

Shizuoka Blue Revs wing Valynce Te Whare has been ruled out for 10 months after being diagnosed with a ruptured ACL. The 25-year-old, who joined the club in 2024 after being released by NRL side the Dolphins, has starred on his return to the 15-man game with 14 tries in 28 appearances in League One. Te Whare scored in the 26-21 loss against Honda Heat on February 22 on the half-hour mark before injury struck with just six minutes left in the game. Shizuoka’s Waikato native -

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ standout centre Rob Thompson has been ruled out for six weeks after sustaining a broken finger in Saturday’s loss to Black Rams Tokyo in Kagoshima. Palmerston North product Thompson, 34, who has been playing the best rugby of his career this season, played the full 80 minutes in the back-to-back champions’ fourth consecutive loss. RugbyJP.com understands that the former Highlanders and Māori All Blacks midfielder will undergo surgery this week and then f

Japan head coach Eddie Jones has criticised World Rugby after the sport’s governing body issued a statement declaring the game is in a strong position following a 200-person Shape of the Game conference in London. The annual conference, which was attended by global rugby leaders including Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi, is “integral” to the body’s new strategic plan – which is yet to be unveiled – the International Federation announced. World Rugby annou

Fit-again Japan star Dylan Riley returns to action for Saitama Wilds Knights on Saturday and will partner Damian de Allende for the first time this season against Honda Heat. Riley, 28, has recovered from a fractured finger that he sustained against Mitsubishi Dynaboars on 28 December, as RugbyJP.com exclusively revealed in January. The former Australia u20s international underwent surgery on his little finger which involved inserting k-wires to help repair the fracture. Ats

Former Japan captain Lappies Labuschagne will make his 50th League One appearance and 100th Kubota Spears appearance when he makes his long-awaited first-team return against Mitsubishi Dynaboars on Saturday. Labuschagne, 37, has overcome a number of injury setbacks to return to League One duty for the first time since their loss to Toshiba Brave Lupus in last year’s final. His career has gone in a completely different direction to what he envisaged growing up but he has embra

Japan teammates Warner Dearns and Mamoru Harada will go head-to-head on their respective Super Rugby debuts today as the Hurricanes host Moana Pasifika in Wellington. Wellington-born Brave Blossoms captain Dearns, 23, starts in the second-row as Clark Laidlaw’s Hurricanes open their campaign at home following a bye in round one. Harada, 26, comes into Pasifika’s 23 on the bench after being left out of their squad which stunned Fijian Drua on the road in Lautoka. The former To

Japan head coach Eddie Jones believes that the All Blacks should try to lure Kobe Steelers captain Brodie Retallick back to Test rugby this summer. Retallick, 34, who won the last of his 109 caps for his country in the 2023 World Cup final, is nearing the end of his three-year contract in Japan. The 2014 World Player of The Year has been in inspired form for Dave Rennie’s title candidates Kobe and is the top scorer in division one with nine tries in eight games. The former Ch

Former Brave Blossoms head coach Jamie Joseph, Springboks assistant coach  Tony Brown and All Blacks great Richie McCaw had lunch together on Friday in Wanaka, sources have told RugbyJP.com . Current Highlanders and All Blacks XV head coach Joseph and ex-Saitama Wild Knights fly-half Brown led Japan to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history at the tournament they hosted in 2019. The 56-year-old has been tipped to succeed ex-Black Rams Tokyo flanker S

Ireland star Bundee Aki’s cousin Larry Tipoa'i-Luteru has joined Graham Rowntree’s high-flying Urayasu D-Rocks. Samoa-born Tipoa'i-Luteru, 21, has arrived from Yokohama’s Kanto Gakuin University as an early-entry player. The powerful number eight is 6ft 3in (192cm) and weighs 18-stone-plus (119kg) which made him the tallest and heaviest member in the Kanto University League division one team’s squad. Kanto Gakuin’s co-captain can also play in the second-row and across the bac

Saitama Wild Knights centre Dylan Riley will be out of action for at least 12 weeks after undergoing surgery for a fractured finger. Japan ace Riley, 28, sustained the injury in the 33-3 win against Mitsubishi Dynaboars on 28 December, leaving the field seven minutes into the second half. The former Australia u20s international, who was rested for season-opening demolition of champions Toshiba in round one, has undergone surgery on his little finger which involved inserting k

New Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars fly-half Shun Miyake is still committed to chasing his dream of playing for the All Blacks despite leaving New Zealand to play in League One for the first time. Kobe-born Miyake, who turned 24 on Sunday, started playing rugby at Ashiya Rugby School at the age of five and boldly moved to New Zealand on his own as a teenager to accelerate his development and to experience a different culture. Miyake immersed himself in the game in Christchurc

Two of Japan Rugby League One’s heavy-hitters collide in round two in a star-studded showdown between Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz and ‘Brighton Miracle’ number 10-turned head coach Kosei Ono’s Suntory Sungoliath at the 49,970-capacity Ajinomoto Stadium on Saturday. The game will air live in the UK on Premier Sports from 5.25am (KO 5.30am) with English commentary. RugbyJP.com has four reasons why the anticipated clash, which has a habit of producing a nail-biting and high

Saitama Wild Knights flanker Lachlan Boshier would welcome a call-up by Eddie Jones to play for Japan next year. Boshier, 31, who starred in Saitama’s 46-0 demolition of champions Toshiba on Sunday with a try-scoring and industrious display, spoke for the first time since qualifying for Japan on residency grounds. The ex-New Zealand u20s international left the Chiefs to join Saitama in 2022 and helped the Kumagaya outfit to win the inaugural League One title in his first seas

The fifth Japan Rugby League One season kicks off next week with a wave of new and returning stars such as Semi Radradra, Manie Libbok and Ardie Savea set to light up the competition. Fiji’s Olympic sevens champion Radradra is a new signing for title contenders Shizuoka Blue Revs while World Cup winner and Springboks star Libbok has joined second division side Kintetsu Liners. New Zealand’s 2023 World Player of The Year Savea has returned for a second spell at star-laden Kobe

Ireland star Bundee Aki’s cousin Larry Tipoa'i-Luteru is aiming to make a name for himself in Japan and represent the Brave Blossoms as he prepares to graduate from university and turn professional in 2026.  Samoa-born Tipoa'i-Luteru, 21, is currently in his fourth and final year at Kanto Gakuin University in Yokohama.  The barnstorming number eight is 6ft 3in (192cm) and weighs 18-stone-plus (119kg) which makes him the tallest and heaviest member in the Kanto University Leag