South Africa’s injured double World Cup winner Faf de Klerk has been de-registered by his Japanese club Yokohama Canon Eagles, RugbyJP can exclusively reveal. The 34-year-old suffered a serious ankle injury in the opening round when he attempted to tackle Shizuoka Blue Revs wing Valynce Te Whare on 14 December and returned to his homeland for medical treatment Yokohama previously announced that their injury-hit scrum-half, who has been linked with a return to the English Prem

Toshiba Brave Lupus flanker Shannon Frizell broke his hand in the opening round loss to Saitama Wild Knights in December, RugbyJP.com can exclusively reveal. The 31-year-old All Black played the full 80 minutes as the champions were routed 46-0 by the league’s inaugural winners on 14 December. The Fuchu outfit only discovered the true severity of his injury post-match. Tonga-born Frizell is remaining in Japan for treatment and will be aiming to return in time for the play-of

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

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ back-to-back MVP Richie Mo’unga said Sunday’s 46-0 whitewash by rivals Saitama Wild Knights was his worst defeat since he was playing under 8s rugby. Mo’unga, 31, is aiming to sign off from Toshiba this season by winning a third consecutive League One title but their ‘three-peat’ ambitions got off to a humiliating start as they were routed by inaugural champions Saitama Wild Knights. The manner of the defeat - Toshiba’s worst in the history of League One,

Dan Carter’s discipline. Richie Mo’unga’s energy. Quade Cooper’s edge. Kintetsu Liners’ head strength and conditioning coach Takeshi Sakaguchi has trained elite number 10’s and he’s just started working with Springboks Manie Libbok. In this exclusive RugbyJP.com interview, Sakaguchi explains how Japanese rugby is evolving and why consistency, detail and mindset define world-class players.   Sakaguchi has established himself as a go-to authority on strength and conditioning i

Toshiba Brave Lupus superstar Richie Mo’unga returned to action on Saturday as the back-to-back League One champions defeated Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 36-33 in their latest pre-season game in Fuchu. Two-time MVP winner Mo’unga, 31, who will return to New Zealand next summer, was making his first appearance since his starring role in the League One final win against Kubota Spears in June. “It felt awesome to be back playing, it’s been five months and nothing can prepare

Toshiba Brave Lupus superstar Richie Mo’unga returns to action on Saturday for the first time since steering his side to back-to-back League One titles in June.  Mo’unga, 31, opened the scoring after five minutes with a sublime solo effort and added eight points from his boot to inspire the Fuchu team to an 18-13 win over Kubota Spears, despite playing with a broken hand.  The 2023 World Cup runner-up, who won the Japan Rugby League One MVP award for the second season in a ro

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

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga was approached by Tonga Rugby Union about a potential allegiance switch before he inked a new deal with New Zealand Rugby, RugbyJP.com can reveal. Back-to-back League One and MVP winner Mo’unga, 31, who last represented the All Blacks in the World Cup final loss to South Africa in 2023, was the subject of intense interest from Tonga, as RugbyJP.com revealed in February. RugbyJP.com © The mercurial seven-time Super Rugby winner tu

Black Rams Tokyo’s World Cup-winning scrum-half TJ Perenara would ‘jump at the chance’ to play for the All Blacks again as their injury...

Yokohama Canon Eagles scrum-half Faf de Klerk has been added to the Springbok’s squad for their back-to-back Rugby Championship Test...

Kubota Spears scrum-half Bryn Hall has tipped Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo-unga to return to Japan after his third tilt at a...

Toshiba Brave Lupus centre and ex-All Black Seta Tamanivalu has been named in Fiji’s 30-man squad for the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup. The...

Former Wallabies stars Will Genia and Quade Cooper will make their coaching bow for Hanazono Kintetsu Liners against Richie Mo’unga’s...

Kobe Steelers has officially announced the arrival of All Blacks and Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown on a one-year contract. The...

Japanese division two side Hanazono Kintetsu Liners have announced the arrival of World Cup-winning fly-half Manie Libbok and ex-All...

Back-to-back League One winner Warner Dearns will join Super Rugby Pacific outfit the Hurricanes for the 2026 season, the club announced...

Welcome to the latest edition of RugbyJP.com ’s Gossip Column where we share exclusive news, transfer details and more. Please credit...