EXCLUSIVE - Japan Rugby set to unveil new player category system

Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) will host a media briefing on Tuesday to unveil a new system for classifying players.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Cully broke the story on 19 April that JRLO has developed a proposal that could see clubs being required to field at least eight players with ‘Japanese blood’ from next season.

League One’s current classification rules allows three international Test capped players (Category C) to be in the matchday squad.

At least 17 members of a matchday squad must be Japan-qualified (Category A) which includes foreign-born players who qualify based on residency grounds such as Saitama Wild Knights star Dylan Riley.  

The third criteria is Category B which means uncapped players who could potentially qualify for Japan in the future. A combined total of six Category B and C players can be named in a matchday squad.

League One’s media briefing on Tuesday will cover the 'future player category system' and ‘player development competitions’ with JRLO tight-lipped regarding the specific details. RugbyJP.com will be in attendance and reporting from the briefing.  

Picture courtesy of JRLO