Toyota Verblitz

Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of verde (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and blitz (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is not to be confused with the Aichi Shuttles rugby team, owned by Toyota Industries. It shares Toyota Stadium in the city of Toyota, Aichi with the football club Nagoya Grampus which also used to be owned by Toyota Motors.

Honours

All-Japan Championship
- Champions: 1969, 1968, 1987
- Runners-up: 2007

Results

Verblitz (surprisingly given the team's pedigree) failed to make the cut for the first season of the Top League (2003-4) but entered the Top League in the second season and were a contender for the second Microsoft Cup. They lost the Japan Championship final on February 27, 2005, to NEC Green Rockets 13–17.

Current squad

The Toyota Verblitz squad for the 2024-25 season is:^[1]

Toyota Verblitz squad
Props Shogo Miura Gaku Shimizu Ryunosuke Momoji Samuelu Mataafa Shunsuke Asaoka Genki Sudo Yusuke Kizu Che Run-ya* Takuma Nishino Taiga Kawasaki Hanjiro Hirai ^REP Hookers Yoshikatsu Hikosaka Ryusei Kato Shintaro Fukuzawa Dowling Jonas Tanaka* Ryuhei Arita Locks Daichi Akiyama Issa Yamakawa Richie Gray Josh Dickson Toby Macpherson ^DEP ^[a] Adré Smith ^REP	Flankers Kazuki Himeno (c) Isaiah Mapusua Pieter-Steph du Toit Ryusei Koike Jingo Murata Kosei Miki Fetuani Lautaimi Akito Okui Will Tupou Keito Aoki ^REP Michael Hooper ^REP Blair Ryall ^REP No8s Scrum-halves Kaito Shigeno Aaron Smith Kaisei Tamura Ryang Jong-chu* Fly-halves Masahiro Kitamura Rikiya Matsuda Matt McGahan* Shinya Komura ^REP	Centres Nicolas McCurran Chihiro Matsuyama Vatiliai Tuidraki* Siosaia Fifita Yuki Okada Shuhei Yamaguchi Joseph Manu Dick Wilson* Wingers Viliame Tuidraki* Jone Nabetelevu* Yuichiro Wada Taichi Takahashi Kota Oyabu Fullbacks Kippei Taninaka Tiaan Falcon Takemichi Nakano Utility Backs

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped

* denotes players qualified to play for the Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Former players

Orene Ai'i - Blues (Super Rugby) and New Zealand national rugby sevens team representative^[2]
Lionel Cronjé (2017–22, 48 games) Fly-half
Dominic Day 2016 - Lock (Now playing for Saracens in the (English Premiership)
Troy Flavell - lock (now in France with Bayonne)
Michael Hooper (2021, 10 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2012–, 121 caps)
Tamaiti Horua - No. 8 formerly played for Brumbies then Western Force
Takashi Kikutani (2004–13, 114 games) Loose forward, Japanese International (2005–14, 68 caps)
Toshizumi Kitagawa (2004-19, 102 games) Lock, Japanese International (2005–13, 43 caps)
Joe Launchbury Lock, England International (2012–, 65 caps)
Wycliff Palu (2016-17, 14 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2006–16, 58 caps)
Kieran Read (2020-21, 10 games) Loose forward, All Black (2008–19, 128 caps)
Filo Tiatia - Hurricanes and 2 test All Black No 8. Later played with the Ospreys in Wales.
Steven Yates - New Zealand national rugby sevens team representative 2007-08^[3]

Stadium

Notes

^ Macpherson was released from the team after round 11.

References

^ "Toyota Verblitz: The Team" (in Japanese). Toyota Verblitz. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
^ www.vcsnet.co.nz, VCS Websites (NZ)-Lower Hutt and Wellington. "Orene Ai'i | New Zealand Rugby History". www.rugbyhistory.co.nz.
^ "Rugby Database: Steven Yates Player Profile & Stats". www.rugbydatabase.co.nz.

External links

Toyota Verblitz - official site

[Macpherson-2] Macpherson was released from the team after round 11.

[Toyota_Verblitz:_The_Team-1] "Toyota Verblitz: The Team" (in Japanese). Toyota Verblitz. Retrieved 11 February 2019.

[3] www.vcsnet.co.nz, VCS Websites (NZ)-Lower Hutt and Wellington. "Orene Ai'i | New Zealand Rugby History". www.rugbyhistory.co.nz.

[4] "Rugby Database: Steven Yates Player Profile & Stats". www.rugbydatabase.co.nz.

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

Toyota Verblitz – current squad
Forwards	Daichi Akiyama Michael Allardice Shunsuke Asaoka Runya Che Louis Conradie Pieter-Steph du Toit Masato Furukawa Mitsuru Furukawa Kazuki Himeno Yoshikatsu Hikosaka Yoto Ioki Ryusei Kato Yusuke Kizu Ryusei Koike Joe Launchbury Fetuani Lautaimi Isaiah Mapusua Shogo Miura Ryunosuke Momoji Ryoma Nishimura Toshikazu Nobeyama Gaku Shimizu Yuji Takei Olive Taufa Kazuo Yamakawa Kyo Yoshida
Backs	Tiaan Falcon Kenta Fukuda Jamie Henry Masakatsu Hikosaka Ryang Jong-Chu Charlie Lawrence Rintaro Maruyama Chihiro Matsuyama Jone Nabetelevu Takemichi Nakano Yuki Okada Kota Oyabu Dai Ozawa Male Sa'u Kaito Shigeno Keita Suzuki Taichi Takahashi Kaisei Tamura Rob Thompson Vatilai Tuidraki Viliame Tuidraki Will Tupou Yuichiro Wada Dick Wilson Shuhei Yamaguchi Juhei Yanaka
Coach(es)	Ben Herring