Toyota Verblitz

Toyota Verblitz
トヨタ自動車ヴェルブリッツ

Full name	Toyota Verblitz
Union	Japan Rugby Football Union
Founded	1941
Location	Toyota, Aichi, Japan
Ground(s)	Toyota Stadium Mizuho Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 45,000 15,000)
Director of Rugby	Steve Hansen
Coach(es)	Ben Herring
Captain(s)	Kaito Shigeno
League(s)	Japan Rugby League One
2022	5th
1st kit 2nd kit

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 Toyota Industries 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 2023-24 season is:

Toyota Verblitz squad
Props Shogo Miura Gaku Shimizu Ryunosuke Momoji Shunsuke Asaoka Genki Sudo Yusuke Kizu Che Runya* Eparama Tuvunivono DEP Yuji Takei Taiga Kawasaki REP Takuma Nishino REP Hookers Ryuhei Arita Yoshikatsu Hikosaka Ryusei Kato Toshikazu Nobeyama Mitsuru Furukawa Shintaro Fukazawa REP Locks Daichi Akiyama Ryoma Nishimura Issa Yamakawa Josh Dickson Tom Robinson	Flankers Ryusei Koike Kazuki Himeno (vc) Pieter-Steph du Toit Isaiah Mapusua Masato Furukawa Will Tupou Jingo Murata REP Kosei Miki REP Akito Okui REP Number 8s Fetuani Lautaimi Scrum-halves Aaron Smith Kenta Fukuda Kaito Shigeno (c) Ryang Jong-chu* Kaisei Tamura Fly-halves Masahiro Kitamura Beauden Barrett Tiaan Falcon Rintaro Maruyama	Centres Charlie Lawrence* Chihiro Matsuyama Vatilai Tuidraki* Siosaia Fifita Yuki Okada Dick Wilson* Wingers Shuhei Yamaguchi Viliami Lea Viliame Tuidraki* Taichi Takahashi Masakatsu Hikosaka Jone Nabetelevu Yuichiro Wada Kota Oyabu Fullbacks Kippei Taninaka Takemichi Nakano
(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

• Troy Flavell - lock (now in France with Bayonne)
• Tamaiti Horua - No. 8 (formerly Brumbies), now Western Force in 2008 season
• Orene Aii
• Filo Tiatia - No. 8 (now in Wales with the Ospreys}
• Dominic Day 2016 - Lock (Now playing for Saracens in the (English Premiership)
• 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)
• Wycliff Palu (2016-17, 14 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2006–16, 58 caps)
• Lionel Cronjé (2017–22, 48 games) Fly-half
• Kieran Read (2020-21, 10 games) Loose forward, All Black (2008–19, 128 caps)
• Michael Hooper (2021, 10 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2012–, 121 caps)

Stadium

• Gallery
• 
  Toyota Stadium
• 
  Mizuho Rugby Stadium
• 
  Toyota Sports Center

External links

• Toyota Verblitz - official site