Keiji Hirose

Keiji Hirose (廣瀬佳司, Hirose Keiji), born April 16, 1973 in Osaka) is a former Japanese rugby union player. He played as a fly-half. His club team was Toyota Verblitz. He was nicknamed Golden Boots (ゴールデン・ブーツ, Gôruden Būtsu).

Keiji Hirose

Date of birth	(1973-04-16) April 16, 1973
Place of birth	Osaka, Japan
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	163 lb (74 kg; 11.6 st)
School	Shimamoto High School, Osaka
University	Kyoto Sangyo University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1989-1992 1996-1996 Shimamoto High School, Osaka Kyoto Sangyo University RFC[1] () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1996-2008 Toyota () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1994-2005  Japan 40 (422)

Hirose was awarded 40 caps for Japan; he made his debut in a 26-11 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier win over South Korea, October 29, 1994 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In his career, Hirose scored 5 tries, 77 conversions, 79 penalties and 2 drop goals, reaching a national record of 422 points in aggregate. He was the primary goalkicker for Japan during his international career.

He played in just a single game at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the infamous 145–17 defeat to New Zealand. Hirose scored 2 conversions and 1 penalty in the game.

In the 44–17 win over Tonga, at 8 May 1999, in Tokyo, during the Pacific Rim Championship, he kicked a then record of 9 penalties from 9 attempts.

He played in all three of Japan's games at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. His 5 penalties and 4 conversions (a total of 23 points) led his country in scoring. Hirose again played only once at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, in a 32–11 defeat to Scotland, at 12 October 2003, scoring 2 penalties.

His last international game came was on 5 November 2005, a 44–29 win over Spain, in Tokyo. Hirose had a memorable farewell, scoring 19 points through 5 conversions, 2 penalties and 1 drop goal. He was 32 years old.