Shimizu Blue Sharks

Shimizu Rugby Football Club – nicknamed the Blue Sharks – are a Japanese rugby union team, currently playing in the county's second tier Top Challenge League competition.[1] The team is the rugby team of architectural, civil engineering and general contracting firm Shimizu, based in Chūō in Tokyo.

Shimizu Blue Sharks
ブルーシャークス
Full nameShimizu Rugby Football Club
UnionJapan Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Blue Sharks
Founded1976
League(s)Top Challenge League
2018Champions
(Top League East)

The team was created in 1976 as the rugby union team for Shimizu Corporation. When rugby union in Japan was restructured in 2003 with the introduction of the Top League, Shimizu Blue Sharks was allocated to the second tier Top East League. They were relegated after the 2007–08 season, and played in lower leagues for a decade. They won promotion back for the 2017–18 season, where they secured a fourth-place finish. The following season, they won the competition, and also won their promotion play-off match against Chugoku Red Regulions to be promoted to the Top Challenge League for 2019.

Squad

The Shimizu Blue Sharks squad for the 2019–20 season is:[2]

Mazda Blue Zoomers squad

Props

  • Ryo Chennohara
  • Pekahou Cowan
  • Aohara Goro
  • Miyake Harukai
  • Shinya Mato
  • Hayato Sato
  • Tamura Shimura
  • Takatoshi Sugawara
  • Kota Takahashi

Hookers

  • Ando Daiki
  • Yuya Furuta
  • Naochi Tachikawa
  • Jun Takeuchi
  • Hayato Yamakawa

Locks

  • Suguru Hidaka
  • Eri Nakada
  • Ryota Sakino
  • Hiroto Watanabe
  • Sam Wykes

Loose Forwards

  • Yasuhiro Ando
  • Tatsushi Ishii
  • Haruki Matsudo
  • Wataru Nihonmoto
  • Takaaki Otsuki
  • Hiroki Sato
  • Yutaro Shirako
  • Jano Venter
  • Kento Yasunaga

Scrum-halves

  • Naohide Oishi
  • Taishi Sakurai
  • Tomohiro Sakurai
  • Shuto Takashima

Fly-halves

Centres

  • Rhyno Benjamin
  • Takumi Kanamura
  • Hironori Kimura
  • Johnny Kotze
  • Toru Morita
  • Ryota Noda
  • Dick Wilson

Wingers

  • Kazuki Hatakeyama
  • Daichi Ito
  • Nicholas Kraska
  • Nagaya Miyazaki
  • Takahiro Morikawa
  • Shuhei Sasaki

Fullbacks

  • Naoki Moriya
  • Tatsuhiro Ozaki
  • Tadanobu Taka
(c) denotes team captain.

References
  1. "2019年度ジャパンラグビートップチャレンジリーグ チーム編成について" (PDF). Japan East Rugby Football Union (in Japanese). 5 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. "Shimizu Blue Sharks Member List". Shimizu Blue Sharks. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
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