Kintetsu Liners
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| Kintetsu Liners 近鉄ライナーズ |
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| Full name | Kintetsu Liners | |||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Liners | |||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1929 | |||||||||||||||||
| Union | Japan Rugby Football Union | |||||||||||||||||
| Location | Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan | |||||||||||||||||
| Ground(s) | Kintetsu Hanazono rugby stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Hiroyuki Hamamura | |||||||||||||||||
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Kintetsu Liners rugby team are owned by Kintetsu Railway Company and were founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Kintetsu Hanazono rugby stadium in East Osaka city, Japan which was also opened in 1929.
Early in 2008 Kintetsu won promotion back to the Top League for the 2008-9 season, and it was announced that former All Blacks coach Peter Sloane would be head coach (Daily Yomiuri, April 26, 2008).
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[edit] Honours
- All-Japan Championship
- Champions: 1966, 1967, 1974
[edit] Recent History
The team managed to stay in the Top League for the second season (2004-5) by defeating Fukuoka Sanix Bombs of Kyūshū by 45-42 to gain 10th place, and then winning a challenge game.
However, in the second season (2004-5) Kintetsu was placed 11th and therefore was automatically relegated with 12th-placed IBM Big Blue.
In 2008 Kintetsu played successfully in the Top Challenge One series for promotion and won the right to appear in the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship for the first time in 33 years.
[edit] Current Players
Note:This list is from the Kintetsu Liners website, March 2008.
- Ipoloito Fenukitau - back row, Tonga, formerly Brumbies
- Takafumi Fukuroi - lock
- Kazu Hamabe - prop
- Yusuke Hamasato - back row
- Shunji Hashimoto - scrum half
- Jeffrey Ierome - centre
- Katsuhiko Ihama - centre
- Daiki Ishida - prop
- Satoshi Katsuura - prop
- Kensaku Kawasaki - full back
- Chulwon Kim - scrum half, Korean but has played for Japan
- Jinheung Kim - Korean, prop
- Kazuma Kitamura - scrum half
- Andrew Mailei - centre
- Hiromasa Matsui - full back
- Tadahiro Nishio - full back
- Shoji Nobekawa - back row
- Eiji Okuda - prop
- Takaaki Okuma - back row
- Akimori Ono - back row
- Yoji Ota - full back
- Atsushi Oyabu - centre
- Kazuki Sakamoto - stanf off
- Mikio Sato - back row
- Koji Shigeeda - hooker
- Yasumasa Shigemitsu - stand off
- Keita Shiomi - hooker
- Youhei Shinomiya - full back
- Angduk Sung - Korean, prop
- Yūsuke Tanaka - wing three quarter back/center three quarter back
- Tafia Taufa - full back, Tonga
- Luke Thompson - lock, has played for Japan
- Taufa Toetuu - No. 8
- Yutaka Tsujimoto - hooker
- Ruatangi Vatuvei - lock, has played for Japan
- Akihiro Yamashita - lock
- Akitoshi Yamazaki - centre
- Shuji Yoshikawa - centre
- Taichi Yoshimura - stand off
[edit] External links
- Kintetsu Liners - official home page
