Japanese players set for Southland club rugby debut
“They are professional, and they’ve just got energy. Tuesday’s training was great they are four different personalities, and they bring that energy.”
Four top-flight Japanese players will make their Southland club rugby debuts on Saturday.
Toyota Verblitz - which plays in Japan’s top-level domestic competition - has formed a unique partnership with the Pirates-Old Boys Rugby Club in Invercargill.
Four players arrived in Invercargill from Japan last Friday ready to take part in the remainder of Southland’s premier club season with Pirates-Old Boys.
The four players - Shunsuke Asaoka, Tamura Kaisei, Rintaro Muriyama, and Shuhei Yamaguchi - will play their first game against Blues at Balmoral Dr on Saturday.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is Toyota Verblitz’s director of rugby and with Toyota missing the Japanese playoffs it is understood he was keen for some players to step outside their comfort zone and get some more game time in a different environment.
Pirates-Old Boys coach Ben McHugh said the Japanese quartet had fitted in quickly and have added plenty of enthusiasm to the group.
“They are professional, and they’ve just got energy. Tuesday’s training was great they are four different personalities, and they bring that energy.”
Shunsuke Asaoka is a prop, who has previously been part of the Japanese international setup, Tamura Kaisei is a halfback, Rintaro Muriyama is a first five-eighth/fullback, and Shuhei Yamaguchi an outside back.
Asaoka (tight-head prop) and Muriyama (fullback) will start against Blues while Kaisei and Yamaguchi will come off the bench.
While the purpose of their stay is to play club rugby those at Stags HQ are likely to take a close look at what they offer. The four players could be prospects to play at NPC level if they did stand out at club level in Southland.
They are likely to get drafted in to take part in the Town-Country fixture at King’s Birthday Weekend.
Toyota Verblitz strength and conditioning coach Jason Price is a Southlander and a good mate of McHugh.
Price is also in Southland and the moment and will work with the four Japanese players during their time in province.
McHugh hopes the concept works well and it could potentially grow in Southland in future years.
“I just hope the community embrace it and we can get a couple of extra players [in future] and feed them to some of the other clubs and make it work.”
The Toyota Verblitz players’ arrival has come at a good time for Pirates-Old Boys as the Surrey Park lads push towards the playoffs in the second round.
Pirates-Old Boys started the season well but have stalled a little which included its most recent 40-10 loss to Marist.
The professionalism and energy the Japanese players bring will be a boost to Pirates-Old Boys, but most importantly it will provide some playing depth come the crunch stage of the season.
In the coming weeks, Pirates-Old Boys will also welcome back first five-eighth Greg Dyer, who has been playing in Spain.
It could result in an embarrassment in riches in some positions, although that depth might prove vital if injuries hit throughout the second half of the season.
All eyes will be on Balmoral Dr on Saturday to see how the new recruits slot into Southland’s premier competition.
In other premier club games on Saturday, the inform Marist will host top-of-the-table Marist, while Woodlands will head out to Winton to take Midlands in the hope to get its season back on track.
Star has the bye.