Japan women's national rugby union team
National sporting side of Japan
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The Japan women's national rugby union team (Ragubī joshi nihon daihyō (ラグビー女子日本代表), nicknamed Sakura Fifteen) are a national sporting side of Japan, representing them at rugby union. The side played their first test match at the inaugural 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup in Wales.[1] They have competed in five Rugby World Cups since then and have won seven Asia Rugby Women's Championship titles.
| |||
| Nicknames | Cherry Blossom 15 (桜十五 (kanji), さくらフィフティーン (kana), Sakura fifutīn) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Japan Rugby Football Union | ||
| Head coach | Lesley McKenzie | ||
| Captain | Saki Minami | ||
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| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 11 (as of 4 September 2023) | ||
| Highest | 10 (2023) | ||
| First international | |||
 France 62–0 Japan  (Aberavon, Wales; 6 April 1991) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Japan 90–0 Kazakhstan  (Fukuoka, Japan; 15 May 2025) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Japan 0–121 United States  (Melrose, Scotland; 15 April 1994) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 1991) | ||
| Best result | 8th (1994) | ||
History
Japan made their international debut at the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup.[1] Since then, Japan has appeared at three other editions of the World Cup in 1994, 2002 and 2017.[2] The team has won the Asia Rugby Women's Championship in 2015,[3] 2016 and 2017.
Japan qualified for the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand after a revision of Asia's qualification was made due to the global pandemic. As Asia's highest ranked team they qualified automatically for the tournament.[4]
In November 2021, Japan toured Europe and played test matches against Ireland, Scotland and Wales.[5][6][7][8] Wales defeated Japan 23–5, the Sakura's scoring their only try in the 77th minute with a missed conversion.[9] Scotland ran in six tries to give the Sakura's their second loss 36–12, at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh.[10] Ireland down to 14 players pulled off an unlikely win to beat Japan 15–12.[11]
Japan toured Australia in 2022, they played and won matches against Australia, the Australian Barbarians, and Fiji.[12]
In May 2025, the Sakura's had their biggest win when they trounced Kazakhstan 90–0 in the opening match of the Asia Rugby Women's Championship in Fukuoka; they ran in 14 unanswered tries.[13][14] They eventually won the tournament, making it their seventh Championship title.[15][16]
Records
Overall
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |  England | 98.09 |
| 2 | |  Canada | 91.53 |
| 3 | |  New Zealand | 89.85 |
| 4 | | France | 83.60 |
| 5 | |  Ireland | 78.20 |
| 6 | |  Scotland | 77.39 |
| 7 | |  Australia | 75.46 |
| 8 | | United States | 72.90 |
| 9 | |  Italy | 72.37 |
| 10 | |  South Africa | 71.62 |
| 11 | | Japan | 69.72 |
| 12 | |  Wales | 66.13 |
| 13 | |  Fiji | 63.98 |
| 14 | |  Spain | 62.42 |
| 15 | |  Samoa | 59.72 |
| 16 | |  Hong Kong | 57.56 |
| 17 | |  Netherlands | 57.42 |
| 18 | |  Russia | 55.10 |
| 19 | | Kazakhstan | 53.88 |
| 20 |  1 |  Germany | 51.10 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
(Full internationals only) Correct as 31 August 2025.
See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering
| Opponent | First game | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia |
2017 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25% |
| Canada |
1994 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00% |
| Fiji |
2016 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 83.33% |
| France |
1991 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00% |
| Hong Kong |
1998 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 94.44% |
| Ireland |
1994 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 25% |
| Italy |
2002 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12.5% |
| Kazakhstan |
2005 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 36.36% |
| Netherlands |
2002 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| New Zealand |
2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00% |
| Samoa |
2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Scotland |
2019 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25% |
 Singapore |
2007 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| South Africa |
2022 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67% |
| Spain |
1991 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 66.67% |
 Sweden |
1991 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| United States |
1994 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20% |
| Wales |
2017 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33.33% |
| Summary | 1991 | 94 | 48 | 2 | 44 | 51.06% |
Rugby World Cup
| Rugby World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | PF | PA | ||||||||||||
| 1991 | Plate quarter-finals | 12th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 112 | ||||||||||||
| 1994 | Shield 3rd play-off | 8th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 293 | ||||||||||||
| 1998 | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | 13th place play-off | 14th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 95 | ||||||||||||
| 2006 | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 11th place play-off | 11th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 87 | 152 | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | Pool stage | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | Pool stage | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 125 | ||||||||||||
| 2029 |
TBD | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2033 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 6/10 | 8th† | 23 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 250 | 869 | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Players
Recent squad
On 28 July, Japan announced their final squad for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.[18][19]
Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.
