Toyota Verblitz
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| Union | Japan Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames |
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| Emblem | Fūjin | ||
| Founded | 1941 | ||
| Location | Toyota, Aichi, Japan | ||
| Region | Aichi Prefecture | ||
| Ground(s) | Toyota Stadium (Capacity: 45,000) | ||
| Director of Rugby | Steve Hansen | ||
| Coach | Ian Foster | ||
| Captain | Kazuki Himeno | ||
| League | Japan Rugby League One | ||
| 2024–25 | 10th of 12 | ||
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| Official website | |||
| verblitz.toyotatimes-sports.toyota | |||
Toyota Verblitz (Japanese: トヨタ自動車ヴェルブリッツ), often known as Toyota Verdy,[a] is a professional Japanese rugby union team that compete in the Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) competition. The team was established in 1941 as the Toyota Motor Corporation Rugby Club. The team was rebranded into its current name in 2004 before their inclusion into the 2004–05 Top League season.
The team name: Verblitz is a portmanteau of the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese language word for green, verde, and the German language word for lightning, blitz.[1]
Toyota Verblitz were established in 1941[2][3] by Toyota Motor as Toyota Motor Rugby Club.[1] After the Toyota Motor and Toyota Sales merger and subsequent executive reforms in the 1980s,[4] Verblitz changed its name to Toyota Motor Corporation Rugby Club. Following the creation of the Top League in the early 2000s, the club's name formally change to Toyota Verblitz ahead of their inclusion in the competition in 2004.
Results
Verblitz (surprisingly given the team's pedigree) failed to make the cut for the first season of the Top League (2003-4) but entered the Top League in the second season and were a contender for the second Microsoft Cup. They lost the Japan Championship final on February 27, 2005, to NEC Green Rockets 13–17.
Current squad
Former players
- Orene Ai'i - Blues (Super Rugby) and New Zealand national rugby sevens team representative[6]
- Lionel Cronjé (2017–22, 48 games) Fly-half
- Dominic Day 2016 - Lock (Now playing for Saracens in the (English Premiership)
- Troy Flavell - lock (All Blacks 2001-08, later in France with Bayonne)
- Michael Hooper (2021, 10 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2012–23, 125 caps)
- Tamaiti Horua - No. 8 formerly played for Brumbies then Western Force
- Takashi Kikutani (2004–13, 114 games) Loose forward, Japanese International (2005–14, 68 caps)
- Toshizumi Kitagawa (2004-19, 102 games) Lock, Japanese International (2005–13, 43 caps)
- Joe Launchbury Lock, England International (2012–, 65 caps)
- Wycliff Palu (2016-17, 14 games) Loose forward, Wallaby (2006–16, 58 caps)
- Kieran Read (2020-21, 10 games) Loose forward, All Black (2008–19, 128 caps)
- Filo Tiatia - Hurricanes and 2 test All Black No 8. Later played with the Ospreys in Wales.
- Steven Yates - New Zealand national rugby sevens team representative 2007-08[7]
Stadium
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Honours
- All-Japan Championship
- Champions: 1969, 1968, 1987
- Runners-up: 2007
