Toyota Verblitz

Toyota Verblitz
トヨタ自動車ヴェルブリッツ

File:Verblitz.png
Full name	Toyota Verblitz
Union	Japan Rugby Football Union
Founded	1941
Location	Toyota, Aichi, Japan
Ground(s)	Mizuho Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 15,000)
Coach(es)	Jake White
League(s)	Top League
2017–18	4th
1st kit 2nd kit

Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. Verblitz is a conflation of verde (Portuguese for 'green') and blitz (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Jidosha (Toyota Motors) and is separate from, and not to be confused with, the Toyota Industries Shuttles rugby team, owned by Toyota Industries. They share Toyota Stadium in the city of Toyota, Aichi with the football club Nagoya Grampus which also used to be owned by Toyota Motors.

Slogan for 2006 season: 克己　Kokki (Self-Control)

Honours

• All-Japan Championship
  • Champions: 1969, 1968, 1987
  • Runner-up: 2007

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.

In August 2005 Verblitz beat Newcastle Falcons at home. On February 12, 2006 they lost to Waseda University RFC in the Japan Championships, 24-28. This was the first time a Top League team had lost to a university team.

Current squad

The current Toyota Verblitz squad is:

Toyota Verblitz squad
Props Kohei Asahori Runya Che Yoto Ioki Tatsuya Kakimoto Yusuke Kizu Shogo Miura Yōsuke Takahashi Yuji Takei Yuki Uchida Kohei Yoshida Hookers Yoshikatsu Hikosaka Tomoharu Kawanishi Ryuta Ueno Locks Mitsuru Furukawa Reniel Hugo Jason Jenkins Toshizumi Kitagawa Shneil Singh Carl Wegner	Loose Forwards Ryo Fujii Kazuki Himeno (c) Fetuani Lautaimi Jannes Kirsten Jyoji Sato Olive Taufa Kyo Yoshida Scrum-halves Koki Hirano Kota Iwamura Takehito Namekawa Kaito Shigeno Fly-halves Lionel Cronjé Ryota Kabashima Kim Jonon Yusho Takeda	Centres Yuta Haruyama Taiki Masuda Yuki Okada Male Sa'u Keita Suzuki Clinton Swart Vatiliai Tuidraki Steven Yates Wingers Jamie Henry Masakatsu Hikosaka Seiyu Kohara Dai Ozawa Kohei Yuasa Fullbacks Gio Aplon Yuki Kido Yoshizumi Takeda
(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped

Former players

• Troy Flavell - lock (now in France with Bayonne)
• Tamaiti Horua - No. 8 (formerly Brumbies), now Western Force in 2008 season
• Orene Aii
• Filo Tiatia - No. 8 (now in Wales with the Ospreys}
• Dominic Day - Lock (Now playing for Saracens in the English Premiership]])

External links

• Toyota Verblitz - official site