is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays at

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

or occasionally full back for

Canon Eagles The Yokohama Canon Eagles is a Japanese rugby union team founded in 1981 that competes in the Japan Rugby League One and is owned by Canon. The team was previously based in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. According to the official website, it was founde ...

. He previously played for

Suntory Sungoliath Tokyo Sungoliath (formerly known as Suntory Sungoliath) is owned by the Suntory beverage company and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchū, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus. The ...

and the

Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, often known as the Cherry Blossoms, Sakura, and more recently The Brave Blossoms (''ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ - Bureibu burossamuzu'') is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has ...

. Nicknamed "the eel" for his sharp sidestepping ability, Onozawa is the second most capped Japanese rugby player of all time, and fifth highest try scorer in international rugby. Despite spending much of his career in the shadow of

Daisuke Ohata is a former Japanese rugby union player. He usually played on the wing, and sometimes at centre, for the Japanese national team. He made his name internationally as a speedy ace in the World Rugby Sevens Series (then known as the IRB World Sevens ...

he is considered an all-time great of Japanese rugby in his own right.

Career

Onozawa made his debut for Japan against in June 2001 and immediately impressed troubling the Welsh defence throughout and scored a try from 75 metres out from a move that he started himself. From there onwards he became a fixture in the Japan side. He scored 8 tries in his first 7 caps playing at full back, but in 2003 moved to a spot on the

. He played all of Japan's matches at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, scoring in his first match against and his wing partnership with

at the tournament was noted as one of the most positive aspects of Japan's tournament. In the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, Onozawa again played in all Japan's matches and notably scored a 70-metre individual try against . Over the next few years, Onozawa gradually kept increasing his try scoring record and by 2011 he entered the top 10 on the all time international try scoring list. At the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, Onozawa played in all Japan's matches for a third consecutive tournament, and also scored against to become the 15th player to score in a three World Cups. Onozawa was retained by new coach Eddie Jones, and 2012 proved to be one of his most successful years at age 34, becoming the 5th player to score 50 international tries in May 2012 , and overall scoring 10 tries in 8 matches, including tries in Japan's first ever wins away in Europe against and in November. Into his 12th year of his international career in 2013, Onozawa won his 80th cap against to become the most capped Japanese player of all time, overtaking centre Yukio Motoki's total of 79 caps. However he suffered with persistent injuries, including a long term shoulder injury which brought his international career effectively to a close with younger players coming through. He still was thought of in high regard by Eddie Jones though, who kept Onozawa with the squad in a mentoring role. At domestic level, Onozawa played for 14 years with

, before joining

in 2014 to finish his career. With

he won the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

three times, was the league's leading try scorer in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, was named in the team of the season 8 times at the end of season awards, and was named the league's overall MVP for the 2007/08 season. In October 2012, Onozawa became the first player to score 100 tries in the

References

External links

* *
RWC 2007 profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onozawa, Hirotoki 1978 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Rugby union wings Japan international rugby union players Tokyo Sungoliath players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Male rugby sevens players Asian Games medalists in rugby union Rugby union players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Japan international rugby sevens players