Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by

NTT Communications , or NTT Com, is a Japanese telecommunications company which operates an international network in over 190 countries/regions, with locations in more than 70 countries/regions. The company has approximately 5,500 employees (NTT Communications ...

and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu City,

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

in the Kantō region. The team has undergone sevenral ''re-brands'' throughout is history, most recently in 2022, rebranding from Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu in line with the newsly formed

Japan Rugby League One 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 ...

competition in 2021/22, to the Urayasu D-Rocks in 2022 onwards.

History and name

NTT Communications RFC was founded in 1976. They won promotion to the expanded

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 ...

of 14 teams at the end of the 2009–10 season. They made their

debut for the 2010–11 season. After their first season, they finished 12th place with 4 wins and 9 losses. They had to play a play-off to keep themselves in the Top League, in which they beat

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 ...

31–19. In the 2011–12 season, they finished in ninth place. In July 2022, following the establishment of a new rugby business and sports company by parent company NTT, the Shining Arcs formally rebranded to the Urayasu D-Rocks. The new company, NTT Sports X, was established at the end of the 2022 season and is alleged to have begun with

JP¥ The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and th ...

2.5 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

17.8 million) in

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Current squad

The Urayasu D-Rocks is for the 2023 season: * * denotes players qualified to play for the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Notable former players

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and former

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- Former

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player and played for

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- Former

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player *

Sosene Anesi Sosene Raymond Anesi (born 3 June 1981 in Apia, Samoa) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a fullback and wing and currently the head coach of CS Dinamo București. Career Anesi came from Samoa to New Zealand in 2000 on a rugby sc ...

- Player for Chiefs and

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

and

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- former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer for

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* JP Nel - Former

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

player *

Fotunuupule Auelua Fotunu'upule Auelua (known as ''Fotu'') is an Australian rugby union player who plays at Number eight (rugby union), Number 8 for the ACT Brumbies, Brumbies in Super Rugby. He previously played for US Dax, Dax, RC Toulonnais, Toulon and NTT Commu ...

- Plays for

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

* Alesana Tuilagi - Plays for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

Home ground

* The Shining Arcs' home stadium is the NTT Grand Chiba Stadium in Ichikawa.

References

External links