Takuro Miuchi (箕内拓郎, ''Miuchi Takuro'', born December 11, 1975) is a Japanese

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 it ...

player, who plays number eight. He was captain of 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 ...

until relieved of that responsibility by Japan national team coach Jean-Pierre Elissalde in a surprise move during February 2006. He was recalled to the team for the

IRB Pacific 5 Nations The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

games, and has appeared in 2

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Profile at 2003 World Cup website
and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He also plays for

NEC Green Rockets NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu (formerly NEC Green Rockets) is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. The team's captain iRyota Asano The previous captain was Takuro Miuchi, who was also the captain of the Japan national rugby unio ...

in 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 ...

, and was the NEC captain before Ryota Asano. Under John Kirwan (appointed head coach January 1, 2007) he again became captain of Japan, and appeared in the Japanese squad for the 2007 World Cup and the

2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2008 Pacific Nations Cup was a rugby union tournament held between six national sides on the Pacific Rim: Australia A, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand Māori (just for this year). The inaugural competition was held in 2006. This y ...

Early life

Takuro is originally from Tobata ward in

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...

city. He first learned rugby at Sayagatani rugby school, and played also for Yahata High School. He played as a student for

Kanto Gakuin University is a private university located in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan. History It traces its roots to The Baptist Theological Seminary of Yokohama established by Albert Arnold Bennett, a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, establis ...

and for a year at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where he gained a blue. Miuchi's first international cap was on May 19, 2002 in a match against .

References

External links

Miuchi gets recall for Pac Five
Daily Yomiuri, May 20, 2006

Daily Yomiuri, February 28, 2006
Miuchi on the Rockets website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miuchi, Takuro 1975 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Green Rockets Tokatsu players NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players Sportspeople from Kitakyushu Rugby union number eights Kanto Gakuin University alumni Japan international rugby union 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 2003 Rugby World Cup players