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 at number 8 or flanker 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 ...

and previously

Toyota Verblitz Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is ...

. He also represented Japan at international level, and is the second highest try scorer for a forward of all time.

Professional career

Kikutani first played for the Japan 7s team in 1999 and represented them at the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens before making his debut for in November 2005 against where he scored a try. He established himself in the side through 2006 but was ruled out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup with a knee injury. After recovering from injury, he returned to the side and took over

Takuro Miuchi 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 cen ...

as captain in November 2008 by coach John Kirwan, and led the side until the end of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. After a disappointing tournament for Japan, he was replaced as captain by

Toshiaki Hirose is former Japanese rugby union player who played as a wing or fly half, and captained the national team between 2012 and 2013. After becoming a regular starter for Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Top League, Hirose made his debut for Japan in 2007 aga ...

and initially left out the squad altogether by new coach Eddie Jones, but soon returned for the 2012 Pacific Nations Cup, and re-established himself as vice captain to Hirose, and was singled out by Jones as one of the few Japanese players who has the attitude and physicality to be able to "smash" players. He dropped off the international scene in 2014. Kikutani finished his international career as the second highest try scorer of all time by a forward with 32 tries, with only

Diego Ormaechea Diego Ormaechea (born 19 July 1959) is a former Uruguayan rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a number eight. Ormaechea is considered the greatest Uruguayan rugby player of all time. His contribution to rugby has been significan ...

of having scored more. At domestic level, Kikutani played most of his career at

, and has twice been named in

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 ...

team of the season in 2009–10 and

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. He left the club in December 2013 to join Saracens on a training contract, before returning to Japan with the

References

External links

Toyota Verblitz profile
1980 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Japan international rugby union players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers Toyota Verblitz players Yokohama Canon Eagles players Saracens F.C. players Expatriate rugby union players in England Japanese expatriate rugby union players Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England Japan international rugby sevens players {{japan-rugbyunion-bio-stub