Takuro Miuchi (箕内 拓郎, Miuchi Takuro, born December 11, 1975) is a Japanese rugby union player, who plays number eight. He was captain of the Japan national rugby union team 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 games, and has appeared in 2 World Cups - 2003[3] and 2007.

Takuro Miuchi
Birth nameTakuro Miuchi
Date of birth (1975-12-11) December 11, 1975 (age 48)[1]
Place of birthKitakyushu, Japan[1]
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight107 kg (16 st 12 lb)[1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number eight
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1999-2009
2000
2010- present
NEC Green Rockets
Paese
NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes
()
Correct as of September 2012
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002 - Japan 36 (10)[2]
Correct as of September 21, 2007

He also plays for NEC Green Rockets in the Top League, 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.

Early life

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Takuro is originally from Tobata ward in Kitakyushu 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 and for a year at Oxford University where he gained a blue. Miuchi's first international cap was on May 19, 2002 in a match against Russia.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "RWC 2007 player profile for Takuro Miuchi". rugbyworldcup.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  2. ^ "scrum.com profile for Takuro Miuchi". scrum.com. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  3. ^ Profile at 2003 World Cup website Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
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