Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay

Japanese rugby union club, based in Funabashi

Rugby team

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
クボタスピアーズ船橋・東京ベイ

Full name| Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Union| Japan Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)| Kubota Spears
Founded| 1978
Location| Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
Region| Kanto
Ground(s)| Edogawa Stadium (Capacity: 6,950)
Director of Rugby| Wataru Kondo
Coach(es)| Frans Ludeke
Captain(s)| Faulua Makisi
League(s)| Japan Rugby League One
2022/23| 1st
Playoffs: Champions

1st kit

2nd kit

|

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay (commonly known as the Kubota Spears) is a Japanese rugby union team based in Funabashi, Chiba participating in the Japan Rugby League One. The team rebranded as Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay ahead of the rebranding of the Top League as the Japan Rugby League One in 2022.[1]

## History

[edit]

The original rugby club was formed in 1978 by volunteers at the Kubota companies headquarters.[2]

In 1984 the team won the Kanto Amateur League Division 4 and later on won the promotion match to be moved up to the Kanto Amateur League Division 3. After promotion in 1994 the team won all of their games in the Kanto Amateur League Division 2, and after winning the promotion match were finally promoted to the first division. In 1996 after only one year into them being in the first division, they had won their first championship, but later failed to win the promotion match 19-22 to enter the East Japan Amateur League. The year after in 1997 the team won their second championship and in 1998 they won their promotion match moving them up to the East Japan Amateur League.[2]

In the early 2000's they continued to play in East Japan Amateur League continually placing around 3rd or 4th. During 2003 they had joined the Top League but had a rough time placing 8th, barely managing to stay in the league but they still had the opportunity to play in the Microsoft Cup and Japan Championship. During the mid 2000's they continually played poorly and ended up towards the bottom of the league multiple years in a row, and after a disappointing season in 2010 placing 13th with 1 win, 11 loses, and 1 draw, the team was automatically removed from the Top League. In 2012 the team had won the East Japan Amateur League again returning themselves to the Top League. In 2013 the Top League had rebranded and during this season they had won 9 games and lost 5 which was a considerable turn around from there previous time in the league.[2] In 2016 they appointed a new head coach Frans Ludeke, and a new team captain Masamichi Tachikawa.[3]

In 2021 they had beaten the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in the quarter finals and for the first time placed top 4 in the Top League. In 2022 they continued playing in the rebranded Japan Rugby League One, finishing the year in 3rd place. In 2023, the team had won a historic opening game against Tokyo Sungoliath, and had finished the season with 14 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw.[2] They beat Tokyo Sungoliath in the semi-finals and in the finals match against the Saitama Wild Knights they had won 17-15 securing the first ever league championship victory for the team.[4]

During the 2024 season they had a harder season, struggling with the opening games and ended up at 6th place by the end of the season, not making it to the playoffs.[2]

## Current squad

[edit]

The Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squad for the 2024-25 season is:[5]

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squad

Props

* Yota Kamimori
* Kazuki Kato
* Kota Kaishi
* Kengo Kitagawa
* Opeti Helu
* Shoya Matsunami
* Satoshi Saita
* Toi Kai
* Kenshi Yamamoto
* Izi Sword*
* Keijiro Tamefusa

Hookers

* Malcolm Marx
* Schalk Erasmus
* Rikuto Fukuda
* Katsuya Okuma
* Hayate Era

Locks

* Ruan Botha*
* David Bulbring*
* David Van Zeeland*
* Naoaki Horibe
* Yuki Aoki
* Takenori Matsui
* Akira Ieremia*
* Yuki Asai REP

Flankers

* Merwe Olivier
* Masaya Tamaki
* Lappies Labuschagné
* Takeo Suenaga
* Shinko Tsuchiya
* Finau Tupa*
* Kenkichi Yanagawa
* Ogi Yanamoto
* Ollie Stonham
* Harry Willard REP
* Yuma Uenobo REP

No8s

* Tyler Paul*
* Faulua Makisi (c)
* Asipeli Moala*

Scrum-halves

* Shinobu Fujiwara
* Shunta Koga
* Kazuhiro Taniguchi
* Ippei Okada
* Genki Mizobuchi
* Bryn Hall

Fly-halves

* Tomoki Kishioka
* Bernard Foley
* Atsushi Oshikawa

Centres

* Harumichi Tatekawa
* Rikus Pretorius
* Sione Teaupa
* Yuya Hirose
* Kanji Futamura
* Halatoa Vailea*
* Towa Kondo REP

Wingers

* Koga Nezuka
* Haruto Kida
* Hiroyuki Yamasaki
* Tsuyoshi Jennings*
* Reo Matsushita

Fullbacks

* Gerhard van den Heever
* Yuhei Shimada
* Hibiki Yamada
* Shaun Stevenson REP

Utility Backs

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.

*     * denotes players qualified to play for the Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds.

## Honors

[edit]

* Japan Rugby League One - Division 1
* Won: 2023
* Kanto Amateur League - Division 1
* Won: 1996, 1997

## Former players

[edit]

* Viliami Ofahengaue
* Joe Roff \- Fullback/wing
* Barrie-Jon Mather \- Centre/wing
* Marty Veale \- Lock
* Kōtarō Nakamura \- Wing/fullback
* Jason O'Halloran
* Cameron Pither
* Shunji Ishikura \- Lock
* Joshua Fuimaono
* Justin Sampson
* Toutai Kefu
* Duane Vermeulen
* Ryan Crotty
* Dane Coles
* Liam Williams

## Notes

[edit]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "La nouvelle ligue japonaise s'appelle la Japan Rugby League One". Asie Rugby (in French). 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
2. ^ a b c d e "クボタスピアーズ船橋・東京ベイとは｜ヒストリー｜クボタスピアーズ". www.kubota-spears.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
3. ^ "クボタスピアーズ新体制及び新入団選手のお知らせ ｜クボタスピアーズ". www.kubota-spears.com. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
4. ^ rugbyasia247 (2023-05-22). "Kubota Spears Are 2022-2023 JRLO Champions". RugbyAsia247. Retrieved 2025-02-17.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
5. ^ 選手名鑑 [Players Directory]. Kubota Spears (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 November 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Kubota Spears \- Official Website

* v
* t
* e

Japan Rugby League One

2025–26 teams|

| Division One|

* Black Rams Tokyo
* Brave Lupus Tokyo
* Kobe Steelers
* Mie Honda Heat
* Sagamihara DynaBoars
* Saitama Wild Knights
* Shizuoka Blue Revs
* Spears Tokyo Bay
* Tokyo Sungoliath
* Toyota Verblitz
* Urayasu D-Rocks
* Yokohama Canon Eagles

|

Division Two|

* Green Rockets Tokatsu
* Hino Red Dolphins
* Kamaishi Seawaves
* Kintetsu Liners
* Koto Blue Sharks
* Kyuden Voltex
* Red Hurricanes Osaka
* Toyota Shuttles Aichi

Division Three|

* Chugoku Red Regulions
* Kurita Water Gush
* LeRIRO Fukuoka
* Secom Rugguts
* Skyactivs Hiroshima
* Yakult Levins Toda

Former teams|

* Coca-Cola Red Sparks
* IBM Big Blue
* Munakata Sanix Blues
* World Fighting Bull
* Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars

Seasons|

* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25
* 2025–26

* Champions
* JRFU

* v
* t
* e

Top Challenge League

2021 teams|

* Chugoku Red Regulions
* Coca-Cola Red Sparks
* Kamaishi Seawaves
* Kintetsu Liners
* Kurita Water Gush
* Kyuden Voltex
* Mazda Blue Zoomers
* Shimizu Blue Sharks
* Toyota Industries Shuttles

Former teams|

* Canon Eagles
* Chubu Electric Power
* Hino Red Dolphins
* Honda Heat
* IBM Big Blue
* JR Kyūshū Thunders
* Kubota Spears
* Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
* Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
* Munakata Sanix Blues
* NTT Communications Shining Arcs
* NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes
* Osaka Police
* Ricoh Black Rams
* Secom Rugguts
* Tokyo Gas
* Toyota Verblitz
* World Fighting Bull
* Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars

Seasons|

| Top League Challenge Series|

* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17

|

Top Challenge League|

* 2017
* 2018

* v
* t
* e

Rugby union in Japan

Governing body|

* Japan Rugby Football Union

National teams|

| Men's|

* Japan
* A
* U-20
* 7's

|

Women's|

* Women's
* 7's

Competitions|

| International|

* Super Rugby

|

National|

* Japan Rugby League One
* Lixil Cup
* Top Challenge League
* All-Japan Rugby Football Championship

Amateur|

* All-Japan University Rugby Championship
* National High School Rugby Tournament

Hosted events|

* 2019 Rugby World Cup
* Japan Sevens
* Japan Women's Sevens
* 2001 World Games
* Sanix World Youth Tournament

Defunct|

* Japan Company Rugby Football Championship

Major figures|

* Ginnosuke Tanaka
* Edward Bramwell Clarke
* Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu
* Shiggy Konno
* Yoshirō Mori
* International Players

Related articles|

* Sunwolves
* Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium
* School Wars: Hero

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay – current squad

Forwards|

* Yuki Aoki
* Ruan Botha
* David Bulbring
* Yuta Chiba
* Schalk Erasmus
* Rikuto Fukuda
* Opeti Helu
* Uwe Helu
* Naoaki Horibe
* Kota Kaishi
* Yota Kamimori
* Kazuki Kato
* Kengo Kitagawa
* Lappies Labuschagné
* Faulua Makisi
* Malcolm Marx
* Shoya Matsunami
* Takenori Matsui
* Asipeli Moala
* Hisanobu Okayama
* Katsuya Okuma
* Teruyoshi Joshua Oto
* Kentaro Otsuka
* Satoshi Saita
* Kensuke Seki
* Takeo Suenaga
* Hiroaki Sugimoto
* Masaya Tamaki
* Kai Toi
* Shinko Tsuchiya
* Finau Tupa
* David Vanjiland
* Kenshi Yamamoto
* Ogi Yanamoto

Backs|

* Bernard Foley
* Shinobu Fujiwara
* Kanji Futamura
* Tony Hunt
* Daisuke Inoue
* Kento Iwasa
* Haruto Kida
* Tomoki Kishioka
* Shunta Koga
* Hideto Kondo
* Hiroto Mamada
* Leo Matsushita
* Shintaro Nagatomi
* Shota Nakata
* Koga Nezuka
* Ippei Okada
* Atsushi Oshikawa
* Rikus Pretorius
* Yuhei Shimada
* Kim Su-Ryung
* Kazuhiro Taniguchi
* Harumichi Tatekawa
* Sione Teaupa
* Halatoa Vailea
* Gerhard van den Heever
* Hiroyuki Yamasaki

Coach|

* Frans Ludeke

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