11th Japanese National Women’s Rugby Championship Semifinals 2025

rugbyasia247 Posted On January 7, 2025

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The four semifinalists of the 11th Japanese National Women’s Rugby Championship 2025 have been determined following the completion of the regular season’s six rounds of matches, and will for the first time be played as doubleheaders alongside JRLO matches.

The sides who competed in the domestic national Japanese women’s 15s competition are stacked with Sakura 7s and XVs players as well as some international talent this season, notably former NZ 7s and 15s record-breaking international Portia Woodman-Wickliffe who is with the Mie Pearls club. The Mie Pearls are captained by national team Japan Sakura XV captain Seina Saito who has also played with the Chiefs Manawa in Super Rugby Aupiki.

Mie Pearls lost to rivals Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix in 2023–2024 National Women’s Rugby Championship final 40-24 and once again have a chance to topple their rivals as both sides are in the semifinals as favourites – The Phoenix also won the Japan National Sevens title last season.

Defending champions Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix, Yokohama TKM, Mie Pearls, and the combined Kyushu-Nagato team are the four semifinalists with matches due to be played as doubleheaders with Japan Rugby League One matches on 18 and 19 January 2025.

The JRFU confirmed it will be the first time that the tournament will be held in conjunction with official Japan Rugby League One matches.

Japanese National Women’s Rugby Championship – Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix are defending champions and into another semifinal

Akane Kagawa, Director of Women’s Rugby, Japan Rugby Football Union, said: “First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay, Mie Honda Heat, and Japan Rugby League One for their efforts in coordinating the co-hosting of the semi-finals of the National Women’s Championship.

The final of the last tournament was co-hosted with “THE CROSS-BORDER RUGBY 2024″, and the largest number of spectators in the history of the tournament were able to watch the country’s top 15-a-side women’s rugby match at the venue. I hope that this co-hosting will once again allow many spectators to watch women’s rugby and that the women’s teams that have competed hard in regional tournaments and advanced to the National Championship will perform in front of the fans of the League One teams.”

Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix won the Kanto division (also called the Otowa Cup) championship winning all six league matches and will play Yokohama TKM who were runners-up with 4 wins and 2 losses in the Kansai division in the first semifinal.

Mie PEARLS won the Kansai division and were also undefeated and will face runner-up from the Kanto division Kyushu-Nagato in the second semifinal. The latter is a joint team combining Kurume University, Nagato Blue Angels, and Kyushu Sangyo University. Nagato Blue Angels have traditionally been one of the strongest teams in Japan.

Some of the foreign capped 7s and XVs players who have competed in Japan this season include:

Yokohama TKM – Roela Radiniyavuni (Fiji), Vasiti Solikoviti (Fiji), Ateca Leiyamo (Fiji), Grace Brooker (NZ), Cassie Siataga (Samoa)
Mie Pearls Rugby – Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (NZ), Janet Okelo (Kenya)

Photo Credit – Mie Pearls – Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

11th Japanese National Women’s Rugby Championship Semifinals 2025 Fixtures

The Japan Rugby Football Union said online, “The tournament aims to promote the healthy development of women’s rugby and expand its base, as well as to improve the competitive ability of female players aiming to compete in the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup.

The two semi-final matches will be held in conjunction with two matches from Round 5 of the NTT Japan Rugby League One 2024-25, after the match between Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay and Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo (Spears Edoriku Field) on Saturday, January 18, and after the match between Mie Honda Heat and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath (Mie Kotsu G Sports Forest Suzuka) on Sunday, January 19.”

Semifinal 1 – January 18 2025, Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix vs Yokohama TKM @15:00 – Co-hosted with JRLO Match – Kubota Spears vs Black Rams @Spears Edorik Field.
Semifinal 2 – January 19 2025 – Mie PEARLS vs Kyushu-Nagato co-hosted with JRLO match – Mie Honda Heat vs Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath @Mie Kotsu G Sports Forest Suzuka

Hajime Tokairin, Managing Director of Japan Rugby League One commented on having the Women’s Semifinals and the JRLO played together, “Hosting League One and the All Japan Women’s Championship matches together is a rare opportunity for many people to see Japan’s men’s and women’s rugby with an eye on the world at the same time, and I believe this will be a very important initiative in terms of further developing and popularising rugby in Japan.

For fans who have never watched women’s rugby, this is a rare opportunity to see the power and appeal of Japanese women’s rugby, so even after the match of your favourite League One team is over, please continue to cheer on the female players competing in the same stadium.”

The final will be played between the two semifinal winners on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium (Tokyo) – you can see more information here on tickets.

Japanese National Women’s Rugby Championship 2025

How To Watch Japan National Women’s Rugby Championship Semifinals 2025

The Japanese rugby union has said that the matches will be broadcast in Japan on local broadcasters but no international streaming has been announced.

Women’s Rugby in Japan

Akane Kagawa, Director of Women’s Rugby JRFU added, “With the popularity of women’s rugby on the rise worldwide, with over 220,000 tickets already sold for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 to be held in England, we are delighted to see more opportunities for women’s rugby to be noticed in Japan as well.

Based on our mid- to long-term strategic plan, our association will continue to work on measures aimed at the development and popularization of women’s rugby, with the big goal of hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.”

The Japan Sakura XV team are the only Asian side at the RWC 2025. The Japanese domestic women’s rugby is viewed as being one of the best in the world and the clubs have signed a number of partnerships and agreements with sides in Australia, NZ and France.

Mie Pearls signed an MoU with Chiefs Manawa (NZ) in 2024 which allows both clubs to “explore opportunities that enhance the game for players, coaches and management through the sharing of knowledge and resources.”
Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix partners include the Western Force in Australia and Perpignan in France and they have established a partnership with French club USAP in 2024.