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| Full name | Urayasu D-Rocks | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | D-Rocks | ||
| Founded | 1976; 49 years ago (1976) | ||
| Location | Urayasu City,Chiba, Japan | ||
| Ground(s) | Chichibunomiya Stadium (Capacity: 27,188) | ||
| Coach | Greig Laidlaw | ||
| League(s) | Rugby League One, D1 | ||
| 2022–23, 1st of 6 | 10th of 12 (relegated) | ||
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| Official website | |||
| urayasu-d-rocks | |||
Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as theD-Rocks, or theShining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned byNTT Communications and is part of Japan'sRugby League One competition, currently inDivision 1. Given the name, the team is based inUrayasu City,Chiba Prefecture in theKantō region. The team has undergone severalre-brands throughout its history, most recently in 2022, rebranding fromShining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu in line with the newly formedJapan Rugby League One competition in 2021/22,[1] to theUrayasu D-Rocks in 2022 onwards.[2]
| Name | Date(s) |
|---|---|
| NTT Communications RFC NTTコミュニケーションズRFC | 1976–c. 2000s |
| NTT Communications Shining Arcs/NTT Shining Arcs NTTシャイニングアークス | c. 2000s–2021[citation needed] |
| Urayasu D-Rocks 浦安D-Rocks | since 2022[3][2] |
NTT Communications RFC was founded in 1976. They won promotion to the expandedTop League of 14 teams at the end of the 2009–10 season. They made theirTop League debut for the2010–11 season. After their first season, they finished 12th place with 4 wins and 9 losses. They had to play a play-off to keep themselves in the Top League, in which they beatCanon Eagles 31–19. In the2011–12 season, they finished in ninth place.
In July 2022, following the establishment of a new rugby business and sports company by parent companyNTT, the Shining Arcs formally rebranded to theUrayasu D-Rocks.[2] The new company, NTT Sports X, was established at the end of the2022 season and is alleged to have begun withJP¥2.5 billion (US$17.8 million) incapital.[4]
The Urayasu D-Rocks is for the 2025-26 season:[5]
| Urayasu D-Rocks squad | ||
|---|---|---|
Props
Hookers Locks | Flankers No8s Scrum-halves Fly-halves | Centres Wingers Fullbacks Utility Backs |
| (c) Denotes team captain,Bold denotes player is internationally capped |
Mark Gerrard -Melbourne Rebels and formerWallaby
Brad Mika - FormerAuckland Blues player and played forNew ZealandAdam Wallace-Harrison - FormerQueensland Reds playerSosene Anesi - Player forChiefs andNSW Waratahs andNew ZealandCraig Wing - former professionalrugby league footballer forAustralia
JP Nel - FormerBlue Bulls player
Fotunuupule Auelua - Plays forBrumbiesAlesana Tuilagi - Plays forNewcastle FalconsIsaac Ross - Lock (2011–20, 89 games), Allblack (2009, 8 caps)
Amanaki Mafi - Loose forward (2014–21, 53 games), Japanese international (2014–, 29 caps)
Greig Laidlaw - former Scotland captain andscrum-half| Governing body | |||||||||||
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