is a New Zealand-born Japanese professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a number eight for

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as 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, b ...

club

Toshiba Brave Lupus Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. They are based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Suntory Sungoliath. They won the second ever Top League championship in the 2004-5 season and the Mic ...

. Born in New Zealand, he represents

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Early life

Leitch was born in Burwood,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, to a New Zealand father and a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an mother. He was raised in Christchurch where he attended St Bede's College. In 2004, at the age of 15, he went to Sapporo Yamanote High School in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, Japan, as part of St Bede's school exchange program. After finishing school he attended

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Uni ...

and in 2008 captained the Japan U20 team at the Junior World Championship. He became a Japanese national in 2013 and officially inverted his name in Japanese from ''Michael Leitch'' to ''Leitch Michael''.

Club career

After the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, he joined the

in the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as 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 ...

. In his first season he was named in the league's team of the season and given the award of "revelation of the season" at the end of the season awards. He followed this up by being named in the team of the season for a second season in 2012/2013. He moved back to New Zealand after being named in the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

-based wider training squad for 2013, but was denied the chance to play after breaking an arm. He got a second chance with the Chiefs, signing a contract with the side for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

International career

He made his test match debut for

in 2008 against the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

aged 20, receiving a yellow card in that game for a dangerous tackle. He quickly established himself as a regular member of the national side. His first try came against Kazakhstan in April 2009. He impressed in the

and was praised as one of Japan's best forwards, winning 'man of the match' in the loss to

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, where he scored a try and made a try-saving tackle on

Siale Piutau Siale Piutau (born 13 October 1985) is a rugby union player who currently plays as a Centre (rugby union), centre for Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks in the Japan Rugby League One. Although born and educated in New Zealand, he represented Tonga natio ...

. In his first match back from injury, playing for Japan against

in June, he broke a leg. He was appointed Japan captain by coach Eddie Jones in April 2014, becoming the second New Zealand-born player to lead the ''Brave Blossoms'' after Andrew McCormick in the 1990s. Leitch has spoken highly of Jones, saying in a 2019 interview that "Eddie helped me realise I am not Japanese... he is the one that reminded me I am from New Zealand and New Zealanders are not nice people... we're rough... That's probably the biggest piece of advice he has given me to take me from a good player to a better player." Jones returned the compliment, praising him as a "good player and a great man" He captained the Japan national team at the 2015

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

, famously defeating

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in one of the biggest upsets ever. This victory is the core of the film '' The Brighton Miracle'', in which he is played by Lasarus Ratuere; but also appears as himself. For the 2018 season, Leitch moved to the

Sunwolves The Sunwolves ( Japanese: ) – previously known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves for sponsorship reasons – were a professional rugby union team and Japan's representative team in SANZAAR's international Super Rugby competition. The team w ...

, the Japanese Super Rugby team. In November of that year, he scored against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

. His side led 15–10 at half-time, but eventually lost 35–15. At the 2019 World Cup, when Japan were hosts, he led the victory over Ireland, ranked second in the world at that time, and then defeated Scotland to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time ever. Looking back on the tournament in 2023, the website ''RugbyPass'' labelled him as one of the players of the tournament, describing his leadership of the host nation's team as 'heroic'. There is a statue of Leitch in one of the communal parks in Tokyo. During the 2019 World Cup it was a popular place for fans to have their photos taken. Ahead of the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

, he was described as in 'vintage form' for the Brave Lupus by ''RugbyPass''. However, on July 22 a high tackle on So'otala Fa'aso'o against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

saw him receive a red card from referee Mathieu Raynal. He was subsequently banned for three matches by

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

References

External links

*
michaelleitch.com
official personal site

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leitch, Michael Living people 1988 births Japanese people of I-Taukei Fijian descent New Zealand people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Rugby union players from Christchurch New Zealand rugby union players Japanese rugby union players Japan international rugby union players Rugby union flankers New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Male rugby sevens players Asian Games gold medalists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Asian Games Fijian people of British descent Japanese people of British descent Japanese people of New Zealand descent Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Japan international rugby sevens players Sunwolves players People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch Tokai University alumni Rugby union number eights 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Naturalized citizens of Japan Naturalised rugby union players New Zealand emigrants to Japan