Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by

NTT Communications , or NTT Com, is a Japanese telecommunications company which operates an international network in over 190 countries/regions, with locations in more than 70 countries/regions. The company has approximately 5,500 employees (NTT Communications ...

and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu City,

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

in the Kantō region. The team has undergone sevenral ''re-brands'' throughout is history, most recently in 2022, rebranding from Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu in line with the newsly formed

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly 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 absorbing the ...

competition in 2021/22, to the Urayasu D-Rocks in 2022 onwards.

History and name

NTT Communications RFC was founded in 1976. They won promotion to the expanded

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly 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 absorbing the ...

of 14 teams at the end of the 2009–10 season. They made their

debut for the 2010–11 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 beat Canon Eagles 31–19. In the 2011–12 season, they finished in ninth place. In July 2022, following the establishment of a new rugby business and sports company by parent company NTT, the Shining Arcs formally rebranded to the Urayasu D-Rocks. The new company, NTT Sports X, was established at the end of the 2022 season and is alleged to have begun with JP¥2.5 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

17.8 million) in

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Current squad

The Urayasu D-Rocks is for the 2023 season: * * denotes players qualified to play for the Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Notable former players

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and former

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* Brad Mika - Former

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player and played for

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* Adam Wallace-Harrison - Former

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player *

Sosene Anesi Sosene Raymond Anesi (born 3 June 1981 in Apia, Samoa) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a fullback and wing and currently the head coach of CS Dinamo București. Career Anesi came from Samoa to New Zealand in 2000 on a rugby sch ...

- Player for Chiefs and

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and

Craig Wing Craig Wing (born 26 December 1979), also known by the nickname of "Wingy", is an Australian-born former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He began his career in rugby league, playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and th ...

- former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer for Australia *

JP Nel Jacobus Paulus (JP) Nel (born 9 January 1981) is a former South African rugby union footballer, who regularly played as a centre. He made his first class debut for in 2000 and made almost two hundred first class appearances between 2000 and 20 ...

- Former

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player * Fotunuupule Auelua - Plays for

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Alesana Tuilagi Alesana "Alex" Tuilagi (born 24 February 1981) is a former Samoan rugby player. He is a retired footballer, currently residing in Fogapoa Savaii and has appeared numerous times for his national team Samoa. He previously played for Parma in Ita ...

- Plays for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football C ...

Home ground

* The Shining Arcs' home stadium is the NTT Grand Chiba Stadium in Ichikawa.

References

External links