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

NTT Communications is a Japanese telecommunications company owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. It operates an international network across over 190 countries and regions, with locations in more than 70 countries and regions. The company has ...

and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 1. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu City,

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

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

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 The Yokohama Canon Eagles is a Japanese rugby union team founded in 1981 that competes in the Japan Rugby League One and is owned by Canon. The team was previously based in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. According to the official website, it was founded ...

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¥ The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

2.5 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

17.8 million) in

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Current squad

The Urayasu D-Rocks is for the 2024-25 season: * * denotes players qualified to play for the

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 ...

on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Notable former players

Mark Gerrard Mark Gerrard (born 4 September 1982) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. He currently is the assistant coach for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby (MLR) competition in the United States. In 2011, he was one of 1 ...

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and former

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Brad Mika Bradley Moni Mika (born 2 June 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His position is lock. He was educated at St Peter's College. He made his provincial debut for Auckland in 2000, his Super Rugby debut for Crusaders in 2002, and his inte ...

- Former

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player and played for

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- Former

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

player * Sosene Anesi - 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 the S ...

- former professional

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footballer for

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* JP Nel - Former

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...

player * Fotunuupule Auelua - Plays for

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

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

- 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 Cl ...

* Isaac 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 Greig Laidlaw (born 12 October 1985) is a Scottish former professional rugby union player who played as a scrum-half and as a fly-half. Laidlaw holds the record for most caps as captain, 39, of the Scottish national team. He also represented ...

- former Scotland captain and scrum-half

Home ground

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

References

External links