is former

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

fly half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

, and captained the national team between 2012 and 2013. After becoming a regular starter for

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 ...

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 ...

, Hirose made his debut for Japan in 2007 against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

scoring 2 tries, but never featured again under coach John Kirwan. He continued to be a key player at domestic level though, captaining

to back to back

victories in 2009 and 2010. In 2012, 5 years from his debut, he was recalled and named captain of the

Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms (), or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's international rugby union. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed ...

by new coach, Eddie Jones. He by now had converted from

, and later that year led them to their first ever away wins in Europe against and . He was also infamously on the receiving end of a rant by Jones after a loss to the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 sea ...

in June. Hirose continued as captain in 2013, leading Japan to their first ever victory over , but was dropped in 2014 with his place coming under increasing pressure from new caps

Akihito Yamada is a Japanese rugby union player who plays as a winger. He also plays for Top League side the Panasonic Wild Knights in his home country. Career Yamada has been a prolific try-scorer for the Wild Knights in Japan's Top 14 competition since m ...

and

Kotaro Matsushima is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Tokyo Sungoliath. Born in South Africa, he represents Japan at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds. Early life Matsushima was ...

, and Jones citing a lack of pace. From there onwards he became a bit part player at international level with his remaining caps all coming off the bench as a utility player who could cover both

and

. He was retained for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

, with his leadership skills praised by Jones, but was the only player in the 31 man squad not to make the field in the tournament, and following a final season with

decided to retire.

References

External links

Toshiba Brave Lupus wing profiles
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirose, Toshiaki 1981 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo players Rugby union wings Japan international rugby union players 2015 Rugby World Cup players Rugby union players from Osaka Keio University alumni 21st-century Japanese sportsmen