(born 25 January 1968 in Jōnan) is a former Japanese rugby player and coach. He played as scrum-half. He currently coaches Senshu University Rugby Football Club.

Career

Murata started rugby at elementary school. In the fourth year in the Senshu University Rugby Football Club, he contributed to victory of the Kanto University League title as captain. Later, his team played against Meiji University in the Kanto College match, which resulted in a 13-13 draw. Immediately after the game, even though it comes to drawing for a university championship, he pulled out tears and draw tears. After graduating from high school, he joined Toshiba Fuchu, he contributed to the third consecutive victory of the Japanese championship since 1996, demonstrating his playing style matching the "P to GO" tactics used by the then-coach

Shogo Mukai , (born Iyo, October 2, 1961) is a Japanese former rugby union coach who coached the Japan national rugby union team from 2001 up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Mukai played as a full back and won 13 caps for the Japan national rugby union team b ...

. In 1990, he won a match against

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 ...

playing for Japan Under-23. Murata got his first cap in a test match against USA in 1991. He also took part at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

in the match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, in the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

and in the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

. He earned 41 international caps for Japan. In 1999, Murata signed a professional contract with

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais (AB, ), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'' in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the National Rugby League (France), French league system. ...

of the French league and he became the first Japanese professional rugby union player. In the French league, he played 44 games and scored 7 tries, including two tries in the debut match., playing an active role as a central player in the team. At the time, on Rugby Magazine and on his official website, he reported his life in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 2001, he moved to

Yamaha Júbilo Shizuoka Blue Revs (formerly the Yamaha Júbilo) are a rugby union team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The team came second behind Toshiba Brave Lupus in the second season of Japanese rugby's Top League (2004–05). They were coached by former ...

, leading the team with more sense of play. In 2002, he won the Kansai Company League for the first time. In 2005, he returned to play for

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 the age of 37, beating the caps record that Ross Thompson had. (this record was beaten by

Hitoshi Ono is a retired Japanese rugby player. He plays at lock for the Japan national rugby union team. He is nicknamed the "Iron Man". Ono started playing rugby after converting from baseball at Nihon University where he was studying to become a firefi ...

for the 2019 Rugby World Cup). Also, he was the oldest player to participate 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 ...

, at the age of 40. In an article for the Monthly VS. magazine, Murata stated that he " can play up to 40 years in Top League". He took 40 years tas player, as he decided to continue playing in the 2007-08 Top League season. As of January 2008, Murata announced that he will retire from his player career from the 2007-08 season. On 2 February, after the match against

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 ...

, his retirement ceremony was held, a bouquet was presented to Murata by his best friend,

Jubilo Iwata ''Jubilo'' is a 1919 American comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Robert F. Hill. The film stars Will Rogers, Josie Sedgwick, Charles K. French, Willard Louis, and James Mason. The film was released on December 7, 1919, ...

player

Masashi Nakayama , nicknamed "Gon" during his playing career, is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. He was the J.League Most Valuable Player in 1998, J.League Top Scorer in 1998 and 2000, and J.League Best XI in 1997, 1998, 2000, 20 ...

, who was also at age 40, with which Murata also exchanged each other's jerseys. In 2008, by request of the JRFU, Murata was appointed as coach of the

Japan national rugby sevens team The Japan national rugby sevens team participates in competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. History Hong Kong Sevens Japan won the Plate match at the 1980 and 1999 Hong Kong Sevens. In the 2007 Hon ...

and assumed office. In the same year he led Japan at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time. In October, he led Japan in the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifiers in Hong Kong. He also coached Japan national sevens team in the World Cup Sevens, held in Dubai, in March 2009. As of 2012, he was appointed coach for Senshu University Rugby Football Club Old Boys. Senshu returned to the first division in 2014 for the first time in 13 years. In addition to Nakayama, in the same age, Katsuyuki Kiyomiya was also present.

References

External links

Wataru Murata official websiteWataru Murata's blog2019 ALL FOR JAPAN TEAM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murata, Wataru 1968 births Living people Rugby union players from Fukuoka Prefecture Japanese expatriate sportspeople in France Japanese rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Japan international rugby union players Japanese rugby union coaches Shizuoka Blue Revs players Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo players Asian Games medalists in rugby union Rugby union players at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players Japanese expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Aviron Bayonnais players