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Saitama Wild Knights
The Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights is a professional Japanese rugby union team located in Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture. The team was created in 1960 by students and Sanyo workers. The team compete annually in the top-flight (Division 1) Japan Rugby League One. Originally located in Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, the team was relocated 13 kilometres south to Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture in 2021.
The Wild Knights, in the fifth season (2007–08) of the top-flight Japanese rugby union, was the first team to go unbeaten throughout a Top League season. They won their first Japanese title, the Top League, in 2011. They became the first team from Gunma Prefecture to win a Top League title, and in 2022, the first team from Saitama prefecture to win a Japan Rugby League One title.
The Wild Knights were founded in 1960 by alumni of the Kumagai Industrial School and workers of the Tokyo Sanyo corporation. Initially an amateur company team, they competed in the Kantō Leagues during the 1960s, rising gradually through the ranks of the prefecture's rugby pyramid.
In 1968 they undertook the first tour in their history when they travelled to South Korea to face a number of university and company teams there. In 1971 they won their first ever Kantō Rugby Championship, after arising from the fourth division only nine years earlier. This success was followed the next season with a successive championship title, a testament to the increasing fortunes of the Gunma club.
After a few runners-up places, the club won seven back-to-back titles between 1976 and 1982, becoming the dominant rugby force in Kantō-chihō. Further titles were added in 1986 and 1987, before the Wild Knights were entered into the new East Japan Rugby Championship against other top clubs from Kantō and Tōhoku. Rugby in Japan was a growing sport, gradually gaining popularity and competitiveness outside of its normal strongholds in company break-rooms and college campuses. Although still nominally amateur, the Wild Knights nonetheless used their position in the Tokyo Sanyo corporation to hire talented foreigners to 'work' for the company with the real intention of playing for the rugby team. Known as "shamateurism", it became rampant in rugby union, as well as football and baseball.
Due to the merger of Tokyo Sanyo Electric with Sanyo Electric in 1986, the team name was changed to Sanyo Electric Rugby Team. The maiden season of the new East Japan league was captured in 1988, with further crowns captured in 1990 and 1991. Further titles were nabbed during the 1990s and in May 1997 the club's new ground at Ryumai-cho was officially unveiled.
In 2003 the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) launched the Top League, Japan's first nationwide domestic rugby competition. Held annually between September and February, the Top League would mark a new future for the sport in Japan and a fully professional structure would help clubs like the Wild Knights to attract better players.
Immediately prior to the launch of the Top League in 2003, the club renamed the name to "Sanyo Wild Knights". In the maiden season of the Top League, the club finished in 7th but did manage to win the Fair Play Award for 2003–04. The league that year was won by the Kobe Kobelco Steelers. The Wild Knights fans were also awarded the Japan Special Award for their support and atmosphere. The club's starting scrum-half Wataru Ikeda was also chosen for the league Best XV that year.
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Saitama Wild Knights
The Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights is a professional Japanese rugby union team located in Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture. The team was created in 1960 by students and Sanyo workers. The team compete annually in the top-flight (Division 1) Japan Rugby League One. Originally located in Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, the team was relocated 13 kilometres south to Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture in 2021.
The Wild Knights, in the fifth season (2007–08) of the top-flight Japanese rugby union, was the first team to go unbeaten throughout a Top League season. They won their first Japanese title, the Top League, in 2011. They became the first team from Gunma Prefecture to win a Top League title, and in 2022, the first team from Saitama prefecture to win a Japan Rugby League One title.
The Wild Knights were founded in 1960 by alumni of the Kumagai Industrial School and workers of the Tokyo Sanyo corporation. Initially an amateur company team, they competed in the Kantō Leagues during the 1960s, rising gradually through the ranks of the prefecture's rugby pyramid.
In 1968 they undertook the first tour in their history when they travelled to South Korea to face a number of university and company teams there. In 1971 they won their first ever Kantō Rugby Championship, after arising from the fourth division only nine years earlier. This success was followed the next season with a successive championship title, a testament to the increasing fortunes of the Gunma club.
After a few runners-up places, the club won seven back-to-back titles between 1976 and 1982, becoming the dominant rugby force in Kantō-chihō. Further titles were added in 1986 and 1987, before the Wild Knights were entered into the new East Japan Rugby Championship against other top clubs from Kantō and Tōhoku. Rugby in Japan was a growing sport, gradually gaining popularity and competitiveness outside of its normal strongholds in company break-rooms and college campuses. Although still nominally amateur, the Wild Knights nonetheless used their position in the Tokyo Sanyo corporation to hire talented foreigners to 'work' for the company with the real intention of playing for the rugby team. Known as "shamateurism", it became rampant in rugby union, as well as football and baseball.
Due to the merger of Tokyo Sanyo Electric with Sanyo Electric in 1986, the team name was changed to Sanyo Electric Rugby Team. The maiden season of the new East Japan league was captured in 1988, with further crowns captured in 1990 and 1991. Further titles were nabbed during the 1990s and in May 1997 the club's new ground at Ryumai-cho was officially unveiled.
In 2003 the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) launched the Top League, Japan's first nationwide domestic rugby competition. Held annually between September and February, the Top League would mark a new future for the sport in Japan and a fully professional structure would help clubs like the Wild Knights to attract better players.
Immediately prior to the launch of the Top League in 2003, the club renamed the name to "Sanyo Wild Knights". In the maiden season of the Top League, the club finished in 7th but did manage to win the Fair Play Award for 2003–04. The league that year was won by the Kobe Kobelco Steelers. The Wild Knights fans were also awarded the Japan Special Award for their support and atmosphere. The club's starting scrum-half Wataru Ikeda was also chosen for the league Best XV that year.