Panasonic Wild Knights
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| Full name | Panasonic Wild Knights |
|---|---|
| Union | Japan Rugby Football Union |
| Nickname(s) | Wild Knights |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Location | Ota, Gunma, Japan |
| Ground(s) | Various stadiums |
| Coach(es) | Robbie Deans |
| League(s) | Top League |
| 2016–17 | 3rd |
Panasonic Wild Knights (formerly Sanyo) is a Japanese rugby union team based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the league in the fifth season and was the first team to be unbeaten throughout a Top League season.
The Wild Knights were founded in 1960 by alumni of the Kumagai Industrial School and workers of the Toshiba corporation. Initially an amateur company team, they competed in the Kantō Leagues during the 1960s, rising gradually through the rank's 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 4th division only 9 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 Toshiba 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.
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 Union 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.
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