Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay (), commonly referred to as the Kubota Spears, is a professional Japanese rugby union team based in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture participating in the Japan Rugby League One (JRLO). The team rebranded as Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay ahead of the inaugural Japan Rugby League One season in 2022.
History The original rugby club was formed in 1978 by volunteers at the Kubota companies headquarters.
In 1984 the team won the Kanto Amateur League Division 4 and later on won the promotion match to be moved up to the Kanto Amateur League Division 3. After promotion in 1994 the team won all of their games in the Kanto Amateur League Division 2, and after winning the promotion match were finally promoted to the first division. In 1996 after only one year into them being in the first division, they had won their first championship, but later failed to win the promotion match 19-22 to enter the East Japan Amateur League. The year after in 1997 the team won their second championship and in 1998 they won their promotion match moving them up to the East Japan Amateur League.
In the early 2000's they continued to play in East Japan Amateur League continually placing around 3rd or 4th. During 2003 they had joined the Top League but had a rough time placing 8th, barely managing to stay in the league but they still had the opportunity to play in the Microsoft Cup and Japan Championship. During the mid 2000's they continually played poorly and ended up towards the bottom of the league multiple years in a row, and after a disappointing season in 2010 placing 13th with 1 win, 11 loses, and 1 draw, the team was automatically removed from the Top League. In 2012 the team had won the East Japan Amateur League again returning themselves to the Top League. In 2013 the Top League had rebranded and during this season they had won 9 games and lost 5 which was a considerable turn around from there previous time in the league. In 2016 they appointed a new head coach Frans Ludeke, and a new team captain Masamichi Tachikawa.
In 2021 they had beaten the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in the quarter finals and for the first time placed top 4 in the Top League. In 2022 they continued playing in the rebranded Japan Rugby League One, finishing the year in 3rd place. In 2023, the team had won a historic opening game against Tokyo Sungoliath, and had finished the season with 14 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw. They beat Tokyo Sungoliath in the semi-finals and in the finals match against the Saitama Wild Knights they had won 17-15 securing the first ever league championship victory for the team.
During the 2024 season they had a harder season, struggling with the opening games and ended up at 6th place by the end of the season, not making it to the playoffs.
Current squad The Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squad for the 2026-27 season is:
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squadProps Yota Kamimori Kota Kaishi Kengo Kitagawa Kenshi Yamamoto Toi Kai Keijiro Tamefusa Izi Sword* Satoshi Saita Keran van Staden Kazuki Kato
Hookers Hayate Era Yoshimitsu Yasue Malcolm Marx Katsuya Ōkuma Masaki Shima Rikuto Fukuda
Locks Naoaki Horibe Yūki Asai Ruan Botha* David Van Zeeland* Bailey Trew Yūki Aoki Daichi Kurihara Akira Ieremia**Flankers Masaya Tamaki Kenkichi Yanagawa Harry Willard* Merwe Olivier Ollie Stonham Toki Toshikawa Takeo Suenaga Ogi Yanamoto Yuma Uenobo Finau Tupa**
No8s Tyler Paul* Asipeli Moala* Faulua Makisi* (c) Tisileli Loketi*
Scrum-halves Shinobu Fujiwara Kazuhiro Taniguchi Shunta Koga Genki Mizobuchi Ippei Okada Ryūsei Shibata
Fly-halves Tomoki Kishioka Atsushi OshikawaCentres Harumichi Tatekawa Yūya Hirose Sione Teaupa Towa Kondo Rikus Pretorius* Bailyn Sullivan Halatoa Vailea* Kanji Futamura
Wingers Koga Nezuka Haruto Kida Hiroyuki Yamasaki Tsuyoshi Jennings** Reo Matsushita
Fullbacks Shaun Stevenson Yūhei Shimada Hibiki Yamada
Utility Backs (c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.
denotes players qualified to play for Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds.
Former players Viliami Ofahengaue Joe Roff - Fullback/wing Barrie-Jon Mather - Centre/wing Marty Veale - Lock Kōtarō Nakamura - Wing/fullback Jason O'Halloran Cameron Pither Shunji Ishikura - Lock Joshua Fuimaono Justin Sampson Toutai Kefu Duane Vermeulen Ryan Crotty Dane Coles Liam Williams
Honors Japan Rugby League One: Champions: 2023 Runners-up: 2025–26 Kanto Amateur League – Division 1: Champions: 1996, 1997
References
External links Kubota Spears - Official Website