Rugby May 23, 2021
Kenki Fukuoka retires a champion as Panasonic wins last Top League
Sunday's victory over Sungoliath marked the finale of the former Brave Blossom's playing career as well as the end of All Blacks star Beau Barrett's time in Japan.
Rugby May 16, 2021
The Wild Knights are looking for their fifth Top League championship after Kenki Fukuoka delivered three tries against Verblitz behind closed doors at Hanazono.
Rugby Mar 29, 2021
Medical school-bound Kenki Fukuoka to play rest of Top League season
Rugby World Cup star Kenki Fukuoka will play the rest of the Top League season with the Panasonic Wild Knights while balancing his studies at medical school from April, the team said Monday. Fukuoka, who scored four tries in Japan's historic run to the 2019 ...
Rugby Oct 23, 2020
Wallabies and Panasonic star David Pocock hangs up boots
by Rich Freeman
The two-time World Player of the Year nominee earned 83 caps for Australia.
Rugby Jun 30, 2020
Sam Whitelock, Damien de Allende headline exodus from Panasonic
The Panasonic Wild Knights officially bid farewell Monday to veteran New Zealand lock Sam Whitelock and South African center Damien de Allende as part of an exodus of overseas players from the Japan Rugby Top League club. Whitelock, a World Cup winner in 2011 and ...
Rugby May 25, 2020
England's George Kruis and Wales' Hadleigh Parkes sign with Panasonic
England lock George Kruis and Wales center Hadleigh Parkes have joined Panasonic Wild Knights, the Japan Rugby Top League club said Monday. The pair will replace Sam Whitelock, a World Cup winner in 2011 and 2015 with New Zealand, and Damien de Allende, a member ...
Rugby Apr 24, 2020
Former Wallaby, Top League MVP Berrick Barnes announces retirement
Ricoh Black Rams back Berrick Barnes, a two-time Japan Rugby Top League MVP capped 51 times by Australia, announced his retirement from rugby on Friday, saying his body was no longer up to the task. The news, posted on the club's website, sees the 33-year-old ...
Rugby Feb 15, 2020
A late brace by substitute Taiki Koyama earned the Panasonic Wild Knights their fifth bonus-point win of the season, a 46-27 victory over the Toshiba Brave Lupus on Saturday. The late charge at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park, enabled by a steady stream of defensive ...
Rugby Jan 25, 2020
The Panasonic Wild Knights and Toshiba Brave Lupus maintained their unbeaten starts to the Japan Rugby Top League season on Saturday with wins over the Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars and Honda Heat, respectively. Panasonic made it three bonus-point wins from as many games as it thrashed ...
Rugby Jan 19, 2020
Brave Blossoms star Kenki Fukuoka sets sights on Tokyo Olympics
Rugby World Cup star Kenki Fukuoka said Saturday he was relieved to score a try in his final 15s match of the season as he shifts his focus toward this summer's Tokyo Olympics. "I'm happy and relieved," Fukuoka said after his Panasonic Wild Knights defeated ...
Rugby Jan 18, 2020
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen remains winless in the Japan Rugby Top League after his Toyota Verblitz side were beaten 40-20 by Robbie Deans' Panasonic Wild Knights in front of 37,050 at Toyota Stadium on Saturday. Kenki Fukuoka, playing his final 15s game of ...
Rugby Mar 29, 2019
The Panasonic Wild Knights on Friday announced the departure of Japan scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka and winger Akihito Yamada from the Top League club. In a major personnel shakeup for the Ota, Gunma Prefecture-based Wild Knights, Australian flyhalf Berrick Barnes, a two-time Top League MVP, will ...