Full name | Hanazono Kintetsu Liners | ||
---|---|---|---|
Union | Japan Rugby Football Union | ||
Nickname(s) | Liners | ||
Founded | 1929 | ||
Location | Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan | ||
Ground(s) | Higashi Osaka Hanazono Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 27,346) | ||
Coach(es) | Yoshitake Mizuma | ||
League(s) | Japan Rugby League One | ||
2022 | 1st Promoted to Division One | ||
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Hanazono Kintetsu Liners are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, which was also opened in 1929 and is in Higashiosaka, Japan.
Early in 2008 Kintetsu won promotion back to the Top League for the 2008–9 season, and it was announced that former All Blacks coach Peter Sloane would be head coach.[1] Sloane coached the team for three years before Ryusuke Maeda succeeded him in 2011.
The team rebranded as Hanazono Kintetsu Liners ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022.[2]