| Date of birth | (1973-04-16) April 16, 1973 (age 51) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Osaka, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 163 lb (74 kg; 11.6 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Shimamoto High School, Osaka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Kyoto Sangyo University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Keiji Hirose (廣瀬佳司, Hirose Keiji), born April 16, 1973, in Osaka) is a former Japanese rugby union player. He played as a fly-half. His club team was Toyota Verblitz. He was nicknamed Golden Boots (ゴールデン・ブーツ, Gôruden Būtsu).
Hirose was awarded 40 caps for Japan; he made his debut in a 26–11 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier win over South Korea, October 29, 1994, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In his career, Hirose scored 5 tries, 77 conversions, 79 penalties and 2 drop goals, reaching a national record of 422 points in aggregate. He was the primary goalkicker for Japan during his international career.
He played in a single game at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the infamous 145–17 defeat to New Zealand. Hirose scored 2 conversions and 1 penalty in the game.
In the 44–17 win over Tonga, at 8 May 1999, in Tokyo, during the Pacific Rim Championship, he kicked a then record of 9 penalties from 9 attempts.
He played in all three of Japan's games at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. His 5 penalties and 4 conversions (a total of 23 points) led his country in scoring. Hirose again played only once at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, in a 32–11 defeat to Scotland, at 12 October 2003, scoring 2 penalties.
His last international game came was on 5 November 2005, a 44–29 win over Spain, in Tokyo. Hirose had a memorable farewell, scoring 19 points through 5 conversions, 2 penalties and 1 drop goal. He was 32 years old.
References
- "Keiji Hirose at Japon Rugby". Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
External links
- Keiji Hirose at ESPNscrum
| Japan squad – 2003 Rugby World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Forwards | |
| Backs | |
| Coach: Mukai | |
| Japan squad – 1999 Rugby World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Forwards | |
| Backs | |
| Coach: S. Hirao | |
| Japan squad – 1995 Rugby World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Forwards | |
| Backs | |
| Coach: Koyabu | |
- 1973 births
- Living people
- Japanese rugby union players
- Japanese rugby union coaches
- Rugby union fly-halves
- Japan international rugby union players
- Toyota Verblitz players
- Asian Games medalists in rugby union
- Rugby union players at the 1998 Asian Games
- Asian Games silver medalists for Japan
- Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games
- 1995 Rugby World Cup players
- 1999 Rugby World Cup players
- 2003 Rugby World Cup players
- Kyoto Sangyo University alumni
- Sportspeople from Osaka
- Rugby union players from Osaka Prefecture