Kobelco Kobe Steelers

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022.

Honours

• Top League:
  • Champions: 2003–04, 2018-19

Personnel

Current management team

Position	Name	Nationality
Director of rugby and head coach	Dave Rennie	New Zealand
Attack coach	Mike Blair	Scotland
Defence coach	Peter Murchie	Scotland
Forwards coach	Dan McFarland	England
Scrum coach	Petrus du Plessis	South Africa

Current squad

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers squad for the 2025-26 season is:

Kobelco Kobe Steelers squad
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Past players

• Yuta Imamura (2007-19, 124 games) Centre, Japanese international (2006-13, 39 caps)
• Itaru Taniguchi (2008-21, 148 games) Loose forward, Japanese international (2010-11, 10 caps)
• Shoji Ito (2009-18, 104 games) Lock, Japanese international (2012-15, 36 caps)

Japanese players

• Toshiyuki Hayashi
• Ian Williams
• Seiji Hirao
• Yuya Saito
• Kensuke Iwabuchi
• Daisuke Ohata
• Andrew Miller
• Atsushi Oyagi
• Kensuke Iwabuchi

Foreign players

• Ardie Savea
• Brodie Retallick
• Andy Ellis
• Dan Carter
• Adam Ashley-Cooper
• Aaron Cruden
• Andries Bekker
• Jacque Fourie
• Ron Cribb
• Dave Bickle
• Mark Egan
• Simon Wensley
• Pierre Hola
• Peter Grant
• Thinus Delport
• Ben Smith
• Lukhanyo Am
• Hayden Parker

External links

• Steelers upset Green Rockets in Microsoft Cup - Japan Times, January 24, 2005
• https://www.kobesteelers.com/ Kobelco Steelers] official site
• Top League official site