Munakata Sanix Blues

Munakata Sanix Blues
宗像サニックスブルース
Full name	Munakata Sanix Blues
Union	Japan Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)	Blues
Founded	1994
Disbanded	2022
Location	Munakata, Fukuoka, Japan
Ground(s)	Various stadiums
League(s)	Japan Rugby League One, Division Three
2022	3rd
1st kit	2nd kit

Munakata Sanix Blues (宗像サニックスブルース, Munakata Sanikkusu Burūsu), formerly Fukuoka Sanix Blues and Fukuoka Sanix Bombs, was a Japanese rugby union team based in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Founded in April 1994 (Heisei 6), the team rose rapidly through the Kyūshū leagues and was in the Top League for the first season (2003-4) as Kyūshū's sole representative, but lost a relegation battle with Kintetsu Liners 42-45 and was demoted. But Sanix managed to return to the Top League for the 2005-6 season, beating Secom Rugguts and Toyota Jido Shokki in the Top League Challenge Series 2005.

In March 2022, Sanix Inc., the operators of the club, announced the disbandment of the team following the conclusion of the 2022 Japan Rugby League One season.^[1]

Current squad[edit]

The Munakata Sanix Blues squad for the 2022 season was:^[2]

Munakata Sanix Blues squad
Props Jarred Adams Shin Dong-Won Kanta Hasegawa Shogo Murakami Samuel Nozomu Faialaga Paddy Ryan Yasuo Saruwatari Shun Terawaki Hookers Kota Kumamoto Nozomi Kuraya Tatsuya Miyazaki Takuma Takashima Locks Jean Droste Kim Ho Bum Kazuki Kato Shoma Makinouchi Toshihiro Nishii Hibiki Noda Dallas Tatana	Loose forwards Nobuyoshi Arai Scott Curry Hiroki Hanada Shinri Tabuchi Masahito Tonomoto Satoshi Tsuruoka Joseph Tupe Kojiro Yoshida Scrum-halves Azuma Doei Kohei Hamazato Kota Kinoshita Hisanori Mimata Fly-halves Rinto Kagawa Coby Miln Taichi Takenaka Hiroshi Tashiro	Centres Karne Hesketh Yuta Imamura Kohei Ishigaki Joichiro Iwashita Keito Moribayashi Wang Soo Young Michael Toloke Hiroki Yamada Wings Chikara Morita Binjamin Ray Yagi Masakazu Yatsumonji Fullbacks Kyoji Takano

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped

Former players[edit]

Home ground[edit]

Global Arena (The Sanix company is involved in the running of the Global Arena in Munakata, which is also the venue for the annual Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament held in May between eight top Japanese and eight top foreign high school teams from various countries.)
Sanix Genkai Ground, Kamiminato, Munakata, Fukuoka.

Mascot[edit]

The former mascot's name was Bombee. He was a cartoon-style dog with floppy ears who wore the Sanix rugby kit and a scrum cap. He was no longer used when the team name changed from Bombs to Blues.

References[edit]

^ "Rugby: Sanix Blues suspending operations due to business struggles". Kyodo News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
^ "The Team". Munakata Sanix Blues. Retrieved 29 November 2018.

External links[edit]

[1] "Rugby: Sanix Blues suspending operations due to business struggles". Kyodo News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.

[The_Team-2] "The Team". Munakata Sanix Blues. Retrieved 29 November 2018.

[1]

[2]