Misaki Suzuki

Misaki Suzuki, born on 09 April 1992, is a talented rugby union player from Japan. Standing at 1.63 meters (5 feet 4 inches) and weighing 64 kg (141 lbs), she plays as a forward. Currently, she competes for the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix at the club level and has also represented the national team of Japan in international competitions, including the Rugby World Cups in 2017 and 2021.

Suzuki began her rugby journey at the young age of 13 while attending junior high school in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from Funabashi Municipal High School in 2011, she furthered her education at Kanto Gakuin University, where she graduated in 2015 before joining NTT Facilities.

Her rugby career took off between 2010 and 2013 when she was selected to represent Japan in rugby sevens at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. The team secured a fifth-place finish in the tournament. That same year, she also played for Japan in the fifteen-a-side format. In 2012, she was named captain of the Japan women's national team for the 15-a-side format and was included in the squad for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Moscow, Russia.

From 2017 to 2018, Suzuki continued to make her mark in the rugby world. She was a key player in the Japanese squad that won the 2017 Asia Rugby Women's Championship. Suzuki played in the second test against Hong Kong and was later selected for the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland. In 2018, she represented Auckland in the Farah Palmer Cup.

In 2022, she was named to the Sakura fifteens team for a tour in Australia. During this tour, she made a significant impact by coming off the bench in a match against Australia, where Japan achieved a surprising victory with a score of 12-10. Just five days later, she captained the team against the Australian Barbarians, scoring the winning try to secure a 24-10 victory. Later that year, in matches against South Africa and Ireland, Suzuki continued to showcase her skills, starting at blind-side flanker in a test against Ireland.

Most recently, Suzuki was selected to represent Japan at the delayed Rugby World Cup 2022 in New Zealand. She made her World Cup debut by coming off the bench in Japan's opening match against Canada, where she played as a prop.

With her impressive career and dedication to the sport, Misaki Suzuki stands out as a significant figure in Japanese rugby, inspiring many with her achievements on and off the field.