Yasunori Watanabe

Yasunori Watanabe

Date of birth	(1974-07-02)July 2, 1974
Place of birth	Tokyo
Date of death	April 3, 2010(2010-04-03) (aged 35)
Place of death	Kamakura Kanagawa Prefecture
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	104 kg (229 lb; 16.4 st)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1996–2007 Japan 34 (40)

Yasunori Watanabe (渡辺泰憲, Watanabe Yasunori) (2 July 1974 – 3 April 2010) was a Japanese rugby player, who played for Japan in three Rugby World Cups from 1999 to 2007.

Career

Watanabe was born in Hokkaido, and joined the team Toshiba Brave Lupus in Tokyo in 1997 after graduating from Nippon Sport Science University. He played 32 times for the national team and in Brave Lupus's hat-trick of Japanese domestic league titles between 2004 and 2006.

Death

On 3 April 2010, Yasunori died at the age of 35, when he fell off a train station platform and was hit by a train at Kamakura Station in Kanagawa Prefecture. An employee at the station saw Watanabe fall at about 9:30 p.m.

References

• Yasunori Watanabe at ESPNscrum
• The Guardian: "Japan rugby player Yasunori Watanabe killed after being hit by train" (5 April 2010) Retrieved 16 April 2010. (in English)