Yasunori Watanabe

Yasunori Watanabe

Date of birth	(1974-07-02)July 2, 1974
Date of death
Height
Weight	104 kg (229 lb; 16.4 st)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Lock, Flanker
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1996–2007	Japan	34	(40)

Yasunori Watanabe (渡辺泰憲, Watanabe Yasunori) (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

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