Kobelco Kobe Steelers

Kobelco Kobe Steelers
コベルコ神戸スティーラーズ

Full name	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Founded	1928 (1928)
Location	Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Region	Hyogo Prefecture
Grounds	Noevir Stadium Kobe (Capacity: 30,132) Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 36,000)
Coach	Dave Rennie
Captain(s)	Brodie Retallick, Lee Seung-sin
League	Japan Rugby League One
2025–26	1st of 12, champions
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.kobesteelers.com

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers (Japanese: コベルコ神戸スティーラーズ), commonly referred to as simply the Kobe Steelers, is a professional Japanese rugby union team based in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture and owned by the Kobe Steel company. The team compete in the Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) competition and have been playing under the Kobe Steelers name since the inaugural season in 2022.

Current personnel

Position	Name	Nationality
Director of rugby and head coach	Dave Rennie	New Zealand
Rugby Coach mentor/Team Ambassador	Wayne Smith	New Zealand
Attack coach	Mike Blair	Scotland
Defence coach	Peter Murchie	Scotland
Forwards coach	Dan McFarland	England
Scrum coach	Hisateru Hirashima	Japan

Current squad

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers squad for the 2026-27 season is:

Kobelco Kobe Steelers squad
Props Shigure Takao Hikaru Moriwaki Sho Maeda Kauvaka Kaivelata Hiroshi Yamashita Koo Ji-won Takayuki Watanabe Takashi Ōshita Riku Tomita Hookers Keita Miyauchi Takuya Kitade Kenta Matsuoka Sione Sime Mau* Locks Brodie Retallick (cc) Gerard Cowley-Tuioti* Neil Hansen Takuma Motohashi Matthew Dalton	Flankers Hayato Fukunishi Takara Imamura Solomone Funaki* Hikaru Hashimoto Nico Henrico* No8s Sione Polutele* Willie Potgieter Tiennan Costley* Scrum-halves Atsushi Hiwasa Daiki Nakajima Itsuki Kamimura Grant Williams Kenta Tokuda Fly-halves Bryn Gatland	Centres Timothy Lafaele Yoshiki Ōmachi Michael Little* Mac Harris** Tali Ioasa Talilotu Fakatulolo* George Bridge Wingers Ataata Moeakiola* Kazuma Ueda Inoke Burua* Ryota Funabiki Fullbacks Shinsuke Iseki Kanta Matsunaga Utility Backs Lee Seung-sin* (cc) Shunsuke Uenobo Daisuke Ito Hayata Tsujino
(cc) denotes team co-captains. Bold denotes internationally capped.

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

Honours

• Top League:
  • Champions: 2003–04, 2018–19
• Japan Rugby League One:
  • Champions: 2025–26

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