I’m sure everyone remembers the infectious Brave Blossoms’ halfback Fumiaki Tanaka. The little general made his mark on Super Rugby for the Highlanders with his speed and crisp service from behind the ruck. He was not a university prospect, but joined the Panasonic Wild Knights in 2007, where he played alongside Tony Brown, who was instrumental in bringing him to the ‘Landers (Wikipedia). At 166cm and 72 kg, he’s one of the smallest players to play international rugby, but a very inspirational one.

In Brisbane, there’s a young 20-year-old student, Risa Hayashi, playing halfback for the UQ women’s team. A fiery young prospect making her mark on the competition. I caught up with her earlier in the season at Jeeps ‘ home ground at Yoku Road, Ashgrove. Originally born in Dubai, her mum is from Kanagawa, next to Tokyo, and her father is from Osaka. She has prospects of playing in Japan.

Hayashi is not a trailblazer, though, as that honour goes to Asako “Diji” Ono. Ono also played for UQ Women’s, then went on to represent the Reds and Wallaroos at halfback. Originally, coming to Australia as a young, naive 16-year-old student chasing her dream to play rugby, she now mentors other women to better themselves. Currently teaching at Churchie, where one of her Mathematics students, Rio Shimizu, is also from Japan and is a halfback for the 1st XV team.