| Born | 26 July 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb; 198 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Kokura High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Keio University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Akihito Yamada (山田章仁, Yamada Akihito; born 26 July 1985 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture) is a Japanese rugby union player who plays as a winger. [1] [2] He also plays for Top League side the Panasonic Wild Knights in his home country. [3] [4]
Yamada has been a prolific try-scorer for the Wild Knights in Japan's Top 14 competition since making his debut during the 2010-11 season. He enjoyed a stand-out year in 2012-13 scoring 20 tries in 14 games to be the league's top scorer. [4]
Ahead of the admission of a Japanese franchise into Super Rugby, Australian sides were permitted to contract one Japanese player per season to aid their development. And so it was that the Perth-based Western Force signed Yamada to a one-year contract ahead of the 2015 Super Rugby season. [1]
Yamada made his debut for Japan on 15 November 2013 in a 40-13 victory over Russia in Colwyn Bay, Wales. [5] To date he has scored 8 tries in 10 international matches. [3]