Date of birth | 16 November 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mana Furuta (古田真菜 born 16 November 1997) is a Japanese rugby union and sevens player. She plays centre for the Japan women's national rugby union team. [1] She competed for Japan at the 2021 Rugby World Cup.
Furuta is a native of Fukuoka Prefecture and her father also played rugby. [2]
Furuta debuted for Japan at the age of 18 during the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship. [3] She missed the 2017 Rugby World Cup, but returned to the team in 2019. [3]
In November 2021, she was part of the team that was announced for the end-of-year tour of Europe, where she scored her first test try in her sides narrow defeat to Ireland. [3]
In 2020, she began her professional career playing for Arukas Queen Kumagaya's sevens team. [2] She then joined Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix in 2021 and was on loan to the Brumbies Women in 2022. [2] [3] [4] She was chosen by her teammates for the Helen Taylor Award after an outstanding season for the Brumbies. [5] [6]
She featured for Japan at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup that was held in New Zealand. [7] [8]
In 2023, she was named in the Sakura XV's side for the Asia Rugby Championship in Kazakhstan . [9] She was a member of the side that narrowly beat Italy for the first time in September. [10] [11] In October, she was selected for the side for the inaugural 2023 WXV 2 tournament in South Africa. [12] [13]
2024 saw her make the Sakura's squad again for the Asia Rugby Championship in Hong Kong. [14] [15]
In 2025, she was named in the Sakura fifteens squad for their tour to the United States. [16] She eventually started in the test against the Eagles in Los Angeles on 26 April 2025, they won 39–33. [17] [18] On 28 July 2025, she was named in the Japanese side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. [19] [20]