Player recognition in Japan through official Opta rugby data

For the fifth consecutive year, Opta data has been used to recognise some of the standout performers in Japanese domestic rugby at Japan Rugby League One’s end-of-season awards.

Both the league and the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) have enjoyed longstanding partnerships with Stats Perform going back many years, with detailed Opta rugby data being collected from every game played across the country’s top three domestic leagues. These stats are shared centrally across the leagues with team analysts to support pre-match, in-game and post-match analysis, as well as official broadcasters and the league’s media partners to facilitate data-driven storytelling.

At the league’s annual awards, official Opta data was used to determine the winner of the Best Tackler and Best Linebreaker awards, based on aggregated player totals captured over the course of the season.

The award for Division 1’s Best Linebreaker was shared between two wingers: South African international Cheslin Kolbe of Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Haruto Kida who represented Kubota Spears. Both players completed 23 linebreaks over the course of the season.

The Best Tackler award went to Tiennan Costley, who was a defensive lynchpin in the back row for league champions Kobelco Kobe Steelers. The 26-year-old Kiwi completed 245 tackles, with a success rate of approaching 87%.

Here are the Best Linebreakers and Best Tacklers across each of the three divisions:

Stats Perform were honoured to attend the awards ceremony, represented by Takuma Hayasaka, and to see how Japan Rugby League One are using Opta data to formally recognise the on-field achievements of some of the league’s outstanding players.

Through the power of Opta, the world’s most trusted sports data, we are committed to supporting the ongoing growth of Japanese rugby – on and off the pitch – delivering the insights, stories and experiences that bring fans closer to the game.