Photo/Illutration Warner Dearns heads for a try in an October 2022 match at Tokyo's National Stadium. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

At 21, Warner Dearns is the youngest player on the Japanese national team now competing at the Rugby World Cup in France.

And at 201 centimeters, he is the tallest player on the team.

Despite his size, Dearns has shown a suppleness in the three games the Brave Blossoms have played so far in the World Cup. He has come on as a substitute in the second half of all three matches.

In Japan’s 28-22 victory over Samoa on Sept. 28, Dearns contributed to captain Kazuki Himeno’s try. Dearns himself scored a try in the closing minutes of Japan’s first match, a 42-12 victory over Chile.

Dearns picked up his suppleness while playing at Ryutsu Keizai University-affiliated Kashiwa Senior High School in Chiba Prefecture.

Japan head coach Ryota Ai said, “He is able to move in a pliant way like bamboo because the practices in high school are paying off.”

Born in New Zealand, Dearns moved to Japan in 2016 when his father, Grant, took on a coaching position with what was then the NEC Green Rockets, which had a training facility in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture.

Because Kashiwa neighbored Abiko, Warner entered the Ryutsu Keizai University-affiliated school, which was a rugby powerhouse among senior high schools.

He was already 190 centimeters tall when he entered senior high school, but Ai remembers Dearns as a shy kid. Despite his father’s background, that was the first time Dearns played rugby competitively.

Ai had Dearns do somersaults, back flips and handstands--actions more commonly used in gymnastics--to make his body more flexible and widen the range of his play on the rugby pitch.

Ai also had Dearns tackle from a low posture, much like a wrestler.

He improved quickly and became a key player on the team in his junior year. The team reached the quarterfinals of the national tournament in his senior year, and Dearns was named one of the outstanding players.

After graduating, he did not think about returning to New Zealand or going to university. Instead, he joined Japan Rugby League One’s Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, which has among its players Michael Leitch, the one-time captain of the Brave Blossoms.

Japan’s final pool match is against Argentina on Oct. 8. A win is a must if the team wants to advance.

“I hope he concentrates on the plays that he can do and give his all in the limited time he is on the pitch,” Ai said.

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