Hitoshi Ono Biography
Hitoshi Ono (大野均, Ōno Hitoshi, born May 6, 1978, in Kōriyama, *ushima) is a *anese rugby player. He plays at lock for the *an national rugby union team. He is nicknamed the "Iron Man".
Ono started playing rugby after converting from baseball at Nihon University where he was studying to become a firefighter. However, he changed careers and joined Toshiba Brave Lupus in 2001, with whom he has gone on to win the Top League four times.
He made his international debut for *an in 2004 against Korea. He became a regular member of the national team from there onwards and represented his country at both the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup. Since Eddie Jones took over as *an coach in 2012, he has not missed an international match, and has become the most capped player for *an of all time.
After the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and *ushima nuclear disaster in 2011, Ono's family dairy farm suffered greatly, and alongside prop Kensuke Hatakeyama who lost his home, he was named honorary captain for the Asian 5 Nations match with the UAE by coach John Kirwan to mark the team's solidarity for the cause.
Ono is one of the 'Frontier Amb*adors' of his hometown Koriyama City.
He retired from professional rugby in 2020
See also
- Kosei Ono
References
External links
- Hitoshi Ono at ESPNscrum
