Keiji Hirose, Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Keiji Hirose

Japanese rugby union footballer and coach

Date of Birth: 16-Apr-1973

Place of Birth: Ōsaka, Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan

Profession: rugby union player

Nationality: Japan

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Keiji Hirose (????, Hirose Keiji), born April 16, 1973 in Osaka) is a former Japanese rugby union player.
He played as a fly-half.
His club team was Toyota Verblitz.
He was nicknamed Golden Boots (?????·???, Gôruden Butsu). Hirose was awarded 40 caps for Japan; he made his debut in a 26-11 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier win over South Korea, October 29, 1994 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In his career, Hirose scored 5 tries, 77 conversions, 79 penalties and 2 drop goals, reaching a national record of 422 points in aggregate.
He was the primary goalkicker for Japan during his international career. He played in just a single game at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the infamous 145-17 defeat to New Zealand.
Hirose scored 2 conversions and 1 penalty in the game. In the 44-17 win over Tonga, at 8 May 1999, in Tokyo, during the Pacific Rim Championship, he kicked a then record of 9 penalties from 9 attempts. He played in all three of Japan's games at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
His 5 penalties and 4 conversions (a total of 23 points) led his country in scoring.
Hirose again played only once at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, in a 32-11 defeat to Scotland, at 12 October 2003, scoring 2 penalties. His last international game came was on 5 November 2005, a 44-29 win over Spain, in Tokyo.
Hirose had a memorable farewell, scoring 19 points through 5 conversions, 2 penalties and 1 drop goal.
He was 32 years old.