Hitoshi Ono (大野均, Ōno Hitoshi, born May 6, 1978, in Kōriyama, Fukushima) is a retired Japanese rugby player. He plays at lock for the Japan 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 Japan in 2004 against Korea.[3] 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 Japan coach in 2012, he has not missed an international match, and has become the most capped player for Japan of all time.[4]
After the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima 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.[5]
Ono is one of the 'Frontier Ambassadors' of his hometown Koriyama City.[6]
He retired from professional rugby in 2020 [7]
^"ラグビー日本代表の大野 古里郡山で講演 Ｗ杯への思い語る". Fukushima Mimpo (in Japanese). 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
^"Rugby World Cup: Hitoshi Ono". Rugby World Cup. Archived from the original on 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
^"Japan v Korea at Tokyo, May 16, 2004".
^"Ono set to be Japan's most capped player". Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU). Retrieved January 28, 2015.
^"One year on Rugby remembers in Japan". Archived from the original on February 3, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"フロンティア大使のプロフィール等|郡山市公式ウェブサイト". www.city.koriyama.lg.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-02-25.
^ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/05/19/rugby/iron-man-hitoshi-ono-retires-98-caps/#.XskkuhMzai4. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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