Akihito Yamada

Akihito Yamada (山田章仁) is a Japanese rugby union player who plays as a winger. He also plays for Top League side the Panasonic Wild Knights in his home country.

Career
Yamada has been a prolific try-scorer for the Wild Knights in Japan's Top 14 competition since making his debut during the 2010-11 season. He enjoyed a stand-out year in 2012-13 scoring 20 tries in 14 games to be the league's top scorer.

Ahead of the admission of a Japanese franchise into Super Rugby, Australian sides were permitted to contract one Japanese player per season to aid their development. And so it was that the Perth-based Western Force signed Yamada to a one-year contract ahead of the 2015 Super Rugby season.

International career
Yamada made his debut for Japan on 15 November 2013 in a 40-13 victory over in Colwyn Bay, Wales. To date he has scored 8 tries in 10 international matches.