Rikiya Matsuda


Rikiya Matsuda is a Japanese professional rugby union player who typically plays as a fly-half. Most recently contracted to the Japan Rugby League One club Saitama Wild Knights, Matsuda is a free agent. Matsuda also plays for the Japan national team.

Club career

Matsuda was a student at Teikyo University in Tokyo and has appeared for them in both the All-Japan University Rugby Championship and the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. After graduating from university he joined the Panasonic Wild Knights in 2017.
In May 2024, following the conclusion of the 2023–24 Japan Rugby League One season, Matsuda departed the Saitama Wild Knights.

International career

Matsuda represented Japan at Under-20 level from 2012 through to 2014, making 7 appearances in total at the World Rugby Under 20 Championships. He made his senior international debut as a replacement in a match against in Vancouver on 11 June 2016. He went on to make two more appearances in the home tests against during the 2016 mid-year rugby union internationals series, coming on as a substitute in the first test in Toyota and then starting in the second in Tokyo.