Nao Ando
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (October 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Born | 17 July 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 169 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nao Ando (born 17 July 2001) is a Japanese rugby union player. She competed for Japan at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Early life and career
[edit]Ando started playing rugby at the age of four with the Kamariya Tag Rugby Club in Kanagawa Prefecture.[1] She graduated from Nippon Taiiku Ebara High School in 2020 and then enrolled at Tokyo Ariake University of Health and Medical Sciences, where she studied acupuncture and moxibustion.
Career
[edit]Ando joined Brave Louve in 2020. In 2021, she was called up to the TID youth team training camp for the 15-a-side women's team.
On May 28, 2023, she earned her first cap for Japan against Kazakhstan in the Asia Rugby Women's Championship final.[1] She also played for the side in the inaugural 2023 WXV 2 tournament in South Africa, she scored a try against Samoa in their 32–10 victory.[2]
She featured for the Sakura's during the 2024 Asian Championship.[3]
On 28 July 2025, she was named in the Japanese side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.[4][5]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "安藤 菜緒 | ラグビー女子日本代表選手名鑑 | 日本代表 | ラグビー | J SPORTS【公式】". www.jsports.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-10-21.
- ↑ "WXV 2: Strong second half gives Japan maiden win". Asia Rugby. 2023-10-23. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
- ↑ "Japan beat Kazakhstan to secure place at England 2025". www.world.rugby. 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
- ↑ "Japan announce squad for women's RWC 2025". Rugby World Cup. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
- ↑ "Sakura Fifteen Rugby World Cup Squad Announced". Japan Rugby Football Union. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.