A Fijian rugby player with a Japanese professional team has died after being taken to hospital with “symptoms consistent with severe heatstroke”, Saimoni Vunilagi’s club said on Saturday.
Second-division side Kyushu KV said that 26-year-old Vunilagi was taken to hospital in the southern city of Fukuoka after a team practice on Monday, and died on Friday morning.
Temperatures reached a high of 35C in Fukuoka on Monday.
Vunilagi, a back row forward who stood 196 cm and weighed 117 kg, attended university in Japan and began his professional career in 2023.
“The players, staff, and all team associates are devastated by this sudden news,” the club said in a statement.
