class tries remains a New Zealand record. In 1986 Kirwan and David Kirk were the only All Blacks not to join the 'rebel' New Zealand Cavaliers team that travelled to apartheid-era South Africa after a New Zealand court held that the All Blacks' playing in that country would be inconsistent with their mission of promoting rugby. As a result, he and Kirk were the only ones not barred from playing with the All Blacks after the tour. Rugby league At age 30 Kirwan signed for the newly formed rugby league club Auckland Warriors for the 1995 ARL season, with a mutual option for 1996. Playing on the wing, Kirwan was the Warriors' top try scorer in the 1996 season. He was a staunch opponent of the ARL during the Super League war. Coaching career Kirwan coached NEC Green Rockets in Japan, and in 2001 became an assistant coach with the Auckland Blues. In 2002, he moved to Italy to become the coach of the Italy national team, which under his guidance recorded two victories over Wales in 2003 and Scotland in 2004. After a winless 2005 Six Nations campaign, he was dismissed on 8 April 2005. He continued to work as a consultant with NEC. At the start of 2007 he was appointed the coach of the Japan national rugby union team. Kirwan said: "The level of rugby has improved greatly in Japan in the last ten years and they did well at the last World Cup. But their recent performances at national level have [not been good]. I want to find that 'Samurai Spirit' that all the players can identify with. And then that style of rugby can start to spread downwards throughout the country." At the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Japan drew 12–12 with Canada, breaking a 16-year, 13-match losing streak at World Cups. Kirwan remained head coach of Japan through the 2011 Rugby World Cup, when they again drew with Canada, but lost to New Zealand, France and Tonga. In July 2012, Kirwan was announced as the new coach of the Blues. In the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the Blues finished in 10th place. After re-applying for the role for 2016 and beyond, he was forced to step down following just three wins - an all-time franchise low - in the 2015 season. In 2018 he stated that he is not likely to coach again. Mental health