06 August,2024

Japan Rugby 2024 Match Results (22 June -21 July)

Saturday 22 June

Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2024 Japan vs England

National Stadium, Tokyo　

17-52 (L)

Saturday 29 June

Japan XV vs Māori All Blacks

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo

10-36 (L)

Saturday 6 July

Japan XV vs Māori All Blacks

Toyota Stadium, Toyota City

26-14 (W)

Saturday 13 July

Japan vs Georgia

Yurtek Stadium, Sendai

23-25 (L)

Sunday 21 July

Japan vs Italy

Sapporo Dome, Sapporo

14-42 (L)

Tough Summer Series Marks Arrival of Brave Blossoms’ Next Generation

Following last year’s Rugby World Cup in France, new Brave Blossoms Head Coach, Eddie Jones, who returned to the role eight years after steering Japan to their historic win over South Africa at RWC2015, set about building a new Japan team from the ground up.

At the beginning of a new four-year World Cup cycle, Jones was looking to bring through a new generation of players he felt demonstrated the physical, mental, and attitudinal characteristics suited to his vision of ‘chosoku’ or super-fast rugby.

With the summer domestic match series drawing to a close following last weekend’s test against Italy in Sapporo, Japanese fans got their first chance to see this new Japan team compete across three test matches and in two non-capped matches as the Japan XV.

In their first test of the year, the Brave Blossoms faced England at Tokyo’s National Stadium in the first ever test match between the two sides to be played in Japan. While Japan showed early promise in the opening stanzas, with their fast-paced attack and zipping backline moves, England soon took control of the match, running out eventual winners, 17-52.

Eight new debutants were picked to face England, alongside another eight players with less than 10 test caps. While the scoreline reflected England’s dominance, there were a number of positives Japan could take from the match. In addition to blooding an almost entirely new team, Japan’s inexperienced front row held their own against the powerful England scrum. While in the backs, fullback Yoshitaki Yazaki, a 20-year-old student from Waseda University, impressed in his first game for Japan.

Following England, the Japan XV faced the Māori All Blacks in two non-capped matches. While the Kiwis got the better of their hosts in the first fixture at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium for a 10-36 win, Japan turned it around the following week at Toyota Stadium in Aichi to record a 26-14 win. While Jones took the opportunity to try a number of different players and combinations, he stuck with the overriding principle of selecting youth and having his team play super high-tempo rugby.

Japan took a lot of confidence from the win against the Māori All Blacks, which was on display when the Brave Blossoms reassembled to face Georgia the following week in Sendai, a city in the north of Japan’s main island. While Japan started strongly, a 20^th minute red card to flanker Kenji Shimokawa was to impact the remainder of the game.

Down to 14 men for three quarters of the match, Japan played well enough to retain a lead into the last 10 minutes, however Japanese hearts were broken when Georgia scored a converted try with five minutes on the clock to run out eventual 23-25 winners.

Coming into their final match of the series against Italy in Sapporo, Jones again picked a youthful side, giving more valuable game time to his new group of players. Italy started strongly and went on to control the majority of the game. Aside from two intercept tries to centre, Dylan Riley, Japan struggled to get into the match. This wasn’t helped by a misfiring lineout and uncharacteristically bad handling when Japan had possession. Consequently, Italy ran out 14-42 winners against a disappointing Brave Blossoms side.

Following the conclusion of the season, Head Coach Eddie Jones shared his thoughts with the media during a press conference in Tokyo. Commenting on the series he said, “It was a tough start but I’m optimistic about the direction of the team. It’s going to take time to build. We’ve got a team with about 200 caps of which nearly 90 are Michael Leitch’s. We’re just starting, but I think the team has shown enough in parts of the game against England and Italy, and certainly for most of the game against Georgia, with a man short. It suggests this tough run of results isn’t going to be the norm for this team.

“I’m disappointed with the results but I’m not disappointed with the direction of the team. I know it’s going to take time, and this was always going to be a difficult period. Post the World Cup we had an old team, and we knew we had to change the team. This means bringing younger players in, and they need time, guidance and patience.”

The Brave Blossoms will assemble again ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup which will see them play Canada in Vancouver on Sunday, August 25 and the USA on Saturday, September 7 in Kumagaya. The finals of the PNC will then play out over the following weekends in Tokyo and Osaka.

Japan will then welcome to All Blacks for a one-off test match in Yokohama on Saturday, October 26, before departing for Europe on their Autumn tour where they will face France in Paris on Saturday, November 9 and then England on Sunday, November 24.