Sakura Fifteen to Face USA Eagles in Los Angeles
The Japan Rugby Football Union is delighted to announce that the Sakura Fifteen will tour the USA this April to play a one-off test match against the USA Women’s Eagles on Saturday, April 26 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles. The match will be part of a double-header with Major League Rugby featuring home side, Rugby FC Los Angeles taking on San Diego Legion in an all-Californian derby.
The announcement follows the Eagles two-match tour to Japan last summer when Japan came as close as they had ever come to beating the USA with a 17-all draw in the first test in Fukuoka. This was followed by another close match one week later in Shizuoka when Japan fell agonizingly short, 8-11 in their second test.
With the Women’s Rugby World Cup coming in August, the match in Los Angeles will be a huge test for both teams as they look to get their international seasons off to the best possible start.
Commenting on the announcement, Sakura Fifteens Head Coach, Lesley McKenzie said:
“These two opportunities, including the training match ahead of the test match, will be a very good test for us. Since traveling to play us here in Japan last summer, they had strong performances in WXV 1 against England, France and Ireland. They have also added some genuine stars from their sevens program to their fifteens roster.
“I anticipate a really good couple of games from them, and again – the challenge is paramount. We didn’t perform at our best last year when we hosted them in Japan. We know what we are looking for from our own game, and we’ll keep those things to ourselves. The test in Los Angeles will be a real examination for us, and at an essential level of challenge in a World Cup year.”
Japan, who currently sit at 11th in World Rugby’s global rankings have yet to taste victory against a USA side ranked ninth in the world. While the USA comfortably beat Japan by 121-points-to-zero in their first meeting back at Rugby World Cup 1994 in Scotland, the Sakura Fifteen have shown consistent improvement in their three following tests against the Eagles.
Prior to their two matches last year in Japan, the Sakura Fifteen last faced the USA in 2023, at Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Japan went down that day 17-30, but their performance showed a marked improvement in their ability to handle the physicality and size of a USA team that was one of the earliest international women’s sides to transition into a high-performance environment.
They backed this up with their performances last year which showed that the gap between the two sides has reduced significantly. The challenge will now be for the Sakura Fifteen to face up to a fired-up Eagles side for the first time ever, at home in the USA.
Further details, including kick off times, ticketing and broadcast information will be announced in due course.
Japan vs USA Past Results:
August 17, 2024 (L) 8-11 Fukuoka, Japan
August 11, 2024 (D) 17-17 Fukuoka, Japan
October 15, 2022 (L) 17-30 Whangarei, New Zealand (RWC)
April 15, 1994 (L) 0-121 Melrose, Scotland (RWC)
