Brave Blossoms’ 2025 PNC Squad Announced
Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones has named his 37-member Brave Blossoms squad ahead of the upcoming 2025 Pacific Nations Cup. Comprising 22 forwards and 15 backs, the squad will initially move into separate three-day camps this Friday, August 15 before coming together as one squad on Monday, August 18.
The forwards will first convene as a group in Fuchu City, Tokyo, while the backs will assemble in Miyazaki, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. The two groups will then combine in Miyazaki as they prepare for their first PNC Pool B fixture at home, when they take on Canada on Saturday, August 30 at Yurtec Stadium in Japan’s northern city of Sendai.
A trimmed down, 30-player squad will then travel to California for their second Pool B match against the USA at Heart Health Park in Sacramento on Saturday, September 6. The squad will remain in the USA for the PNC Finals Series which begins on Sunday, September 14. The first weekend comprising the Fifth Place Playoff and Semi-Finals will take place in Denver, Colorado. The remaining four teams will battle it out on Saturday, September 20 in the Third Place Playoff and Final in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Commenting on the squad selection Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“We’re looking forward to the PNC. It’s a good competition for us, playing against Canada and the USA, then what follows in terms of the Semi-Final and the Final which is what we’re aiming for. Last year we were runners up, and this year our target is to go one better. We’ve picked a strong squad, considering we have 11 players unavailable through injury or personal circumstances. We feel confident we have a squad that’s going to make Japan proud.
“We want to develop our game in the PNC. We’ve established our identity of Chosoku Rugby, but we need to develop it into a more winning style of play and that will be one of the targets of the PNC. “
Sticking firmly to his vision of bringing through Japan’s next generation of national team talent, Jones has picked nine uncapped players alongside 14 players holding just 10 caps or less, 10 of which have played less than five tests. The most experienced player in the squad is 30-cap centre Dylan Riley. The impact and influence of Riley, alongside 23-cap lock Warner Dearns, and 22-cap back-rower Jack Cornelsen, will be hugely important in providing leadership for this young and inexperienced squad.
With the talismanic Michael Lietch unavailable due to personal reasons, a new Captain will be announced ahead of the Canada test. When asked about the captaincy during the press conference to announce the squad, Jones commented:
“Leadership and captaincy are big areas we need to develop. If you look at the history of what Michael Leitch has done in 2015 and 2019, and he is still by far the best Captain in Japan. We need to think of how we can introduce the next generation of leaders, and particularly the next generation of Japanese rugby Captains. I’ve got a plan in place, and we will announce that when we announce the team for the Canada test. We will make sure those players are as well prepared as possible, but they will have huge shoes to fill.”
Fans looking to catch the action live can purchase tickets for the Japan v Canada Pool B fixture in Sendai on Saturday, August 30 via the newly optimised English-language ticketing website at: https://quick.pia.jp/japan-rugby_en/
Brave Blossoms’ 2025 PNC Training Squad
Forwards (22)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Yota KAMIMORI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Kindai Univ. | 172 | 105 | 1999/4/26 | 2 |
| Kenta KOBAYASHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 181 | 113 | 1999/6/2 | 0 |
| Sena KIMURA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 175 | 105 | 1999/6/24 | 1 |
| Hayate ERA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Teikyo Univ. | 172 | 106 | 2001/9/18 | 1 |
| Kenji SATO | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 | 0 |
| Mamoru HARADA | ― | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 12 |
| Sanshiro KIHARA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Senshu Univ. | 181 | 108 | 2003/1/20 | 0 |
| Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORYSUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 15 |
| Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 11 |
| Shohei ITO | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 190 | 115 | 1997/5/1 | 0 |
| Epineri ULUIVITI | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Ratu Kadavulevu School | 196 | 122 | 1996/7/7 | 8 |
| Waisake RARATUBUA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Tokai Univ. | 193 | 120 | 1998/3/17 | 2 |
| Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 23 |
| Shu YAMAMOTO | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Kindai Univ. | 190 | 96 | 1999/6/1 | 0 |
| Akito OKUI | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 178 | 105 | 2001/9/17 | 0 |
| Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys’ College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 11 |
| Amanaki SAUMAKI | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Tupou College | 189 | 107 | 1997/3/8 | 5 |
| Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 22 |
| Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 14 |
| Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 6 |
| Amato FAKATAVA | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Daito Bunka Univ. | 195 | 118 | 1994/12/7 | 14 |
| Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 16 |
Backs (15)
| Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| Shuntaro KITAMURA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Ritsumeikan Univ. | 168 | 77 | 2002/3/28 | 1 |
| Kenta FUKUDA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Meiji Univ. | 173 | 83 | 1996/12/19 | 1 |
| Shinobu FUJIWARA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 171 | 76 | 1999/2/8 | 12 |
| Ichigo NAKAKUSU | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Keio Univ. | 174 | 84 | 2000/6/1 | 2 |
| Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Osaka Korean HS. | 176 | 86 | 2001/1/13 | 20 |
| Charlie LAWRENCE | Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Hamilton Boys’ HS. | 171 | 90 | 1998/5/27 | 0 |
| Shogo NAKANO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 186 | 100 | 1997/6/11 | 9 |
| Siosaia FIFITA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 105 | 1998/12/20 | 16 |
| Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 30 |
| Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 2 |
| Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 17 |
| Haruto KIDA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Ritsumeikan Univ. | 176 | 90 | 1999/4/9 | 0 |
| Malo TUITAMA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Scots College | 182 | 91 | 1996/3/23 | 8 |
| Sam GREENE | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Brisbane Grammar HS. | 178 | 85 | 1994/8/16 | 1 |
| Jingo TAKENOSHITA | Meiji Univ. | Hotoku Gakuen HS. | 180 | 86 | 2004/6/11 | 0 |