Japan National High School Team Set for England Tour
The Japan National High School Team will travel to England for a two-match tour, with fixtures scheduled against Harlequins U19 and England U19. The 11-day programme, the second year in a row the team will tour England, also includes a joint practice session with Oxford University U20 and a visit to Rugby School in Warwickshire, the birthplace of rugby.
The 26-member squad, comprising 14 forwards and 12 backs, will depart Tokyo on Thursday, March 12. They will take two days to settle into their new surroundings before a joint training session with the Oxford University U20 side on March 14 at Oxford’s historic Iffley Road ground in the heart of the city. The team will then make their way to South London for their first match of the tour when they take on Harlequins U19 at Twickenham Stoop.
With the Harlequins academy side likely to be stacked with players on the cusp of playing professional rugby, the match will offer the tourists a suitably challenging start to their tour and excellent preparation ahead of their match against England.
On Thursday, March 19, the team will then travel two hours north-west of London to Rugby School, where William Webb Ellis famously picked up a football and ran with it. The tourists will tour the historic school and its grounds and take part in a joint training session with students from the school.
The group then returns back to Iffley Road in Oxford for the second and final match of the tour when they take on England U19 on Saturday, 21 March. Having fallen to the English 52-47 during their last meeting in Cambridge, in March last year, Japan will be looking to square the ledger this time round.
Commenting ahead of the tour, Japan National High School Team Head Coach, Ryu Kuwabara said:
“We’ve now finalised the final 26 players who will participate in the England tour, having reduced the squad from the 30 players that participated in our two training camps. Every single player delivered outstanding performances and to bring the squad down to 26 players was extremely difficult. Our decisions came down to selecting those players who consistently play the style of rugby we aspire to. I would like to express my gratitude to everybody who has supported us to get to this point, especially all the schools and all our other stakeholders.”
Team Captain and Number Eight, Loketi Bruceneol added:
“As we prepare for the England tour, I will focus on leading the team to unlock and maximise our collective strength. To achieve this, we must unite the individual abilities of the players and secure their commitment to the team. To secure victory over England, we will focus on being fully prepared to achieve our objectives.’
Following their match against England U19, Japan National High School Team squad will return home on Monday, March 23.
Both matches will be available for streaming. We will share updated details on this in due course.
2026 Japan National High School Team England Tour Matches
| Opponent | Schedule | Location |
| Harlequins U19 | Tuesday, 17 March | Twickenham Stoop, London |
| England U19 | Saturday, 21 March | Oxford University Rugby Club |