Brave Blossoms All Set for Cardiff Showdown
Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones has named his Brave Blossoms side to take on Wales this Saturday, November 7, at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in the Nations Championship 2026. Kicking off at 16:40 local time (01:40 JST on Sunday), the match marks the beginning of Japan’s November European tour, with fixtures against England and Scotland to follow.
The Brave Blossoms head into the match looking to make a positive start to their northern hemisphere campaign, following their recent home encounter against Fiji in Tokyo.Saturday’s clash provides another important opportunity for Jones and his squad to test themselves against northern hemisphere opposition as they continue building towards Rugby World Cup 2027.
In a notable selection, uncapped flyhalf Riku Kitahara will make his international debut alongside experienced scrumhalf and Co-Captain Naoto Saito. The 27-year-old Honda Heat playmaker has followed an unconventional path to the Brave Blossoms, spending several years developing his game in New Zealand before returning to Japan. As a standoutplaymaker in League One, Brave Blossoms fans will be eager to see how he performs on the international stage as Jones continues to develop his options at flyhalf ahead of next year’s World Cup.
In the forwards, Warner Dearns continues as Co-Captain alongside Saito and partners Harry Hockings in the second row. The industrious Jack Cornelsen starts at number eight, with Brave Blossoms’ enforcer Ben Gunter and the effervescent Kanji Shimokawa completing the back row. Up front, Yota Kamimori and Shuhei Takeuchi start at prop, with the ever-impressive Mamoru Harada at hooker.
In the backs, Samisoni Tua and Dylan Riley combine boththeir size and speed to make a hard-hitting, solid midfield, with Inoke Burua and Kippei Ishida named on the wings. Kazuma Ueda starts at fullback in his tenth cap for Japan, completing the back three.
The replacements include Kenji Sato, Sojiro Otsuka andFrance based Opeti Helu as front-row cover, with Michael Stolberg and Tiennan Costley providing additional forward options. Kenta Fukuda is named as the replacement scrumhalf, with Shinya Komura and Jisu Lee completing the matchday 23.
Commenting ahead of the match, Brave Blossoms Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“We played Wales three times last year, including an historic second win over them in Kitakyushu. We were a little bit off our best in Kobe and in the third game in Cardiff we were in a position to win the match.
“We’ve never beaten them in Cardiff and as all rugby lovers know, Principality Stadium is one of the most iconic rugby stadiums in the world. We’ve got a fantastic opportunity to get ourselves right and be full of energy, purpose and passionat kick-off. We know how we want to play and we’ve got to do it with a lot of energy and passion”
The match will be broadcast live in Japan on NHK from 01:30 JST on Sunday, November 8, and on WOWOW Prime and J SPORTS 1 from 01:10 JST. Live streaming and catch-up will also be available via NHK ONE, WOWOW On Demand, Lemino and J SPORTS On Demand.
Following Saturday’s match, Japan will travel to London to face England at Allianz Stadium on November 14, before taking on Scotland at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in Edinburgh on November 21. The inaugural Nations Championship will then conclude with Finals Weekend in London from November 27–29.
| No. | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height cm | Weight kg | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Yota KAMIMORI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Kindai Univ. | 172 | 105 | 1999/4/26 | 3 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS MUSASHI | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 20 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 120 | 1997/12/9 | 31 |
| 4 | Harry HOCKINGS | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Univ. of Queensland | 208 | 124 | 1998/7/28 | 10 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS (CC) | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS MUSASHI | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 38 |
| 6 | Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys’ College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 26 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 30 |
| 8 | Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 38 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO (CC) | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 37 |
| 10 | Riku KITAHARA | TOCHIGI Honda HEAT | Univ. of Otago | 170 | 78 | 1999/3/30 | 0 |
| 11 | Inoke BURUA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. | 178 | 100 | 1999/5/30 | 4 |
| 12 | Samisoni TUA | URAYASU D-Rocks | Setsunan Univ. | 182 | 108 | 1995/5/24 | 9 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 46 |
| 14 | Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 11 |
| 15 | Kazuma UEDA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Kindai Univ. | 177 | 87 | 2002/12/4 | 9 |
| 16 | Kenji SATO | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 | 13 |
| 17 | Sojiro OTSUKA | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | Kwansei Gakuin Senior HS. | 178 | 110 | 2004/7/5 | 9 |
| 18 | Opeti HELU | Lyon Olympique Universitaire | Newington College | 190 | 127 | 1998/7/22 | 2 |
| 19 | Michael STOLBERG | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS MUSASHI | Anglican Church Grammar School | 202 | 116 | 1992/3/27 | 7 |
| 20 | Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 19 |
| 21 | Kenta FUKUDA | TOCHIGI Honda HEAT | Meiji Univ. | 173 | 83 | 1996/12/19 | 9 |
| 22 | Shinya KOMURA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 92 | 2002/5/28 | 3 |
| 23 | Jisu LEE | Korea Univ. | Osaka Chosen HS. | 180 | 82 | 2004/11/6 | 1 |
(CC) Co-Captain