JAPAN XV Fall to Māori All Blacks in Tokyo

The JAPAN XV fell to the Māori All Blacks in Tokyo over the weekend following a powerful second-half blitz by their Southern Hemisphere visitors. While Japan went into the sheds at halftime with a hard-fought 17-15 lead, they simply had no answers to the Māori’s powerful running and offloading game in the second half, going down 20-53 as the final hooter sounded.

Having defeated their guests 24-16 during their last outing in Toyota City, back in July last year, the JAPAN XV would have been looking to put in a stronger performance in front of a solid home crowd at Chichibunomiya Stadium. Scoring two first half tries to the visitor’s three, it was the accurate kicking off the tee by young SHIZUOKA BlueRevs flyhalf, Sam Greene that gave Japan their two-point lead at the break.

Before coming into the match, the JAPAN XV had put in strong performances in their two fixtures against New Zealand Universities and in a one-off training match against Hong Kong China. A 111 positive points difference across the three matches represented Japan’s dominance over their early season opponents, however the Māori All Blacks were always going to be a huge step-up in opposition. 

While the scoreline was not what the players and coaching team would have been hoping for, there were a number of positives to come out of the match. Japan’s first half performance was good enough to contain their visitors for the first forty minutes, despite their less than favourable showing in the second stanza. Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones will surely be imploring his test side to put in a full 80-minute performance when they come up against Wales this weekend in the first of their two test matches.

For a number of JAPAN XV players, the match against the Maori was their first against an opposition of this calibre. There is no doubt they will be better for the experience and will bring back what they’ve learned to their League One sides in Japan’s domestic competition.

Commenting following the match, Brave Blossom’s Assistant Coach, and Acting Head Coach for the Māori All Blacks fixture, Neal Hatley said:

“We’re obviously disappointed with the result, but there’s lots of good things that have been done. We will look at the things that we did well, and work to do more of that, while obviously working to cut down our errors and turnovers. For a lot of these young men, this was their first experience outside of League One, so it’s really important to take these learnings now and move forward.

“We saw some good set piece moments. I thought we scrummaged very well and there were parts of our lineouts and set piece play that were really pleasing, along with some very good defensive sets. We just need greater consistency in these areas and so we’re looking forward to getting back to work on Monday and putting this into practice.”

With the test season now starting, the Maori All Blacks fixture will be the JAPAN XV’s last until they face Australia A in Osaka on October 18. Meanwhile the Brave Blossoms will kick off their season against Wales in their first of two Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2025 matches on Saturday, 5 July. The match will take place at Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushu, which will be a homecoming of sorts for the Welsh. 

The rugby loving locals adopted the Welsh as their second team during Rugby World Cup in 2019 when Wales held their pre-tournament camp in the city. The visitors were left stunned when an open training session saw a completely packed stadium, with the people of Kitakyushu singing rousing renditions of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau or Land of Our Fathers, the Welsh National Anthem. There will no doubt be some split loyalties among the local fans for what promises to be a memorable match in this rugby-mad city.