Brave Blossoms Side Named for Dublin Test
Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones has named his side to face Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, November 8. Kicking off at 12:40 local time (21:40 JST), the match will be the ninth meeting between the two countries since their first test in Dublin at the 1991 World Cup.
While Ireland hold bragging rights with seven victories for just the one defeat, Japanese fans still fondly remember 2019 when the Brave Blossoms famously defeated the Irish 19-12 in their Rugby World Cup Pool A match in Shizuoka.
A lot has changed for both sides since that warm August night in Shizuoka. Ireland have seen the retirement of generational talents like Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray which have no doubt had an impact on their side.
Meanwhile Japan, under Head Coach Eddie Jones have completely rebuilt their side, with talismanic forward Michael Leitch the only member from that legendary Brave Blossoms 2019 World Cup squad still playing for the national team.
In the two tests Ireland and Japan have played since 2019 in Dublin, Ireland have won both fixtures. While their June 2021 match saw the Brave Blossoms push the men in green all the way for a final score of 39-31, the return match, in November of the same year, saw the Irish beat Japan 60-5.
With Jones’ new squad starting to settle in and showing real signs of progress across their 2025 season, all eyes will be on Aviva Stadium this Saturday to see how this young Brave Blossoms side, ranked 13th in the world, fares agains the 3rd ranked Irish team at home in their Dublin fortress.
Jones has stuck closely to his side that lost last weekend to the World Champion Springboks at Wembley Stadium in London. Four new players come into the matchday 23, alongside a couple of positional swaps between the bench and the starting fifteen. The evergreen Michael Leitch starts his 92nd test for Japan from the pine as a direct swap for Faulua Makisi who slots in as starting number eight.
Lock Jack Cornelsen and livewire scrumhalf Shinobu Fujiwara also move to the bench to make way for Epineri Uluiviti who comes in to add his significant bulk to the scrum, and France-based Naoto Saito comes into the side as the starting halfback. The other two changes see centre Yuya Hirose move onto the bench alongside uncapped utility back Shinya Komura. Lock Warner Dearns captains the side in his 30th cap for Japan. He is joined by co-vice captains in Seungsin Lee at flyhalf and Dylan Riley at outside centre.
Commenting ahead of the match, Brave Blossoms Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“While set piece will always be a factor, the two big contest areas will be the aerial contest and the breakdown contest. That’s fairly consistent in rugby at the moment. The ability to win back to back possession between winning a contest kick puts you in a good field position from which to attack. Then you have to generate quick ruck ball to break down defences. For both teams, those will be the key areas of the game this weekend.”
The match will be broadcast live in Japan on the morning of Saturday, November 8 on WOWWOW Live from 21:00 JST. It will also be streamed live and available via catch-up on WOWWOW On Demand from 21:00 JST.
| No. | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Heightcm | Weightkg | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Kenta KOBAYASHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 181 | 113 | 1999/6/2 | 6 |
| 2 | Kenji SATO | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 | 6 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 21 |
| 4 | Epineri ULUIVITI | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Ratu Kadavulevu School | 196 | 122 | 1996/7/7 | 8 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS (C) | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 29 |
| 6 | Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 16 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 20 |
| 8 | Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 21 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO | Stade Toulousain | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 24 |
| 10 | Seungsin LEE (VC) | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Osaka Korean HS. | 176 | 86 | 2001/1/13 | 26 |
| 11 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 23 |
| 12 | Charlie LAWRENCE | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Hamilton Boys’HS. | 170 | 89 | 1998/5/27 | 6 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY (VC) | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 35 |
| 14 | Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 7 |
| 15 | Yoshitaka YAZAKI | Waseda Univ. | Toin Gakuen HS. | 180 | 86 | 2004/5/12 | 7 |
| 16 | Shodai HIRAO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | 174 | 103 | 2002/10/11 | 1 |
| 17 | Ryosuke IWAIHARA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 184 | 115 | 1996/10/6 | 4 |
| 18 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 17 |
| 19 | Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 26 |
| 20 | Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 91 |
| 21 | Shinobu FUJIWARA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 171 | 76 | 1999/2/8 | 18 |
| 22 | Shinya KOMURA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 92 | 2002/5/28 | 0 |
| 23 | Yuya HIROSE | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 182 | 94 | 2001/4/7 | 4 |
*(C) Captain
*(VC) Vice Captain
Japan National Team Autumn Match Schedule
Saturday 18 October
JAPAN XV vs Australia A (Uncapped)
7-71 (L)
Asahi Super Dry CHALLENGE MATCH 2025
YODOKO Sakura Stadium, Osaka
Friday 24 October
Hong Kong China vs JAPAN XV (Uncapped)
14-59 (W)
Kai Tak Stadium, Hong Kong
Saturday 25 October
Japan vs Australia
15-19 (L)
Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2025
National Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday 1 November
Japan vs South Africa
7-61 (L)
Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Wembley Stadium, London
Saturday 8 November
Kick-off 12:40 local time (21:40 JST)
Ireland vs Japan
Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Saturday 15 November
Kick-off 17:40 local time (02:40 JST – Sunday, November 16)
Wales vs Japan
Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday 22 November
Kick-off 16:00 local time (21:00 JST)
Georgia vs Japan
Lipovitan D Tour 2025
Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi