Japan U23 Fall to Australia U20 in Coffs Harbour

Having won the first two matches of their Australia tour against Fiji U20 and the Australian Stockmen, Japan U23 fell to Australia U20, 38-24 on Saturday in Coffs Harbour. In what was a highly entertaining, fast-paced and highly-skilled match, the hosts were too strong in the end for a Japanese outfit that kept on fighting for the full 80 minutes.

After a close first half, Japan were still well and truly in the contest, trailing by five points with the score at 17-12 in favour of the hosts. The second half brought much of the same intensity and speed of play which characterised the first 40, with the Aussies running out eventual 14-point winners.

Commenting after the match, Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“If I compare this year’s performance to last year, we were considerably better. We were chasing them the whole game; they never got away from us and in fact we were probably finishing the stronger of the two teams. Our players have matured a lot, they knew the challenge that was ahead of them and in terms of meeting that physical challenge, they did. “Our next step is to cut out basic skill errors, dropping the ball when uncontested and basic lineout mistakes. Today we had two five-meter mauls that we couldn’t convert to tries, and that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

When asked to comment on the players who will join the Japan squad for the upcoming 2026 Junior World Championships in Georgia, Jones added:
“They’ve now got to train really, really hard and understand the battle that’s ahead of them. They’ve got to play fast and play physical as well, and that’s going to come from good, hard training. These young guys can get so much better.”

Japan will now head south to the New South Wales Capital for their final match of the tour when they take on Sydney club side Randwick at the picturesque Coogee Oval. The match is the second such fixture in two years, with Japan suffering a narrow 36-31 loss to the Galloping Greens at the same venue last April.

Randwick enjoys a rich history in Sydney’s elite Shute Shield club rugby competition, producing Wallaby legends such as the Ella brothers, David Campese, Matt Giteau and George Gregan. It was also the club where Eddie Jones started both his playing and coaching careers.

Japan U23 2026 Australian Tour

Saturday 4 April
Fiji U20 vs Japan U23
39-48 (W)
Grafton

Wednesday 8 April
Stockman, Australia vs Japan U23
31-43 (W)
Kempsey

Saturday 11 April
Australia U20 vs Japan U23
38-24 (L)
Coffs Harbour

Tuesday 14 April
Randwick vs Japan U23
14:00 Kick-off (13:00 Japan Time)
Randwick Rugby Club, Sydney