Japan Set to Face Italy in Tokyo as Nations Championship Kicks Off
The JRFU have announced the Brave Blossoms side to take on Italy this Saturday, July 4 in the first round of the 2026 Nations Championship. Kicking off at 17:40 JST at Prince Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in central Tokyo, the match will be the Brave Blossoms’ first of the 2026 season and their 11th meeting overall against Gli Azzurri.
While Japan will enjoy playing in front of a packed home crowd, it won’t be an easy assignment for the hosts. Across their shared history, Italy have won eight of their previous 10 tests, including on their last visit to Japan in June 2024 when they ran out 14-42 victors in Sapporo. Italy are also widely regarded as one of the most improved sides in world rugby.
Over the last three years they have recorded wins against England, Scotland, Wales and Australia, and drew 13-all with France in the 2024 Six Nations.
The first Brave Blossoms team of 2026 brings together an exciting mix of established test match talent alongside four debutants and eight capped players holding just 10 caps or fewer. The side is captained by 32-cap lock Warner Dearns who returns to Japan from his Super Rugby Pacific championship winning season with the Hurricanes in New Zealand.
Alongside him is a core of experienced leaders including Jack Cornelson at number 8 who will earn his 30th test cap on the weekend. Halfback Naoto Saito who has also returned to Japan following three seasons with Toulon in France’s Top 14 will add to his 28 caps, while 92-cap Brave Blossoms talisman, Michael Leitch has been named on the bench.
Of the four debutants, two currently play in Japan’s university competition. Flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito and replacement prop Sojiro Otsuka both played for the JAPAN XV last weekend against the Māori All Blacks, doing enough to earn a call up to the national team.
All eyes will be on Ito who as a star in the university game made a confident and assured appearance against the Māori. With a compact, yet stocky frame, the young playmaker poses a constant attacking threat, both with ball in hand and through his powerful passing game. He has also shown that he possesses an educated boot, with two of his attacking cross-field kicks resulting directly in tries for the JAPAN XV last weekend.
Commenting ahead of the match, Brave Blossoms Coaching Coordinator Neal Hatley said:
“We’re really looking forward to our first game of the new Nations Championship against Italy, and the team has had a great week preparing for it. We’ve got everyone back, including Warner from his time with the Hurricanes and Naoto from Toulouse. We’ve got some new caps, with four good young men coming into play, so the team is really looking forward to the game.
“We expect a heavy battle in the forwards, so we’ve opted for six forwards on the bench. With Tiennan we’re fortunate in that he is a hybrid player. He played against South Africa on the wing last year at Wembley so he gives us an advantage in that he can cover more than just a backrow position. Northern Hemisphere sides bring a very good scrum, big drive and are forwards dominated. That’s where we expect the hottest part of the game to be, so we’re prepared for that.”
The match will be broadcast live in Japan on WOWOW Prime from 17:10 and J Sports 2 from 17:00. It will also be streamed live and available via catch-up on both WOWOW On Demand and J Sports On Demand.
Limited tickets for the Italy match are still available via the JRFU’s English-language ticketing website at: https://quick.pia.jp/japan-rugby_en/. Fans can also use the site to pick up tickets for the Brave Blossoms’ test against France on Saturday, July 18 at Tokyo’s National
Stadium.
| No. | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height cm | Weight kg | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Takato OKABE | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1995/2/19 | 8 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 12 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 24 |
| 4 | Harry HOCKINGS | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Univ. of Queensland | 208 | 124 | 1998/7/28 | 2 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS (C) | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO * Joined the Hurricanes (Super Rugby Pacific) on a temporary transfer for the 2026 season. | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 32 |
| 6 | Ben GUNTER | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Brisbane Boys’ College | 195 | 120 | 1997/10/24 | 17 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 23 |
| 8 | Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Univ. of Queensland | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 29 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 28 |
| 10 | Ryunosuke ITO | Meiji Univ. | Kokugakuin Univ. Tochigi HS. | 172 | 77 | 2004/11/20 | 0 |
| 11 | Kippei ISHIDA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 167 | 75 | 2000/4/28 | 9 |
| 12 | Yuya HIROSE | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 182 | 94 | 2001/4/7 | 5 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 38 |
| 14 | Kazuma UEDA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Kindai Univ. | 177 | 87 | 2002/12/4 | 2 |
| 15 | Takuro MATSUNAGA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tenri Univ. | 172 | 82 | 1998/8/13 | 5 |
| 16 | Hayate ERA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Teikyo Univ. | 172 | 106 | 2001/9/18 | 6 |
| 17 | Sojiro OTSUKA | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | Kwansei Gakuin Senior HS. | 178 | 110 | 2004/7/5 | 0 |
| 18 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 20 |
| 19 | Michael STOLBERG | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Anglican Church Grammar School | 202 | 116 | 1992/3/27 | 0 |
| 20 | Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 92 |
| 21 | Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 11 |
| 22 | Itsuki KAMIMURA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Teikyo Univ. | 168 | 72 | 2002/12/13 | 0 |
| 23 | Sam GREENE | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs *Departure announced by the club on May 16, 2026. | Brisbane Grammar HS. | 178 | 85 | 1994/8/16 | 6 |
(C) Captain
Japan vs Italy Past Results:
10 matches, 2 wins, 8 losses
July 21, 2024 (L) 14-42 Sapporo
August 26, 2023 (L) 42-12 Treviso
June 16, 2018 (L) 22-25 Kobe
June 9, 2018 (W) 34-17 Oita
June 21, 2014 (W) 26-23 Tokyo
August 13, 2011 (L) 31-24 Cesena
August 18, 2007 (L) 36-12 Aosta
June 11, 2006 (L) 52-6 Tokyo
July 4, 2004 (L) 32-19 Tokyo
October 21, 1976 (L) 25-3 Padova