(Written by Azul: July 17, 2025)
The Japanese domestic league period has come to an end, and from now on through the fall, Japan’s national teams will be competing against foreign teams in national test matches.
The schedule for this season’s matches is as follows. As of now, eight matches have been arranged.
| Date | Opponent | match venue | Result | |
| 1 | 6/28 | Maori All Blacks | Tokyo | |
| 2 | 7/5 | Wales | Kitakyushu | |
| 3 | 7/12 | Wales | Kobe | |
| 4 | 8/30 | Canada | Sendai | |
| 5 | 10/25 | Australia | Tokyo | |
| 6 | 11/8 | Ireland | Dublin | |
| 7 | 11/15 | Wales | Cardiff | |
| 8 | 11/22 | Georgia |
This season will be the second season of the Eddie JONES regime of the Japanese national rugby team. Looking back on last season, the Brave Blossoms, Japan’s national rugby team, lost all of their matches against teams ranked higher than them in the world. If this trend continues this season, there is a possibility that HC JONES, who is regarded as one of the world’s best general managers, will be ousted from his post.
On Saturday, June 28, I went to Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Minato-ku, Tokyo, to watch the first game of the season for the Japanese national team. The number of spectators on that day was about 19,000, showing the high expectations for the Japanese national team.
Today’s opponent was Maori All Blacks. Since this team is not the NZ national team, this match was not recognized as a test match.
However, the Japanese national team will also be playing as Japan XV, which means a selected Japanese team consisting mainly of young players.
Let me introduce the two teams that will play on this day.
First, let me introduce Maori All Blacks, the Visitor Team.
The Maori All Blacks are made up of players of Maori descent, the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Maori All Blacks have played most recently in the southern hemisphere winter, when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, so they will be playing in the northern hemisphere in the middle of summer. The temperature in Tokyo on that day was over 30 degrees Celsius, and the players had to deal with a harsh temperature difference of over 20 degrees Celsius.
With only 1 match this season, how will Japan XV fare against this formidable opponent?
This day’s starting lineup was as follows.
| Maori All Blacks | |||||
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | Club Team |
| 1 | Jared PROFIT | 182cm | 116kg | 32 | Chiefs |
| 2 | Kurt EKLUND | 180cm | 103kg | 33 | Blues |
| 3 | Kershawl SYKES-MARTIN | 187cm | 122kg | 26 | Crusaders |
| 4 | Isaia WALKER-LEAWERE | 197cm | 122kg | 28 | Hurricans |
| 5 | Laghlan MCWHANNELL | 198cm | 114kg | 26 | Blues |
| 6 | Tekamaka HOWDEN | 193cm | 109kg | 23 | Highlanders |
| 7 | Jahrome BROWN | 189cm | 105kg | 25 | Chiefs |
| 8 | Cullen GRACE | 193cm | 105kg | 28 | Crusaders |
| 9 | Sam NOCK | 178cm | 85kg | 29 | Blues |
| 10 | Rivez REIHANA | 189cm | 94kg | 25 | Crusaders |
| 11 | Jonah LOWE | 182cm | 100kg | 25 | Highlanders |
| 12 | Gideon WRAMPLING | 188cm | 102kg | 23 | Chiefs |
| 13 | Bailin SALIVAN | 186cm | 103kg | 26 | Hurricans |
| 14 | Cole FORBES | 180cm | 91kg | 25 | Blues |
| 15 | Zarn SALLIVAN | 193cm | 97kg | 24 | Blues |
＊＊ Players to watch ＊＊
Rivez REIHANA. 189cm, 94kg, 25 years old. Position=SO, FB. he was selected as man of the match in the finals as he was in command of the Crusaders, the winning team of this season’s Super Rugby. He was also a member of the Maori All Blacks Japan Tour last season. He is an all-around SO player and led the Crusaders back to the championship after they had fallen to the bottom of the standings with the loss of NZ national team SO MOUNGA. A large and physical player, he will try to break through defenses with his run play when he sees a hole in them.
Next, I would like to introduce the home team, Japan XV.
The Brave Blossoms of Japan, who were eliminated from the preliminary pool at the RWC2023, have brought in Eddie JONES, a world-class coach, as their head coach since last season. However, the Brave Blossoms’ performance so far has not been good. Will the “super-fast rugby” advocated by Head Coach JONES really work in this match? Fans all over Japan will be watching the first game of the season.
The starting lineup for this day was as follows.
| Japan XV | |||||
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | Japan Caps |
| 1 | Kenta KOBAYASHI | 181cm | 115kg | 26 | |
| 2 | Hayate ERA | 170cm | 106kg | 24 | |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | 183cm | 115kg | 27 | 7 |
| 4 | Epineri ULUIVITI | 198cm | 118kg | 29 | 4 |
| 5 | Waisake RARATUBUA | 193m | 118kg | 27 | |
| 6 | Vueti TUPOU | 190m | 115kg | 25 | |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | 188cm | 105kg | 26 | 12 |
| 8 | Keito AOKI | 187cm | 110kg | 23 | |
| 9 | Kenta FUKUDA | 173cm | 80kg | 28 | 1 |
| 10 | Sam GREENE | 178cm | 85kg | 30 | |
| 11 | Kazuma UEDA | 177cm | 87kg | 23 | |
| 12 | Charlie LAWRENCE | 171cm | 92kg | 27 | NZ 7th |
| 13 | Siosaia FIFITA | 187cm | 105kg | 27 | 16 |
| 14 | Main TAIRA | 180cm | 91kg | 25 | 1 |
| 15 | Jingo TAKENOSHITA | 180cm | 86kg | 21 | |
** Players to watch **
Sam GREENE. 178 cm, 85 kg, 30 years old. Position = SO. Club = Shizuoka Blue Revs. Born in Australia. He has been active in the Blue Revs, but has often played in the middle of the game due to foreign player quotas. With the revision of the League One rules this season, his playing opportunities increased dramatically, leading to his selection as a candidate for the Japan national team this season. One of the characteristics of his play was that he can keep longer time with the ball after receiving a pass, and opponents often found it difficult to read what he was going to do next, making it difficult for him to respond. I hope that he will adapt to the Japan national team at an early stage and become a pillar of SO, which is said to have a thin player pool.
Now, let’s start the first half.
The match of the day was played under the blazing sun in mid-summer, extremely harsh conditions for the players. In these matches, kicks tend to be used more often as the players get tired.
The use of the right kick, the accuracy of the kick, and the proper handling of the ball after it has been kicked are all important.
9 minutes into the first half:
Japan XV basically built their attack based on the current team’s principle of “super speed” (quick decision making, quick development). The ball was then quickly deployed in the left direction.
Japan XV quickly moved to the left. The ball was connected with the FW and BK, and the attack unfolded as Japan XV approached the enemy 22m line. Here, Japan XV’s WTB UEDA cut in, overcame the opposing defense, and scored a try to the left of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal was also successful, making the score 7-0, and Japan XV scored first.
20 minutes into the first half:
Japan XV was still in good physical shape, so they distributed the ball quickly and aggressively, and then attacked wide into the Maori All Blacks territory. They came close to the enemy try line, and Maori All Blacks did their best to defend and deny them a try. However, Japan XV took advantage of both the set play and the tight pack in this area, and a penalty kick was scored right in front of the goal posts. Japan XV’s SO GREENE made steady progress on this PG to make the score 10-0.
23 minutes into the first half:
From the restart kickoff, Maori All Blacks attacked into the enemy territory and continued strong contact play, gradually making progress.
Maori All Blacks came close to the enemy try line, but when they were unable to make a breakthrough in a tight battle, they quickly moved to the right, freed WTB Forbes on the right flank, and passed the ball to Forbes who scored a try in the right corner of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was disallowed because the kicker REIHANA was over time. The score was 10-5.
28 minutes into the first half:
Maori All Blacks’ attack gradually began to connect, moving forward with strong contact play, and even after being tackled, they continued to attack with offload passes.
Finally, Maori All Blacks made a move from the center of the field to the left side, and CTB Rampling, running to the outside, scored a try in the right corner of the enemy’s in-goal. The conversion goal after the try failed, and the score was 10-10 to Maori All Blacks.
32 minutes into the first half:
Japan XV took the restart kickoff and attacked into enemy territory, made a series of good tackles, won the ball, and approached the enemy try line.
Japan XV was now in a position to score, and they did just that, as the Maori All Blacks were able to hold off a relentless flank attack on the right side in front of the in-goal.
From there, Japan XV moved to the left and the ball was passed to WTB UEDA, who went into the in-goal, cut in, and grounded the ball near the goal posts for his second try of the day.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 17-10.
38 minutes into the first half:
Japan XV caught the restart kickoff and launched a daring counter attack from deep in their own 22m line. However, WTB TAIRA made a grievous knock-on in front of the goal post. Maori All Blacks then repeated the side attack from deep in front of the enemy try line, and hooker EKLUND scored a try right in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try failed, and the score was 17-15.
The first half ended with this score, and Japan XV went into the second half with a 2 point lead.
The match, which drew a crowd of nearly 20,000, showed the high expectations of the fans for the Japanese national rugby team. The first half was a high scoring affair, with both sides scoring in the first half, but could the Japan XV keep the momentum going? Or will the Maori All Blacks show their NZ rugby pride and pull off an upset victory?
Let’s start the second half.
3 minutes into the second half:
The Maori All Blacks were strong at the start of the second half. They pushed and won in every contact situation, and also succeeded in connecting a series of offload passes. Maori All Blacks lock MCWHANNELL powered the ball into the in-goal for a try.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 17-22.
To make matters worse for Japan XV, hooker ERA was fouled in the high tackle and sent off for 10 minutes.
10 minutes into the second half:
After a somewhat poor start, Japan XV moved into enemy territory, and about 30 meters directly in front of the goal posts, they drew a foul on their opponents, earning the right to a PG. Japan XV’s SO GREENE scored to make the score 20-22.
19 minutes into the second half:
At this time, Maori All Blacks began to use a lot of off-load passes when breaking the line, and Maori All Blacks’ tackling was getting outpaced by Japan XV, Maori All Blacks FB SALLIBAN scored a try right in the middle of the enemy in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 20-29.
26 minutes into the second half:
Japan XV, seeing this as the turning point between victory and defeat, showed a tenacious day defense, but the momentum of the attack tilted to Maori All Blacks’ side, Maori All Blacks kept up the passing and made steady progress.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 20-36.
25 minutes into the second half:
Maori All Blacks made it a rule in the second half that the player following the ball carrier would gain momentum and receive a pass. This allowed Maori All Blacks to continue to attack even when Japan XV made a tackle, and Japan XV began to spend more time defending. Maori All Blacks’ FL BROWN scored a try right in the middle of the enemy in-goal.
The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 20-43.
32 minutes into the second half:
The score was already 23 points in favor of Maori All Blacks against Japan XV with less than 10 minutes left in the second half, and the game was almost decided. Maori All Blacks won the ball in a tight battle, and then came out of their own half, and were unstoppable. The try was scored by WTB HAUITI-PARAPARA, who ran solo from the 10-meter line and scored a try in the middle of the in-goal area.
The conversion goal after the try failed, but the score was 20-48.
41 minutes into the second half:
Toward the end of the game, both teams made a lot of handling errors due to the heat, but the Japan XV players’ errors were especially noticeable and their attack did not continue. Japan XV was unable to score, despite coming very close to the enemy try line.
Conversely, Japan XV was cut back by Maori All Blacks and was pinned down at once. Here, Maori All Blacks, after a series of FW side attacks on the right flank, took a big step to the left flank, and substitute FB TRUSK scored a try in the middle on the left.
The conversion goal after the try was unsuccessful, but Maori All Blacks held on to win by a score of 20-53. In the second half, Maori All Blacks scored 6 tries.
In contrast, Japan XV fought hard in the first half, but in the second half they were on the defensive, scoring only 1 PG.
This was the first game of the season for Japan XV, and with the poor results of the Eddie Jones regime from last season, the future of the national team is looking bleak.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
Stop the war.
Peace to Ukraine
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊