LONDON – Japan will try to notch the first win of their European tour Saturday against Wales in a rugby test match with high stakes for both teams.
Eddie Jones’ world No. 13 Brave Blossoms have the chance to climb above Steve Tandy’s 12th-ranked Welsh side with a win or draw and secure a more favorable seeding for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The world’s top six-ranked sides will be placed in band one for the World Cup draw on Dec. 3, avoiding each other in the pool stage, while Nos. 7 to 12 will be drawn in the second band and face only one higher-ranked team in their pool.
The clash at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium will be the third meeting this year between the Brave Blossoms and Wales after they walked away with one win apiece during the European side’s two-test tour of Japan in the summer.
Brave Lupus Tokyo lock Warner Dearns has been named captain, while Toulouse scrumhalf Naoto Saito and Waseda University fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki also feature in a Japan starting lineup with few changes from the team that lost 41-10 to Ireland last weekend in Dublin.
With back-row stalwart Michael Leitch and Ben Gunter both unavailable, Jones has picked Jack Cornelsen to start at blindside flank and has also moved Kubota Spears prop Keijiro Tamefusa from the reserves bench to the starting lineup.
“This is our fourth game of the November series, and I think each week we’re getting a little bit better,” Jones said. “Certainly, our training quality has improved, and I think we’re in a really good spot to play against Wales. It’s our third time to play them this year, so both teams know each other pretty well.”
Japan will finish their tour next weekend against world No. 11 Georgia in Tbilisi.