Brave Blossoms Beat Italy for The First Time Since 2018 to Open Nations Championship 2026

The Japan Brave Blossoms were victorious over Italy and deserved their 27-10 win on Saturday, 4th July, at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 21,329 to notch up a win in the Nations Championship.

It was just a third-ever win for Japan over Italy and also marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between the teams.

Italy who opened the scoring in the 5th minute after Garbisi put centre Brex into space, and they led 7-0 to set off some alarm bells. But Japan were up for the challenge.

First, captain Warner Dearns crashed over after several phases by the team before a great move and shape from Japan saw them lead, with fullback Matsunaga scoring the second try, and he successfully converted both to lead 14-7. He added a penalty in the 25th minute as they punished an error-strewn Italy performance, with the Japanese line-speed and defensive pressure contributing to the enforced mistakes.

Italy pushed for a score before the half and were winning penalties, but Japan did well to withstand nearly a dozen phases on their line. In the end, the Italiens took the three points and trailed 10-17 at the half.

Photo Credit – JRFU

The last time Japan had beaten Italy was in 2018, and the halftime stats showed they were the better side, and so did the scoreboard. They had more carries, meters made, had to make fewer tackles and missed fewer of them. Ben Gunter led the tackle stats with 8, and the next four highest were all from the opposition.

In the second half, the pairing of scrumhalf Naoto Seito and debutant flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito flung the ball around and kept it alive, with big Ben Gunter scoring their third try. They had 80 per cent possession in the first ten minutes of the half and more than 90 per cent in territory!

Debut flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito had a good game and caused the opposition plenty of problems with ball in hand. The team saw four debutants on the day, and all of them made an impact. Ito had the most defenders beaten, most kicks from hand and second-most carries for Japan.

Michael Leitch came on in the 62nd minute to win his 93rd cap when Japan was leading 24-10 and had a poor start to the game with some uncharacteristic mistakes before steadying.

Rugby matches have momentum shifts, and Italy came back into it and won consecutive scrum-free kicks and penalties. Digby Ioane nearly scored, and Japan felt the pressure. They turned things around and won a scrum penalty of their own in the 67th minute before Takuro Matsunaga took his tally to 17 points by adding another penalty with 12 minutes left.

Photo Credit – JRFU – Takuro Matsunaga scored 17 points

Italy had close to 20 handling errors heading into the final ten minutes and couldnt gel. The Brave Blossoms held on for the win, although they might rue not scoring the fourth bonus point try. It was the tied-biggest scoring margin over Italy – which was in Oita in 2017.

Ben Gunter was awarded Player of the Match with his 17 tackles and a try. The overall match stats were close across the board except that Italy had 25 turnovers conceded compared to Japan’s 7.

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada said, “Japan showed excellent defence, and their rookie number 10 played a truly great match. They deserve a lot of credit for preparing for the match so well: they were stronger than us. In Wellington, we’ll be playing against an even stronger team. Clearly, we can’t accept this match, and we shouldn’t normalise it, especially since we made so many unforced errors without pressure.”

Leitch said after the win to Rugby Republic, “It was great to be able to show the Japanese fans a victory. We’ve laid the foundation for our super-fast rugby, and it’s starting to take shape. Our contest kicks were excellent today, and we weren’t physically outmatched in lineout mauls and scrums. Winning is the best way to grow, and it gives us confidence.”

The Brave Blossoms now travel to Australia to play their second ‘home’ game against the Irish, who were also victorious after beating the Wallabies 33-31. Some serious homework for Italy as they head to play the All Blacks, who pipped France.

Quesada said, “We need to analyse what happened. We were definitely tired and struggling physically: when you lose 25 possessions it’s hard to create actions. We found ourselves in front of a well-prepared team, with a good pace, more physically and technically ready. Even on the rebounds, on the second balls, they always arrived first.”

Japan points scorers

Tries: Warner Dearns, Takuro Matsunaga, Ben Gunter
Conversions: Takuro Matsunaga x3
Penalty: Takuro Matsunaga x2

Japanese Rugby News 2026

• Japan vs Italy – Nations Championship 2026 Match Preview.
• Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2026 To Feature Fewer Teams – Hosted in Japan.
• Brave Blossoms 2026 Home Tests and Venues Confirmed.
• Understanding The Nations Championship 2026.