The Brave Blossoms host Australia on Saturday, 25th October at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with the visitors taking selection gambles, and both sides coming into the match on the back of losses.
Australia are ranked 7th and Japan are 13th, with rankings being keenly followed before the RWC 2027 draw takes place in early December of this year.
The two sides have faced each other six times, and Australia has yet to lose. The two teams this Saturday will be very different to the last time they played in 2021, when the Wallabies beat Japan 32-23 at the Showa Denco Dome.
Eddie Jones is set to face his former employers for the first time since he left the role and has been at it with some fighting words this week. “I enjoy beating Australia — I coached against them 10 times for England and beat them nine times….Playing against you own country, there’s always a certain amount of different feelings involved in it, but it just brings out the extreme competitive spirit within yourself.”
Eddie Jones Btrave Blossoms Head Coach
He has selected Warner Dearns as captain after he did a great job during the Pacific Nations Cup 2025. Michael Leitch (earning his 90th cap) returns to the starting team and is a leader, but both Seungsin Lee and Dylan Riley are vice-captains. Lee scored 61 points in the PNC 2025, and, for the second year running, was the tournament’s leading points scorer.
Jones has made six changes to his starting side that lost the PNC final to Fiji 33-27. Ben Gunter returns from injury at blindside flanker, and among the exciting backs are Yoshitaka Yazaki from Waseda University (who vs Australia A last week), with Kippei Ishida on the right wing.
Tyler Paul, who was also involved in the Australia A match, will make his Brave Blossoms debut off the bench.
The biggest representation of Japan Rugby League One clubs is from Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, with five players each, in the matchday 23.
- Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights 5
- Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath 5
- Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 4
- Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo 2
- Kobelco Kobe Steelers 2
- Yokohama Canon Eagles 2
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars 1
- Shizuoka Blue Revs 1
Jones said there was a winning opportunity against Australia. “When you’re playing a team that has got a lot of players that are playing for a spot and they want to be the starting guys, if things don’t go their way at the start of the game, they can get frustrated. Our job is to bring out that frustration. Our job is to be at them the whole time.”
The relatively inexperienced Nick Champion de Crespigny will become the 92nd captain of Australia as Head Coach Joe Schmidt made 13 changes from their final Rugby Championship loss to the All Blacks.
Photo Credit – Rugby Australia – Nick Champion de Crespigny – Wallabies Captain vs Japan
He said of the selections, “I think Nick is very much a leader by actions, and he’ll want to be in the thick of the action as much as he can be.”
The team is without Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Fraser McReight, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. Four players were not available due to club commitments in Europe: Len Ikitau, Tom Hooper, Will Skelton and James O’Connor, and James Slipper and Nick White have both retired.
Schmidt commented, “There’s definitely a risk. I guess part of the job as a coaching staff is to manage risk as best we can. We have massive respect for Japan. They have come very close to beating teams and have beaten big teams, bigger teams than us in the past, so we’re very conscious of that, and that’s going to be a challenge for the players who are selected.”
Josh Canham and Hamish Stewart are in the matchday 23 after playing JAPAN XV last week.
Rob Valetini, Andrew Kellaway and Dylan Pietsch are all back from injuries, and Aidan Ross could earn his first cap and is among the replacements. Half of the 8 replacements have two caps or fewer.
Photo Credit – Rugby Australia – Joe Schmidt – Wallabies Head Coach
The Australians have played ten Tests in 2025 and have had a very solid scrum – they lost just one of the 68 scrums they’ve had on their feed.
The Japanese have the same starting tight five that played most of the PNC; Kenta Kobayashi and Shuhei Takeuchi are the props, with hooker Hayate Era. Jack Cornelsen is alongside captain Warner Dearns in the second row.
The Australian Head Coach added, “The players have acclimatised well here in Tokyo and the whole squad is conscious of the threat the Brave Blossoms pose. They play hard and fast and are very tough to beat, especially at home.”
The Brave Blossoms head off after this match to face two-time reigning world champions South Africa at Wembley on 1 November, followed by Ireland, Wales and Georgia on consecutive Saturdays.
The Wallabies face England at Allianz Stadium on 1 November, followed by Italy, Ireland and France.
Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) is the match referee. Morgan White (HLCR) is the Assistant Referee, and Matt Rodden (HKCR) is the Foul Play Review Officer.
Match Permutations – Japan vs Australia – Tokyo, Japan
- Australia will drop one place to eighth if they lose to Japan, and as many as two places if the losing margin is more than 15 points.
- The Wallabies cannot move into the top six if they win.
- Japan will remain in 13th place if they lose, but if they avoid defeat, they will move into the second band of seeds for the RWC 2027 Draw (top 12). A win moves them up to 11th, while a draw would see them climb to 12th.
Japan Brave Blossoms Squad vs Australia Squad
You can see more about the squad from the JRFU here.
Kenta Kobayashi, Hayate Era, Shuhei Takeuchi, Jack Cornelsen, Warner Dearns, Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Michael Leitch, Shinobu Fujiwara, Lee Seung-sin, Tomoki Osada, Shogo Nakano, Dylan Riley, Kippei Ishida, Yoshitaka Yazaki.
Replacements: Kenji Sato, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Tyler Paul, Tiennan Costley, Kenta Fukuda, Charlie Lawrence, Sam Greene
Australia Squad vs Japan Brave Blossoms
Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Zane Nonggorr, Jeremy Williams, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Carlo Tizzano, Rob Valetini, Jake Gordon, Tane Edmed, Dylan Pietsch, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Corey Toole, Andrew Kellaway
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Aidan Ross, Tom Robertson, Josh Canham, Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Hamish Stewart, Filipo Daugunu.
Japan Rugby News 2025
- Hong Kong China Men’s XV vs Japan XV Preview.
- Japan XV Suffer Heavy Loss Against Australia A.
- Japan Brave Blossoms & Japan XV Training Squads for Remainder of 2025 Announced.
- Hong Kong China Men’s XVs Representative Team Set For Debut at Kai Tak Stadium Against Japan XV.
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