Japan Sakura 15 Put Up a Brave Fight But Lose to Ireland in RWC 2025 Opener

The Sakura Fifteen lost 42-14 to Ireland in their Pool C RWC 2025 opener on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens, which was played in front of some amazing vocal fans in attendance. 

The Sakura Fifteen had a never-say-die attitude, but we will stand by what we said at the time of the game across our socials. They had really poor discipline in that opening quarter and slipped some easy tackles to make it too easy for Ireland. It is not the first slow start of the year – they turned around deficits against the USA and the first Spain match but Ireland is a better team than both of those sides.

With New Zealand, as expected, winning their pool C clash against Spain, they and the Irish remain favourites to qualify from the group for the quarterfinals.

The Irish punished Japan in the wider channels with pace and power, but tackles were poor to start with. As the game went on, the Sakura had great patches in the first and second halves, but never enough to challenge the outcome of the game. Japan will again rue their poor execution in the opposition 22m area.

Photo Credit – RWC 2025 / JRFU

Ireland was ahead 21–0 within the opening 25 minutes and threatened another blowout score, which was an unfortunate feature of the opening weekend of the tournament, so Japan should be credited with hauling them back somewhat.

Sakura 15 tries were scored by Haruka Hirotsu and Masami Kawamura for a 28–14 scoreline, and when Japan were in the ascendancy, an intercept against the run of play really sealed the game for Ireland.

The end-of-match stats showed that the possession and territory were nearly even; the Irish were just that much better when they had the ball and when they were in the red zone. Ireland made 977 meters with the ball, and Japan with nearly half as much, 563 meters.

Japan also missed twice as many tackles as the Irish – 22 vs 11. Two of the side’s most experienced players, captain Iroha Nagata (17) and 51-cap Seina Saito (16) made the most tackles. Flanker Masami Kawamura made the most carries for Japan with 17 and consequently made the most meters with 90. The loose trio had a heavy workload in the loss.

The truth is, the task was always a tough one. Ireland is ranked 6th, and they did as they said, which was to start well, but Japan gave them plenty of problems to think about. There were also a lot more Irish players with their hands on their hips when Japan moved and ran the ball at them with pace in those spells in either half. They also disrupted a lot of Irish ball at the rucks and lineouts.

The crowd, which had plenty of neutrals as the South Africans and Brazilians were in attendance for the second match, and those living in England in attendance were cheering the Sakura on. The touch of class at the end, with the team bowing in front of all four corners of the ground, would have only endeared them to more fans for the rest of the tournament.

You can see more from the JRFU on the Ireland match here.

Sakura Fifteen Head Coach Lesley McKenzie said post-match, “We weren’t able to get the territory and momentum in the first half that we wanted, but you can’t fault the girls on their effort, especially their response in the second half. We’ve had a really good warmup now, and we have the rest of the pool play to get through.

It’s a bit of naivety, but also our ambition. If you don’t take some of your chances or try and make things happen, especially when we weren’t able to get the territory and momentum in the first half that we really wanted… You can’t fault them on the effort, especially the response in the second half.

I would really have enjoyed that game had I not been coaching it. What a game, I reckon that was the game of the round.”

Photo Credit -RWC 2025 / JRFU – Sakura Fifteen Head Coach Lesley McKenzie

Captain Iroha Nagata added, “Really tough and challenging game, but I’m very grateful for all the support from the bench, the stands and Japan. Ireland had great momentum in the first half, and we let them in to score. However, it was great to see that we fixed ourselves in the second half and that will be great to take away for the next game.”

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand was full of praise for Japan, saying, “Funny game, actually. Credit to Japan, they don’t give up. We said they’d be disciplined and well-organised and would present a formidable challenge. There has been something made of our starts, so we wanted to put our best game out there from the off.”

Co-captain Sam Monaghan added, “Unreal to be a part of that. After the last two warm-up games, we were going after a fast, clinical start. I think we got that. We’ve loads to come off the back of that, which is really important for us. We’ve got a huge game next week to go after, but we really brought the physicality. They’re a really disciplined, well-executed team, so we knew we had to get front-foot ball.”

Ireland stay in Northampton where they will play Spain on Sunday, 31 August, and Japan face New Zealand in Exeter on the same day.

Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko and Hajime Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to the UK, were both in attendance at the match.

Photo Credit – JRFU- Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko and Hajime Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to the UK, were both in attendance at the match.

Japan Sakura 15 Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 News

• Japan Sakura 15 vs Ireland Preview – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
• The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is Here and We Are All For It.
• What Japan Sakura 15 Have Been Saying Ahead of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Opener Against Ireland.
• “We Want To Make It To The Knockouts at RWC 2025” – Sakura 15s Head Coach Lesley McKenzie.