Japan Sakura Fifteen vs Fijiana 2026 Preview

rugbyasia247 Posted On September 3, 2026

72 Views

Japan Sakura Fifteen vs Fijiana 2026 Preview

The Japan Sakura Fifteen host the Fijiana XV in Fukuoka on Friday 4 September 2026 at JAPAN BASE as both teams get into Test rugby before the WXV 2026 gets underway. The Japanese new full-time Head Coach, Toshizumi Kitagawa, will be in charge for the first time since his appointment in August.

Feature Photo Credit – JRFU

Toshizumi Kitagawa was the Interim Head Coach and led Japan to defend their Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship (AREWC) 2026 in May and was announced last month to take up the role full-time. He has set their goals on being in the top 8 in the world (they are already 11th) and aims for the quarterfinals at Rugby World Cup 2029. He has also talked of playing an up-tempo style of rugby (as Eddie Jones has for the Men’s Brave Blossoms).

They come into the Test having won 7 of their past 10 matches and are looking for a 4th consecutive win.

Toshizumi Kitagawa said of Fiji, “Fiji has many players who are very fast once they get up to speed, and they are also physically strong. The question is how we can put pressure on them.”

Toshizumi Kitagawa Head Coach Sakura XV 2026

Photo Credit – JRFU

The Head Coach has (as most teams do post RWC-cycle) opted for younger players, and for the JAPAN RUGBY CHALLENGE match 2026 against the Fijiana XV, selecting three players in the matchday 23 who could make their debut, while the side has a dozen players with fewer than ten caps.

The uncapped players are: Nami Asari (flank), Maiko Nishi (right wing), both from YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars, and outside back Honoka Tsunokawa, who is among the reserves and from Yokohama TKM. The clubs the respective players come from contested the All Japan Women’s 15s Championship Final earlier in 2026 – Yokohama won their first national Women’s XV title.

Nami Asari starts at #6, and she is not even 19 years old. She was MVP in the Sugadaira 7s and has been attracting attention from Japanese rugby media on whether she would pursue 15s or 7s.

Moe Tsukui again captains the team as she did in the May Tests, and the scrumhalf from YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars is edging close to 50 caps – this will be her 48th Test, and she is the most experienced player in the team. She made her debut against Fiji in December 2016 whilst only 16 years old.

At flyhalf is Kanna Hayashi, who made her debut in defending the Asian title in May, and her cover off the bench was in the same boat, as Sawa Harada also made her debut in the AREWC, and both are set to earn just their third caps

Tighthead prop Wako Kitano was with the ACT Brumbies and starts. Neither back-rower Seina Saito nor hooker Chiharu Nezuka, who played for the Western Force in the 2026 Swyftx Super Rugby, nor prop Nijiho Nagata, who was with the Blues in the 2026 Super Rugby Aupiki season, are in the squad.

This will be the 7th encounter between these two teams, and Japan leads the head-to-head 5-1 with an average winning score of 32-19; however, that margin is deceptive. The last four meetings between Japan and Fiji have been decided by single-point margins and Fiji won the most recent match in 2024.

Fijiana lost both Tests to the South African women in August

Fiji are ranked 13th in the world and have just played the South African women twice in Fiji and lost both matches: 55-12 and 29-22. They have played 5 Tests this year, including losses to the Wallaroos and wins over Samoa and Tonga.

They won the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship in April 2026, and they appointed a new Head Coach in Willie Walker before the SA matches – he had won 3 consecutive Super Rugby Aupiki titles from 2024 to 2026 with the Blues before taking the role. He also won back-to-back Women’s Super Rugby Champions Final successes against the NSW Waratahs. He was named National Women’s Coach of the Year at the 2025 New Zealand Rugby Awards.

Fijiana are more battle-hardened after hosting South Africa for the first time in Fiji in August, but their record in their past ten matches has only seen them notch up four wins.

Scrum-half Kolora Lomani captains the side, which only has six players who do not play for Fijiana Drua.

In the front row, sisters Karalaini Naisewa and Keleni Marawa start in jerseys 1 and 2, alongside Tiana Robanakadavu at tighthead prop.

Merewairita Neivoha, who has started at wing or at centre, starts at openside flanker – a role she also filled against South Africa.

Players to track are flanker Merewairita Neivosa, who has 12 test tries for Fiji in 15 matches, and five have come against Japan (in four meetings).

Other players to watch are Josivini Neihamu, a nominee for World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year 2025 after impressing at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 in England.

Manuqalo Kumaitai has been with Harlequins since the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, but we have not seen her listed in the touring party. Adi Vani Buleki scored in both losses to South Africa, and she made her debut in that series, but has not been selected.

The Japan Women XV will have three home Tests and 3 away Tests, with four of the matches as part of the WXV Global Series 2026.

After Japan, Fiji head to Hong Kong for the WXV Global Challenger Series, where they will face the hosts, Spain and the Netherlands.

Match Permutations – Sakura XV vs Fiji

Fiji will climb to a new high of 12th if they beat Japan.
Japan cannot improve their rating if they win.
Fiji will fall one place to 14th if they lose by more than 15 points to the Sakura XV