The Japan U20s take on Scotland in their final U20 Junior World Championship pool game at AIA Arena in Georgia on Tuesday, 7th July 2026.
These two sides have only met once at this level, which was in 2009, and the Scots were 12-7 victors.
The Japanese have lost both pool games to date but have been competitive, especially in the first half of each loss. They went down to New Zealand 21-38, after being level 21-21 at the break, and lost to Italy 25-41 after only trailing 11-17 at halftime. Half of Japan’s tries have come in the 20 minutes before half-time.
For Japan, a win would be a massive morale boost, as they have never won a pool-stage match at the Junior World Championship, and their losing run stands at 20 matches.
The setpiece will again be crucial, and the Japanese are one of six teams with a 100% scrum success rate at the 2026 Junior World Championship but have the second-worst success rate at the lineout.
Japan U20 Head Coach Naoya Okubo said: “Against Italy we enjoyed more than 60% possession, a figure unprecedented for Japan U20 in any international match to date. While this points to our progress, the fact that we were unable to convert this possession and territorial advantage into points is an area for improvement.
Against Scotland, we need to improve the stability of our lineout and our tackle success rate to continue our development and give us a chance to get the victory.”
Photo Credit – World Rugby – Haruto Sasaki
Scotland U20s head coach Fergus Pringle’s side beat Italy and lost to New Zealand 36-26, and he said, “If someone said you’d have six points after two games, I would have taken that. We just need to switch our focus to recovery and give our best against Japan.”
They will be targeting a win and still have a chance of the semifinals, as the best-placed second-ranked team (fourth seed) will advance; they previously have won two pool games only twice, in 2016 and 2017.
One of their star players has been right wing Dan Kelly, who has made a tournament-tied leading six line breaks which account for 46% of Scotland’s overall total. He has also scored in both matches so far – so Japan will need to shut him down.
Pringle added: “We go into Tuesday’s match with a lot of confidence but also a desire to right some of the things that could have gone better against New Zealand.
We have full respect for the Japanese who we know will give us a stern test. We’ve made a few tweaks to the team which we thought was important given this is the third game in quick succession, but consistency in a number of areas was key too as we want to continue the good work done in the first couple of games.”
Photo Credit – World Rugby – Scotland defeated Italy in the opening round
All of the fixtures and results can be seen here.
Japan U20 Squad vs Scotland U20 – JWC 2026
You can see more on the Japan U20 squad selected by the JRFU here.
There are wholesale changes to the starting XV for Japan, including the entire tight five and several among the backs.
Six players come into the side alongside, and 11 have been rotated within the matchday squad.
Scotland U20 Squad vs Japan U20 – JWC 2026
There are three changes to the side that lost to New Zealand. Campbell Waugh comes in for Alex Bryden in the centres, scrum-half Matthew Fick replaces Asa Stewart Harris (who is among the reserves), and Christian Lindsay switches from the back-row into the second row.
Starting XV
15. Rory McHaffie (Edinburgh Rugby)
14. Daniel Kelly (Edinburgh Rugby)
13. Campbell Waugh (Glasgow Hawks)
12. Henry Kesterton (Edinburgh Rugby)
11. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby)
10. Jake Dalziel (Merchiston Castle/Newcastle Red Bulls
9. Matthew Fick (Edinburgh Rugby)
1.Ollie McKenna (Glasgow Warriors)
2. Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN
3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby)
4. Christian Lindsay (Edinburgh Rugby)
5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors)
6. Sam Byrd (Edinburgh Rugby)
7. Jack Utterson (Edinburgh Rugby)
8. Harvey Preston (Glasgow Hawks)
Replacements
16. Jamie McAughtrie (Ayr RFC)
17. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby)
18. Jackson Rennie (Glasgow Warriors)
19. Finlay Mather (Grammar Tec)
20. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (University of St Andrews)
21. Asa Stewart Harris (Saracens)
22. Alex Bryden (Glasgow Warriors)
23. Ewan Caven (Gloucester Rugby/Nottingham University)
How To Watch the Junior World Championship 2026?
You can see the full list of broadcasters for the JWC 2026 here.
JWC 2026 Support Keep Rugby Clean Day
All 368 players taking part in the final round of pool matches in Tbilisi and Kutaisi at the Junior World Championship will wear shirts to support Keep Rugby Clean Day – World Rugby’s anti-doping education and awareness programme.
Japan captain Akihiro Tsubone said before leading Japan out against Scotland in Kutaisi: “To me, Keep Rugby Clean is a programme that teaches me about my responsibilities in anti-doping and what I need to know to compete with integrity. It is something that is more important than winning or losing. It helps protect a fair and equal playing environment where everyone can compete on the same terms.
I learned that doping has absolutely no value. As players, we will never do it, never encourage it, and never tolerate it. We are committed to protecting the integrity of our sport.”
JWC 2026 News
- Japan U20s Lost 25-41 to Italy U20s at Junior World Championship 2026.
- Japan U20 vs Italy U20 – JWC 2026 Match Preview.
- Japan U20s Lose JWC 2026 Opener to New Zealand.
- Japan U20 vs New Zealand U20 – JWC 2026 Match Preview.
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