Both the Brave Blossoms and the USA have qualified for the semifinal based on them both having beaten Canada, and they face each other on Saturday 7th September at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Saitama Prefecture, Kumagaya City in the Pacific Nations Cup 2024 to determine the seedings in the pool.
The Brave Blossoms and the USA both have five points apiece following on from their bonus point wins and are guaranteed a top-two pool finish, so the clash in Japan will determine the PNC 2024 Pool B winner.
This will be the 25th international test between the sides but the first in five years and Japan have recent domination in head-to-head clashes.
The USA won the first match between the sides, a 16-15 win in Tokyo in April 1985, but last tasted victory on Japanese soil in May 2000 and have beaten the Brave Blossoms only three times in their last 10 attempts.
A long-time stalwart of USA Rugby Men’s X AJ MacGinty is unavailable for the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024 but Luke Carty (brother of Jack, the Ireland international) stepped up in the 28-15 defeat of neighbours Canada with excellent attacking play but his boot was off the radar as he missed three conversions.
USA Head Coach Scott Lawrence identified three target areas, “Our discipline, our physicality and how brave we are when we take our opportunities. That’s what it will come down to.”
The USA Eagles will be captained by Captain Greg who added, “I think it will be first 20 min and that last 20 min of the game, that is very much going to be the decider. With how we play and how Japan played against Canada, you can see where the team strengths and weaknesses are. If this team starts off hot and they finish strong, we think that will be the game.”
The Brave Blossoms, whose 55-28 win over Canada was their first test victory in 2024, have a superior record over the USA, having won seven of their last eight test matches against them. That run includes each of their four meetings in Japan. The Japanese will be favourites and keen to improve on their overall home record, which has seen them win just one of their last nine Test matches on home soil.
The side selected includes MOTM from the Canada game Warner Deans who will once again be an engine in the second row, while there is only one change in the starting XV (at fullback with Takuya Yamasawa earning his 10th cap.) There is also only one change in the subs with Amato Fakatava called in as a replacement loose forward in place of Eishin Kuwano.
Hollie Davidson (Scotland) will become the first woman to referee a Pacific Nations Cup when she takes charge of this fixture.
Match Permutations PNC 2024 – Japan Brave Blossoms vs USA (September 2024)
- 14th place Japan are five places ahead of the USA in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings.
- Brave Blossoms can not increase their ranking if they win but could drop one place to 15th, if they lose to the Men’s Eagles.
- Nineteenth-place USA could climb as high as 16th if they win by more than 15 points and Tonga loses to Fiji on Friday.
Japan Squad vs USA– Pacific Nations Cup 2024
Japan (1-15): Shogo Miura, Atsushi Sakate, Keijiro Tamefusa, Sanaila Waqa, Warner Dearns, Tiennan Costley, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi, Shinobu Fujiwara, Seungsin Lee, Malo Tuitama, Nicholas McCurran, Dylan Riley, Jone Naikabula, Takuya Yamasawa.
Replacements: Mamoru Harada, Takayoshi Mohara, Shuhei Takeuchi, Amato Fakatava, Isaiah Mapusua, Taiki Koyama, Harumichi Tatekawa, Tomoki Osada.
More can be seen here on Japan in the PNC 2024.
USA Squad vs Japan – Pacific Nations Cup 2024
1. Jack Iscaro
2. Kapeli Pifeleti
3. Alex Maughan
4. Viliami Helu
5. Greg Peterson (C)
6. Paddy Ryan
7. Cory Daniel
8. Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz
9. Ruben de Haas
10. Luke Carty
11. Nate Augspurger Chicago Hounds
12. Tommaso Boni
13. Tavite Lopeti
14. Conner Mooneyham
15. Mitch Wilson
16. Sean McNulty
17. Jake Turnbull
18. Paul Mullen
19. Jason Damm
20. Thomas Tu’avao
21. Tesimoni Tonga’uiha
22. JP Smith
23. Dominic Besag
More can be seen here on USA in the PNC 2024.
How To Watch The PNC 2024
The Pacific Nations Cup 2024 will be available to watch everywhere either through a local broadcast partner or on RugbyPass TV. The match will be available on J SPORTS in Japan and on Peacock in the USA.
International Rugby 2024
- Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2024 – Leg 1 Korea 7s
- Eddie Jones Commits To Developing Youth In New Era of Brave Blossoms at PNC 2024.
- Japan Brave Blossoms vs Canada PNC 2024 Preview.
- WXV 2024 Details Confirmed – WXV 3 Heads Back To Dubai.
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