Japan National Women’s Rugby Football Championship 2025 Final Preview

The Japan National Women’s Rugby Football Championship 2025 final will kick off on Sunday, February 2 as Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix defends their title against Mie PEARLS at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo. We hear from both camps in anticipation of the game and hear the views from Alicia Lucas.

Feature Photo Credit – JRFU

You can see more from the semifinal matchups here

Mie PEARLS – Japan National Women’s Rugby Football Championship 2025 Final

Head Coach Janna Vaughan told Rugby Asia 247, “The semifinal was a tough game and I feel like we left at least three or four tries out there, so we weren’t perfect by any means, which is exciting because we still have more in us.”

The former Mie Pearls and Black Ferns 7s  player and now coach added, “If we turn up on the day with belief and the ability to execute, then we’ll run away with the final but I think where we kind of fell short last year was a little bit of belief, lacking a little bit of experience. We didn’t have our captain, (Seina Saito was with the Chiefs Manawa in Super Rugby Aupiki) which was a huge blow in terms of game control, the ability just to calm the girls down. But we’ve got her this year and obviously, we’ve got Portia and her power, her speed and her experience as well. 

So I am pretty confident as a coach going into that and we’re going to do all we can to make sure that we prepare and leave nothing to chance as well. The girls have gone through everything and will leave nothing to chance. If we execute our core roles and the game plan that the coaches put together, we’ll get the result that we deserve” explained Janna Vaughan.

Photo Credit – Mie PEARLS -Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

Star-signing and rugby legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe added, “Heading into this final, like Janna said, it’s all about the belief. This week isn’t going to be about coming up with some amazing move that’s going to trick Sankyu Tokyo Phoenix. It’s about believing in ourselves and doing everything we can so that we step onto that field and there’s absolute confidence. And it’s not necessarily confidence that we’re going to beat them. It’s just confidence in our ability and the result will come when you have that confidence.”

6 Days To Go🏆❤️‍🔥
心をひとつに。

Last Game
🌊Brave The Seas 2024💙#PEARLS #pearlsrugby#womensrugby#Final#第11回全国女子ラグビーフットボール選手権大会 pic.twitter.com/E8JmbuskUo

— PEARLS RUGBY (@RugbyPearls) January 26, 2025

You can see more on tickets and details of the final from the JRFU here.

Mie PEARLS Squad – Japan Championship 2025 Final

Image Credit – JRFU

Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix – Japan National Women’s Rugby Football Championship 2025 Final

Photo Credit – Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix – Japan – Savannah Bodman

Savannah Bodman who is a New Zealand-born player but has spent the past few years studying in Japan and joined the defending champions in 2024 spoke of the pool stages and the semifinal win with Rugby Asia 247 and said: “The girls started out really strong. I only played the first two games (before picking up an injury) and that was a bit tough. The team’s work rate is unreal – even though I was just a big cheerleader for the past few games, it’s been really cool watching them and see everyone grow as well because we’ve had some of the Sevens players come in for the first time playing 15s so it’s been so cool seeing them grow as players each week.”

The Kiwi is Japan eligible later in 2025 and is hoping to make the final matchday squad for the Phoenix but also hopes to break into the Sakura XVs squad for the Rugby World Cup 2025. “I’m really hoping to play the final. That depends on the selection coming up but I’ll just go all out in training and hope I’m going to play in the final.”

One of the key players in the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix backline is the impressive fullback Rinka Matsuda- who has already represented Sakura 7s and 15s. She scored a fantastic solo effort in the semifinal win over Kyushu-Nagato in their 41-13 semifinal win. As a 17-year-old high school student she made her international debut in Sevens and her father, Tsutomu Matsuda, is also a former 7s and 15s Japanese international.

Matsuda seems confident in knowing her role when they face Mie PEARLS, “My role will be to find space and kick and counter with the ball and create opportunities. I will need to be quick with my decision-making and in attack but I really want to positively contribute to the team.”

Bodman said of their opponent for the final on Sunday; “We’re expecting them to come out firing because last year we did get on top of them. They’ve got some really key players, especially Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and she’s been one of my idols since I was in high school, so I’m so excited to get on the field and play against her.”

Both players were in agreement that there needs to be more professional rugby opportunities for players in Japan and globally – and both were selected to start in the final!

Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Squad – Japan Championship 2025 Final

Image Credit – JRFU

Alicia Lucas Predictions and Thoughts on Japanese Women’s Rugby

Olympic gold medalist for Australia 7s, Alicia Lucas has recently moved back to Australia from Japan where she has previously played with and been involved with the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix. She also attends several HSBC SVNS events as an HSBC ambassador.

“I think the Japan domestic competitions have launched a bit of a stress-free, pressure-free environment for overseas players to develop outside of the kind of groundhog of potentially the international programs. There have been so many Sevens players that have gone and played in that competition and some big names that have gone through that program. It’s great for players to have the ability to go to Japan, where they are such a routine-istic, organised, structured training group, and then they have such great support and confidence-boosting capabilities for players as well, too.”

Why does playing in Japan appeal to so many players (and the list is long of women’s players who have played in Japan and represented their nations in 7s and 15s).

Alicia Lucas told us – “So I think they can go over there without the pressure, and they can be the superstars in that environment. And then that brings back that ultimate bit of a pattern on the back of that and gets the trajectory going in the right way. The Japanese crowd and the Japanese people support you and lift you to greater heights, and when those players go back to their countries, they’ve all gone on to perform incredibly for their country as well. So I think it’s been underestimated about how good it can be to launch some careers as well.”

Mie PEARLS lost to Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix in the Japanese Women’s final in 2024

Predictions as an ex-Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix player?

“So you can’t not back the team that supported you and did fabulous things for you while you’re over in Japan (Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix), but you’ve got someone like Portia Woodman-Wickliffe that’s come into the program for Mie Pearls. Yes, she hasn’t played 15s in a while. Yes, she’s at the back end of her career, but she’s still Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and an international player of the year who has won everything across the game and will go hands down as one of the greatest female players to ever run around on a rugby pitch. 

What does that do for the confidence of a Japanese team like Mie Pearls? They’ve been so successful thus far this year and she’s been in big pressure moments. She’s been in big, big tournaments where it comes down to a grind, and she will probably be the X factor if she fires, then it might be a different story for the Sankyu Phoenix girls.”

Alicia Lucas added, “But if there’s anyone that can tackle and tackle repeatedly, it’s the Phoenix girls and I have seen it and been a part of it and got smoked by them. And so hopefully they can add some pressure onto her as well and get the job done.”

How To Watch Japan National Women’s Rugby Championship Final 2025

The JRFU has said that the match will be streamed on YouTube via JAPAN RUGBY TV. The final kicks off at 1PM Japan Time.

Asian Rugby News 2025

• Mie PEARLS Rugby – Head Coach Janna Vaughan and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe – “Everyone’s now wanting to genuinely come here to have an experience”
• Three Japanese Women Players Sign Up For Super Rugby W 2025 Season.
• Alicia Lucas Says Women’s Rugby Is “Shooting For the Moon”.
• Melrose Claymores Teams For Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2025 Announced.