Japan (Brave Blossoms) and Uruguay (Los Teros) are set to play the first test match of their two-test series on Saturday 18th of June 2022 in Tokyo.
The match is the fourth time the two have played with Japan leading the overall results 3-1 in victories. The match will be officiated by Jordan Way (Australia) who makes his test debut in Tokyo, the same city where he refereed rugby 7s at the Olympic Games in 2021.
Japan coach Jamie Joseph has named nine debutants in his match-day squad, which is largely based on the Emerging Blossoms squad that played against a Tonga Samurai XV in a charity match last weekend.
Shunsuke Asaoka earns his first test cap at tight head. He partners Shogo Miura and Kosuke Horikoshi in the front-row. A veteran of Rugby World Cups 2015 and 2019, Yu Tamura captains the side from fly-half and with 68 caps – is the most capped player on the side.
A number of players will make their first test appearances in five or six years so he is calculating on holding his best team back for the two-match series against France which follows on from these matches.
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- Image Credit: JRFU
Uruguay coach Esteban Meneses has picked eight veterans of Rugby World Cup 2019 returning to Japan in a squad that also features five debutants, two of whom start in second-row – Carlos Deus and blindside Lucas Bianchi. Los Teros famously beat Fiji at the RWC 2019.
Los Teros have picked a 26-player squad for the tour and after the two matches in Japan, will play at home against Romania. The tour squad misses some players due to injury while others miss out due to the tour falling outside of the test release window reports Americas Rugby News.
According to World Rugby:
- Japan cannot improve their rating with victory over Uruguay due to the 11.86 rating points between the sides before home weighting is factored in.
- Uruguay will climb two places to 17th if they draw with the Brave Blossoms
- Japan will drop out of the top 10 if beaten by Uruguay with Fiji taking over 10th place
- Los Teros will jump four places to 15th with victory, a position they last occupied in February 2006 and one shy of their highest-ever ranking
- Japan #10
- Uruguay #19
Japan Rugby Union Test Matches 2022
- June 18 – Japan vs Uruguay – Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
- June 25 – Japan vs Uruguay- Kitakyushu’s Mikuni World Stadium, Kyushu
- 2 July 2022 – Japan vs France – Toyota Stadium, Aichi
- 9 July 2022 – Japan vs France – National Stadium, Tokyo
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