Japanese Men’s Brave Blossoms Squad Announced For Autumn Internationals

The JRFU has confirmed the wider national men’s XVs Brave Blossoms squad for the 2022 international matches in Japan against Australia A and New Zealand, and the Brave Blossoms’ Europe Tour to England and France.

Japan announced in August 2022 that their Japan XV team will host Australia A in a three-match series in October 2022 and that the matches are uncapped fixtures. The Brave Blossoms head to Europe to play England and France at the end of the year but not before hosting the All Blacks in Japan, all of which are part of their Rugby World Cup 2023 preparations.

Head Coach Jamie Joseph said via the JRFU website: “As always when choosing the squad, we’re trying to strike the balance of having experienced players who have played tier one test matches but also looking at the future by bringing new players through. We’ve selected a big squad of 52 players, and we have a number of injuries among key players who won’t be available. While this is disappointing for them, it also gives us the opportunity to blood new players coming through.”

The Brave Blossoms beat Uruguay twice earlier in 2022 but then lost to France twice at home too. Joseph said “We learnt a lot from the June and July test matches. We had two convincing wins against Uruguay, and we created an opportunity to win the second test against France. We weren’t good enough in the end and it was a fair reflection of where we currently stand in terms of the areas we need to improve on.”

Japanese Men’s Brave Blossoms Squad – Autumn 2022

For the Australia A matches, Joseph added that the games offer crucial reparations: “We’re not in a position to sacrifice games in order to give players match time and an opportunity to play. Anybody playing will have to earn their place.”

The squad will assemble in Beppu City for a training camp from Monday, September 5 2022 in preparation for the respective matches.

The Japan XV will play three uncapped matches against Australia A:

•  Match #1 – Saturday, October 1 2022 – Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo.
•  Match #2 – Saturday, October 8 2022 – Best Denki Stadium in Fukuoka.
•  Match #3 – Friday, October 14 2022 – Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka.

The Brave Blossom fixtures for 2022 are:

• October 29 2022 – Japan vs  All Blacks – National Stadium, Tokyo
• November 12 2022 – England vs Japan –  Twickenham, London
• November 20 2022 – France vs Japan – Stadium de Toulouse

Japan Rugby News 2022

• Brave Blossoms to Host the All Blacks On October 29th 2022.
• Sakura 7s Secure HSBC World Series Core Status at Challenger Event in Chile.
• Sakura Fifteen Will Play New Zealand’s Black Ferns at Eden Park.
• Japan Sakura Sevens Team Confirmed for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022