Key events
24 mins: Champion de Crespigny moves into the second row as Japan feed a scrum just inside their own half. They get clean ball, attack out to the right, where Ishida chips ahead and the ball rolls into touch inside the 22. Australia make no mistake with the lineout, accept a tackle, then Gordon again goes to the sky. The ball bounces favourably for the Wallabies but there’s nothing on so Paisami kicks deep. It’s straight to Yazaki though, who runs the ball back at pace, but after contact he loses possession and concedes a scrum near halfway on the far touchline.
22 mins: The Wallabies are soon back in possession on halfway with Gordon immediately going to the sky. Japan don’t take the mark but they scramble the ball clear, then play is halted for Canham to receive some treatment after he crouched low to make the tackle only to find himself on the wrong side of the hefty Dearns and get collected. That is the second Australian lock out of today’s clash and we’re barely a quarter of the way through.
Harry Wilson makes his way onto the field, much sooner than planned I’m sure.
20 mins: The Wallabies tap and go, resuming their siege. This is like the old Kirkwall Ba game more than modern international footy. Bodies flat out on the turf, diving at one another in the rain. Surely a pushover try is coming. No! Australia finally send the ball out to the backs, Leitch is up in a flash and forces the breakdown penalty! How did Japan survive that?
Yellow Card – Japan (Lawrence, 19)
Short line, quick maul, the Wallabies rumble 15m down the right to set up an assault on the line. Japan eventually regroup so Australia set up a series of pick-and-goes: Paisami, Nonggorr, Williams – then the ball comes out to the left with almost all 30 men clustered under the dot on the crossbar. Tizzano thinks he’s scored, Paisami goes close, twice, Phase 18, then 19, almost all one-oud drives measuring inches. A series of penalty advantages on the play go ignored until eventually O’Keefe can’t ignore the infringements. Not only that but he sends Lawrence to the bin for his troubles.
16 mins: That will steady the Wallabies and give them the scoreboard security to play the conditions and keep Japan at arm’s length, just as Gordon does, kicking to halfway following the restart. Japan try to run the ball back but as they go through hands from left to right it’s all bit chaotic and comes to nought. Then play is recalled for a penalty against Gunter for a croc roll and Australia kick inside the 22 on the right.
CONVERTED TRY! Japan 0-7 Australia (Champion de Crespigny, 14)
More awful Japanese handling in these slippery conditions allows Australia another opportunity. Paisami chips ahead to gain territory and turn Japan’s defence on its heels 5m from the line. The Wallabies swarm all over them and soon earn the penalty. The visitors tap and go, laying siege to the line. Valetini is the spearhead but it’s Nick Champion de Crespigny on the second phase that has the honour of picking and diving over the whitewash.
Edmed adds the extra two points from just to the left of the posts.
12 mins: Now it’s Japan’s turn to fluff their lines at the set-piece. Target missed in the air, Australia clean up on the ground, but heading back to the short side the scurrying gold jersey is hammered into touch with a huge tackle.
10 mins: Australia win easy lineout ball and expand from left to right. Edmed almost slips Kellaway through a tiny gap but he’s stood up then Japan concede a penalty at the breakdown allowing Edmed to kick deep to the right corner. The first good attacking platform of the day is wasted though with a poor lineout through compounded by a high tackle from Williams in his desperation to rectify the situation.
8 mins: Australia get into some good phase play in midfield around halfway but Japan hold their own defensively and after nine phases Gordon lofts a garryowen that lands Japan’s way after an aerial contest. The clearing kick sends both sets of players back to halfway.
6 mins: Australia boast a considerably heavier pack but Japan secure their own ball off the day’s opening scrum. Paisami does well to execute a legs tackle as the hosts try to expand off the back of the set-piece, then the Wallaby forwards do well to slow the play down and force a handling error from the Brave Blossoms. This has not been, and is unlikely to be, champagne running rugby in these conditions.
Meanwhile Salakaia-Loto is done for the day. Josh Canham is on in his place.
5 mins: Japan execute another sharp lineout but fail to secure the ruck and the Wallabies pilfer with ease, only to grass the slippery ball almost immediately.
Behind play Salakaia-Loto is being treated for what looks like a rib issue following that barnstorming early carry.
4 mins: Both teams exchange kicks, testing out the conditions, until Japan find touch in Australia’s half. The first Wallaby lineout is crisp and off the back Valetini gets some go-forward. Gordon does well to tip onto Salakaia-Loto who makes a charge through the line and deep into Japanese territory. The hosts regroup well, slow the play down and eventually Era forces the breakdown penalty, holding his feet under duress.
2 mins: Kellaway accepts the kick-off under pressure and the Wallabies try a couple of short plays in their 22 before Gordon box kicks towards halfway. Japan’s first lineout is superb, long to the onrushing runner, but he’s stripped on the ground by a superb Nasser tackle.
Kick-off!
Australia’s five-match spring tour is under way…
Dignitaries greeted, hands shaken, anthems sung, it’s time for 80 minutes of slippery Test rugby in the Tokyo rain.
Japan are ranked 13 by World Rugby, on a similar points total to Wales, with whom they drew at two-Test series in July.
Following that they secured comprehensive victories over Canada, USA, and Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup, before falling narrowly to Fiji in the final.
Today’s referee is the most experienced in New Zealand rugby history, Ben O’Keeffe. He took charge of the first Lions Test against the Wallabies earlier this year.
The two teams make their way out into the drizzly gloom of the Olympic Stadium. Hosts Japan are wearing a modern variation on their traditional cherry and white hoops, white short and socks. The Wallabies are in trademark gold jerseys, green shorts and socks.
There’s a decent looking crowd in Tokyo, but it is a long way from a sellout.
This is the Wallabies’ first visit to Tokyo after recent tour fixtures in Oita and Yokohama.
It is the seventh time these teams have faced each other with Australia victorious in the previous six encounters. The last clash was in 2021 with the Brave Blossoms pushing their more storied opponents harder than ever before, going down 23-32.
It is 50 years since the maiden clash when Australia ran out 35-7 winners at the SCG.
Japan National Stadium, home of the 2020 Olympics, has absorbed plenty of moisture over the past 24 hours, and today’s match is likely to be played in persistent light rain. There is little wind to report.
As has been the case for what seems like two decades, it’s near impossible to appraise where the Wallabies are at.
Are they a team on the up that should be judged on winning in Johannesburg, holding their own against the Lions, and blooding dynamic young players? Or is a more accurate measure their record of 13 defeats from their past 20 Tests, chronic ill-discipline at the breakdown, and an inability to find a halfback partnership?
Last week, Len Ikitau was rewarded for his consistency by becoming the first centre to be awarded the John Eales Medal.
Ikitau enjoyed a phenomenal year in the gold jersey, opening the voting period in spectacular style by delivering the magical match-winning flick pass to Max Jorgensen in Australia’s epic win over England at Twickenham last November.
Nicknamed “Flickitau” ever since, the 48-Test midfield linchpin ended the voting season by topping the Rugby Championship in try assists to become the first centre to win the medal since it was introduced in 2002.
Ikitau edged out fellow nominees, flanker Fraser McReight and captain Harry Wilson, who were unveiled as the other short-listed finalists at Friday night’s ceremony at Sydney’s town hall.
At first glance, the XV selected by Joe Schmidt could smack of hubris, but the Wallabies coach is keen to stress his much-changed line-up is based on player management, explaining during the week:
We have already had ten Test matches, three against a big team like the British and Irish Lions, the Rugby Championship, who are very physical. There is a degree of fatigue. We only had a nine-day break after the Rugby Championship before we came together to get ready to travel here. I think it’s just around energy management as much as anything.
I think with five test matches in five weeks coming up on the back of a pretty intense Rugby Championship where we were in the mix right until the finish of every one of those six games, and then three British & Irish Lions tests before that, I think it’s just trying to get everyone to the finish line.
I know last year, by the time we got to the second half of the Irish test match, players were willing, but energy levels were just starting to taper a little bit.
Part of the job of the coaching staff is to manage risk as best we can. If we don’t give opportunity to the squad, then I think we start to lose that energy toward the end of a five-test window. Particularly when you’re traveling such long distances and jumping time zones, fatigue becomes pretty apparent within two or three weeks, let alone five consecutive weeks, let alone on the back of ten test matches that we’ve had already.
Brave Blossoms Head Coach Eddie Jones was feeling confident when he announced his side.
We’ve had really good preparation, so we feel well prepared for the game. Australia is coming back as a growing power in world rugby, and I’ve admired the way they’ve played this year. But we’re looking forward to taking them on, playing a Japanese style of rugby in what should be a really good game at the National Stadium. We’ve got a great referee in Ben O’Keeffe who likes the game to be open and flowing, so we’ve prepared for a game like that. It’s a big task for us but we feel like were up for it and we’re ready to take them on.
Australia XV
There are 13 changes from the side that lost last time out against the All Blacks as Joe Schmidt charts a course through a condensed five-match spring tour. Nick Champion de Crespigny takes the captain’s armband, the problematic halfback pairing remains the same despite the return to camp of Carter Gordon, and Angus Bell gets a chance to assert himself in the front row.
1 Angus Bell, 2 Josh Nasser, 3 Zane Nonggorr, 4 Jeremy Williams, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 6 Nick Champion de Crespigny (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 8 Rob Valetini, 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Tane Edmed, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 12 Hunter Paisami, 13 Josh Flook, 14 Corey Toole, 15 Andrew Kellaway.
Reserves: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Aidan Ross, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Harry Wilson, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 Hamish Stewart, 23 Filipo Daugunu
Japan XV
Michael Leitch, the second most capped Japanese international, runs out for the 90th time. He is one of a clutch of overseas-born players, including Australian citizens Jack Cornelsen, Ben Gunter, Dylan Riley, and Sam Greene. 21 year old fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki will add to his five caps after starring for a Japan XV against Australia A last weekend.
1 Kenta Kobayashi, 2 Hayate Era, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 6 Ben Gunter, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 8 Michael Leitch, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 10 Seungsin Lee, 11 Tomoki Osada, 12 Shogo Nakano, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Kippei Ishida, 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki.
Reserves: 16 Kenji Sato, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Tiennan Costley, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Charlie Lawrence, 23 Sam Greene
Beyond the beef with Eddie Jones, today’s Test is vital in the race to secure a strong seeding for the 2027 World Cup draw.
With the tournament expanding to 24 teams for the first time, the group phase will feature six pools of four nations. The six top-ranked sides in the world will be separated at this stage of the draw, and if early matches go to form, they should also avoid each other in the first knockout stage (round of 16). The ranking cut-off point for this huge advantage is December 2025.
Rankings points are traded during each Test. These are based on the match result, the relative strength of each team, the margin of victory, and there is an allowance for home advantage. In short, this means underdog victories are worth their weight in gold, while upsets at home can prove very costly.
Argentina (currently sixth on 83.82) and Australia (seventh on 82.93) are locked in a battle for that crucial final seeding, meaning every Test between now and December carries significance beyond the 80 minutes of action to avoid a nightmare World Cup scenario. After today’s challenge the Wallabies face England, Italy, Ireland, and France in consecutive weekends in November, with the Pumas taking on Wales, Scotland, and England.
Another chapter will be written in Australian rugby’s long and tempestuous relationship with Eddie Jones this evening, and for the Wallabies it’s an opportunity to lay some ghosts to rest.
The Japanese believe in onryō – malicious spirits who perished full of anger and then return to scare the living to death and steal their souls. The Wallabies face an onryō of sorts this weekend – their former coach Eddie Jones, who led them off a cliff at the 2023 World Cup and then abandoned them to coach Japan.
This will be the first time the Wallabies have faced off against their old mentor since he fled a five-year $5m contract just nine months into a quest to rebuild Australian rugby for home men’s and women’s World Cups in 2027 and 2029. Instead, Jones scarcely checked in on the Wallaroos and won two of his nine Tests as the Wallabies were eliminated in RWC pool stages for the first time.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Japan v Australia in the opening match of the Wallabies’ spring tour. Kick-off at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo is 2.50pm local time (4.50pm AEDT).
This is one of those standalone internationals for which context and narrative will be much easier to deduce with hindsight.
Is this the Eddie Jones Test? Is it a gentle commemorative 50th anniversary of the first meeting between the two sides at the SCG? Is it the springboard to a triumphant European tour? Or will it expose tired Australian legs following a gruelling Rugby Championship and Lions series? Will Joe Schmidt’s transformed XV demonstrate impressive squad depth or the coach’s overthinking? In the race for a crucial World Cup seeding is this the moment the 2027 hosts seize the initiative from Argentina, or hand it to them?
All of these ponderables will likely only concern the die-hards, with this afternoon’s match accessible only on pay tv and coinciding with a blockbuster ODI. Following the big push to make the Wallabies a more accessible national team over recent months, it will be interesting to measure the care factor over this result, win or lose.
I’ll be back with more shortly. If you want to get in touch while I’m around, the address is jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
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