Kobe’s Noevir Stadium hosts the first of a two match series between the Brave Blossoms and the Maori on Saturday, as Japan prepare for their November tour. This marks the first occasion that the storied New Zealand side has ventured to the Asian nation. The sides have played once before, in 2008, in a game that yielded more than 80 points between the two sides in a fairly one-sided contest in Napier.
The Maori side on that day featured seven All Blacks in the starting lineup. This current squad has none. The group consists mostly of fringe Super Rugby players, with a few standout ITM Cup players to fill in the gaps. Chiefs midfielder Charlie Ngatai captains the side on his third tour, one of ten returning players from last year’s North American visit. Taranaki halfback Chris Smylie and North Harbour lock Hayden Triggs, who spent three years with the Honda Heat in the Japan Top League, are the only players above 26 years of age in a young first XV.
Leggy Taranaki no8 Blade Thomson slides over to the blindside with physical Southlander Elliot Dixon preferred at the back of the scrum. New Chiefs signing Sean Polwart will look to impress at openside in a strong loose forward trio. Hawke’s Bay hooker Ash Dixon is given the nod over promising Canterbury rake Codie Taylor in the no2 jersey, and fellow Magpie Ihaia West will look to spring his pacy outside backs using his wide array of footballing skills.
Eddie Jones has had to contend with a number of injuries to key players, but has still managed to piece together a reasonable side. Michael Leitch captains again after recently signing his first full Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs, one of six Japanese internationals now in the competition. Shota Horie misses out with injury and Fumiaki Tanaka is with the Barbarians in England, but Harumichi Tatekawa and Male Sa’u combine to make a strong centre pairing and Queensland Reds pickup Hendrik Tui lines up on the blindside flank.
Christchurch native Luke Thompson is the sole survivor of the last meeting, lining up at lock this time alongside Shoji Ito in a second row long on experience but a little short on height. Hefty hooker Takeshi Kizu fills in for Horie, with Atsushi Hiwasa deputising for Tanaka at scrumhalf. The golden boot of Ayumu Goromaru once again holds down the fullback jersey.
Four debutants feature in the reserves, including young props Keita Inagaki and Shinnosuke Kakinaga. Swashbuckling Otago-born winger Karne Hesketh has just qualified through residency, and the Top League’s newest star Amanaki Mafi should make an appearance at no8. Mafi is a former Tongan u20 representative and was included in the Ikale Tahi team announced a month ago, but has instead chosen to represent his adopted nation, a real coup for Japan.
This should be considerably closer than the 43 point gap of their last engagement. The Maori have only been together for a week and with no full internationals to call on are weaker than sides of the past. Japan match up pretty evenly in the backs, and aren’t far off up front. Both teams prefer up-tempo dynamic rugby so it should be a very entertaining contest. Though it isn’t an official test match, the hosts will treat it as such and will likely hand Goromaru the tee at every opportunity. If they defend well and don’t let the Maori get in behind the line with their offloading game, they could steal a famous victory. It’s tough to call, but take the Maori to get first blood, scoring late to stretch the score to about 10.
JAPAN vs NZ MAORI
Saturday, November 1, 05:00 GMT, Kobe
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistants: Angus Gardner (ARU) & James Leckie (ARU)
TMO: George Ayoub (ARU)
