While the Lions are away: Japan to play two Tests against the Welsh
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Japan will take on an under-strength Wales side in Osaka on June 8, and in Tokyo a week later, it was revealed by Brave Blossoms boss Eddie Jones.
Jones' men will not be playing Wales' first-choice XV as Warren Gatland's outfit will be touring Australia at the same time with the Lions.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for Japan to play Wales, one of the foremost teams in the world," said Jones.
"Playing these games is invaluable to us if we are to achieve our goal of getting into the top 10."
Jones, who recently expressed his displeasure during a press conference about how his team has been performing, vowed to lead his squad into the top 10 before the next Rugby World Cup, as Japan prepare to host the 2019 edition.
"There is a big gap between the level of rugby played in Japan and international rugby," he said.
"These two Tests are so important. But two are not enough. You can't play low-level teams and improve. We need 10 games like this a year."
Comments
bruno74 says...
@Leinster_goy you seem to mention sheep in every post , you sure your not in the closet !! or is a Leprechaun a better height for you ..
Dear ed, I think Gats will take Sam & Justin - & make heaslip Captain so he can choose on tour who gets the spot
Posted 14:33 25th September 2012
matt223267 says...
leinster_goy bottom line there is a lot of time to change things and a lot of rugby to be played, but if played tomorrow there prob will be a lot of welsh in the squad because a. winning an avg six nations against avg opposition is better than finishing 2-6 (and to ref ireland, you lost from a very winable position against wales, drew from a very winnable position against france and got smashed by England) b. most 6n teams unfortunatly have a losing record against SH teams in general in the last 4 years c. with specifc reference to the world cup - wales lost 3 times cause they got further than other home nations
so yes Wales have been nothing more than avg lately...unfortunatly none of the other home nations have been better
Posted 13:53 25th September 2012
leinster_goy says...
@Ferdie
i don't disagree with most of the things you said. my argument isn't just based on what happened in the summer tests
my concern is that since gatland has been selected as B&I lions coach, and since wales are grand slam champions, that there is an underlying assumption that the squad should be full of taffs. there's a danger that gatty will do a "clive woodward" on this coming tour by simply picking his welsh funboys ahead of irish, english or scottish players who ought to be chosen on merit
i'm not entirely happy that gatland was selected, partly because of his temperament but also because i think there were better candidates available. not particularly blown away by his wales team either during the grand slam, despite the general hype. extremely jammy wins away to ireland and england...home wins against france, scotland and italy were fairly laboured and not voerly impressive. 3 losses at the world cup. and how many victories has gatland had against the SH sides generally (not just talking about the recent june tests)? you can count them on one paw
basically i'm saying that the make-up of the B&I lions squad is far from a foregone conclusion and any welshman who thinks he's just gonna walk into the first 15 should be careful not to count his sheep before they bleat
Posted 12:09 25th September 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
This would be a cool tour for Welsh fans to follow. I'm seriously considering going to the Japan RWC in 2019.
Posted 11:23 25th September 2012
Ferdie says...
leinster_goy - too early to be picking the squad. But while knocking the Welsh for their results, would you not then say something similar, or worse, in respect of the Ireland team performance - 100+ points against them not a whitewash? Also a 3-nil. No Irish players then.
Of the nine tests Wales/Ireland/England the best result being a draw Eng v SA. By your reasoning . . . just send the Scotland squad in B&I Lions jerseys as they have the best result of the season - a win?
Posted 06:17 25th September 2012
tha_mai says...
one thing we can be sure of is Japan will give these games 100%, weakened side or not sure they would love to have a win on the records against one of the top-tier sides. In June a French Barbarians side played two matches v Japan XV, having a Wales side will be a step up and attract more crowds.
Posted 00:32 25th September 2012
melkdave says...
I see no reason whyWales wont be awarding full caps,It is after all a full international match,as they havent got an A team it does allow them to sucure players ,also some promising U20s could feature giving them much needed experiance .As to the Lions still to early to start making calls as to selections imo,after the aurtum internationals is maybe the best time to start discussing it.I do have to say though atm ,its not looking promising for R.Priestland,his behind Sexton and Flood imo and maybe even Laidlaw imo.
Posted 00:11 25th September 2012
NHSaints says...
I'm sorry but there's only one way those tests will go down, Wales are going to tear Japan to tiny little bits...no fault of yours jones but there just isn't the talent in Japan yet.
Posted 21:36 24th September 2012
leinster_goy says...
fairly presumptuous to think the B&I Lions will be full of welsh players. didn't they just get whitewashed 3-0 by a mediocre injury-ravaged wallabies? let's see how these amazing world beaters do in the 2013 6N before we get ahead of ourselves. personally speaking, the less sheep shaggers in the Lions squad the better
Posted 18:03 24th September 2012
APV1 says...
Wales have a history of playing fast and loose with their caps, so these will be full cap matches and rightly so. If they can award them for playing the Baa-Baas, they can certainly award them for this.
Personally I don't think a cap should be awarded for a match which doesn't affect the IRB rankings, but I know that's not the case at the moment. And that's a different debate for a different day.
Posted 14:01 24th September 2012
tha_mai says...
great for rugby in Japan - any guesses on how many will be in the Lions squad?
Regardless, there is little difference imo to all the teams over the years who have headed to SH minus star players, at least this will be the best of who's available and a chance maybe for some younger players to stake their claim.
Test caps - again, if they are the best available - why not, there are no shortage of examples of weakened teams playing internationals whether from 'injuries', recovery from injuries, 'much needed rest' and so on.
Wales will bring a lot of media coverage to the region, Japan as current (now, now 2013 yet) Asian 5 Nations champions will I'm sure be v happy to host an international side. Maybe Shane Williams will be there to cheer them on he's playing for Mitsubushi Dynaboars this season.
Posted 13:15 24th September 2012
cliffguy says...
Interesting that you use a photo of Justin Tipuric to illustrate this piece. Presumably you think he'll feature in Japan with Wales rather than Australia with the Lions. I wouldn't bet on it. I really wouldn't bet on it.
The editor says.... Thought that might cause a comment or two. Will be interesting to see if Tipuric gets a good run in November to press his case. Would you have him over Sam?
Posted 12:29 24th September 2012
pw29uk says...
Depending who get's picked for the Lions the tour should be called Wales XV or Wales B and be uncapped no disrespect to Japan but it's stupid to take a second team and give full caps
Posted 11:51 24th September 2012