2025 Wales rugby union tour of Japan

2025 Wales rugby union tour of Japan
Date	5–12 July 2025
Coach(es)	Matt Sherratt
Tour captain(s)	Dewi Lake
Summary	P W D L
Total	02 01 00 01
Opponent	P W D L
Japan	2 1 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour	Australia 2024

The Wales national rugby union team toured Japan in July 2025, as part of the 2025 mid-year rugby union tests. The first test against the Japan national team took place at the Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu on 5 July, followed by the second test at the Noevir Stadium Kobe a week later.

It was Wales' third tour to Japan and their first since 2013, having cancelled a tour to Japan and New Zealand in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] That 2013 tour saw Japan record their only win over Wales in 14 previous meetings, including ten tests. The most recent meeting finished in a 33–30 win for Wales in Cardiff in November 2016.^[2] Before the series, a Japan XV played a match against the Māori All Blacks.^[3] Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt was named as coach for the tour, resuming the role he filled for the last three games of the 2025 Six Nations Championship, following the resignation of Warren Gatland.^[4]

Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away	Source
5 July 2025	Mikuni World Stadium, Kitakyushu	Japan	24–19	Wales	[5]
12 July 2025	Noevir Stadium, Kobe	Japan	22–31	Wales	[6]

5 July 2025 14:00 JST (UTC+09)

Japan	24–19	Wales
Try: Matsunaga 16' c Nakakusu 59' c Vailea 70' c Con: Seung-sin (3/3) 17', 60', 71' Pen: Seung-sin (1/1) 64'	Report	Try: Thomas 4' c Penalty try 20' Rogers 22' m Con: Costelow (1/2) 5'

Mikuni World Stadium, Kitakyushu Attendance: 13,487 Referee: Damian Schneider (Argentina)

FB 15 Takuro Matsunaga  19' RW 14 Kippei Ishida OC 13 Dylan Riley IC 12 Shōgo Nakano LW 11 Malo Tuitama  51' FH 10 Lee Seung-sin SH 9 Shinobu Fujiwara  79' N8 8 Amato Fakatava  56' OF 7 Jack Cornelsen BF 6 Michael Leitch (c) RL 5 Warner Dearns LL 4 Epineri Uluiviti  56' TP 3 Shuhei Takeuchi HK 2 Mamoru Harada LP 1 Yota Kamimori Substitutions: HK 16 Hayate Era PR 17 Sena Kimura PR 18 Keijiro Tamefusa LK 19 Waisake Raratubua  56' FL 20 Ben Gunter  56' SH 21 Shuntaro Kitamura  79' FH 22 Ichigo Nakakusu  20'  19' FB 23 Halatoa Vailea  51' Coach: Eddie Jones

FB 15 Blair Murray RW 14 Tom Rogers OC 13 Johnny Williams  68' IC 12 Ben Thomas LW 11 Josh Adams FH 10 Sam Costelow SH 9 Kieran Hardy N8 8 Taulupe Faletau  57' OF 7 Josh Macleod  57' BF 6 Alex Mann RL 5 Teddy Williams LL 4 Ben Carter  1' TP 3 Keiron Assiratti  51' HK 2 Dewi Lake (c)  68' LP 1 Nicky Smith  51' Substitutions: HK 16 Liam Belcher  68' PR 17 Gareth Thomas  51' PR 18 Archie Griffin  51' FL 19 James Ratti  1' FL 20 Aaron Wainwright  57' FL 21 Tommy Reffell  57' SH 22 Rhodri Williams CE 23 Joe Roberts  68' Coach: Matt Sherratt

Notes:

• Ichigo Nakakusu, Kippei Ishida, Yota Kamimori, Shuntaro Kitamura, Waisake Raratubua, Halatoa Vailea (all Japan) and Liam Belcher (Wales) made their international debuts.
• Japan win against a Tier 1 side for the first time since 2019, where they won against Scotland 28–21.
• With this loss, Wales drop to 14th on the World Rugby Rankings, their lowest position.

12 July 2025 14:50 JST (UTC+09)

Japan	22–31	Wales
Try: Takeuchi 40' c Dearns 59' m Riley 62' c Con: Seung-sin (2/3) 40+1', 63' Pen: Seung-sin (1/1) 24'	Report	Try: Adams 9' c Hardy (2) 28' c, 36' c Edwards 75' c Con: Edwards (4/4) 10', 29', 37', 76' Pen: Edwards (1/1) 49'

Noevir Stadium, Kobe Attendance: 25,074 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

FB 15 Ichigo Nakakusu  56' RW 14 Kippei Ishida OC 13 Dylan Riley IC 12 Shōgo Nakano LW 11 Halatoa Vailea FH 10 Lee Seung-sin SH 9 Naoto Saitō  56' N8 8 Faulua Makisi  53' OF 7 Jack Cornelsen BF 6 Michael Leitch (c) RL 5 Warner Dearns LL 4 Epineri Uluiviti  40' TP 3 Keijiro Tamefusa  37' HK 2 Mamoru Harada  37' LP 1 Yota Kamimori  37' Substitutions: HK 16 Hayate Era  37' PR 17 Sena Kimura  37' PR 18 Shuhei Takeuchi  37' LK 19 Waisake Raratubua  40' FL 20 Ben Gunter  53' SH 21 Shinobu Fujiwara  56' FH 22 Sam Greene  56' WG 23 Kazuma Ueda Coach: Eddie Jones

FB 15 Blair Murray RW 14 Tom Rogers OC 13 Johnny Williams  65' IC 12 Ben Thomas LW 11 Josh Adams  40' FH 10 Dan Edwards SH 9 Kieran Hardy N8 8 Aaron Wainwright OF 7 Josh Macleod  76' BF 6 Alex Mann  49' RL 5 Teddy Williams LL 4 Freddie Thomas  67' TP 3 Archie Griffin  60' HK 2 Dewi Lake (c)  60' LP 1 Nicky Smith  40' Substitutions: HK 16 Liam Belcher  60' PR 17 Gareth Thomas  40' PR 18 Christian Coleman  60' FL 19 James Ratti  67' N8 20 Taine Plumtree  49' FL 21 Tommy Reffell  76' SH 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams  65' WG 23 Keelan Giles  40' Coach: Matt Sherratt

Notes:

• Hayate Era, Sam Greene, Sena Kimura (all Japan), Christian Coleman, Keelan Giles and Reuben Morgan-Williams (all Wales) made their international debuts.
• Wales ended their 18-match losing streak, winning a test match for the first time since their 43–19 win over Georgia during the 2023 Rugby World Cup (643 days).

Wales were still without a permanent coach following the resignation of Warren Gatland during the 2025 Six Nations Championship. Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt was appointed for the final three games of that tournament, and retained the role for the tour to Japan. Cardiff defence coach Gethin Jenkins was also appointed as an assistant, along with Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson and his assistant Adam Jones, and Gloucester's T. Rhys Thomas.^[4] Sherratt named a squad of 33 for the tour, including six uncapped players, and named Dewi Lake as captain with Jac Morgan (alongside scrum-half Tomos Williams) being included in the British & Irish Lions' squad for their tour to Australia. Lock Dafydd Jenkins was ruled out of the tour in order to undergo surgery, while fellow locks Adam Beard and Will Rowlands were rested. Prop Henry Thomas was also ruled out while he seeks a specialist opinion on a long-term injury. Also omitted from the squad were wing Ellis Mee, fly-half Gareth Anscombe, centres Max Llewellyn and Nick Tompkins, flanker James Botham and hooker Evan Lloyd. Lock Ben Carter, fly-half Sam Costelow and prop Archie Griffin were recalled after missing the Six Nations due to injury, while scrum-half Kieran Hardy, back-rowers Alex Mann, Josh Macleod and James Ratti, centre Johnny Williams and full-back Cameron Winnett also made a return to the squad.^[7]

Caps and ages are as of the first match of the tour (5 July 2025).

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Liam Belcher	Hooker	(1996-04-28)28 April 1996 (aged 29)	0	Cardiff
Elliot Dee	Hooker	(1994-03-07)7 March 1994 (aged 31)	56	Dragons
Dewi Lake (captain)	Hooker	(1999-03-16)16 March 1999 (aged 26)	20	Ospreys
Keiron Assiratti	Prop	(1997-06-30)30 June 1997 (aged 28)	14	Cardiff
Christian Coleman	Prop	(1998-08-31)31 August 1998 (aged 26)	0	Dragons
Archie Griffin	Prop	(2001-07-24)24 July 2001 (aged 23)	6	Bath
Garyn Phillips	Prop	(2001-05-14)14 May 2001 (aged 24)	0	Ospreys
Nicky Smith	Prop	(1994-04-07)7 April 1994 (aged 31)	54	Leicester Tigers
Gareth Thomas	Prop	(1993-08-02)2 August 1993 (aged 31)	40	Ospreys
Ben Carter	Lock	(2001-01-23)23 January 2001 (aged 24)	12	Dragons
Freddie Thomas	Lock	(2001-11-09)9 November 2001 (aged 23)	3	Gloucester
Teddy Williams	Lock	(2000-10-18)18 October 2000 (aged 24)	6	Cardiff
Taulupe Faletau	Back row	(1990-11-12)12 November 1990 (aged 34)	108	Cardiff
Josh Macleod	Back row	(1996-10-26)26 October 1996 (aged 28)	2	Scarlets
Alex Mann	Back row	(2002-01-06)6 January 2002 (aged 23)	5	Cardiff
Taine Plumtree	Back row	(2000-03-09)9 March 2000 (aged 25)	7	Scarlets
James Ratti	Back row	(1997-10-14)14 October 1997 (aged 27)	1	Ospreys
Tommy Reffell	Back row	(1999-04-27)27 April 1999 (aged 26)	27	Leicester Tigers
Aaron Wainwright	Back row	(1997-09-25)25 September 1997 (aged 27)	57	Dragons
Kieran Hardy	Scrum-half	(1995-11-30)30 November 1995 (aged 29)	23	Ospreys
Reuben Morgan-Williams	Scrum-half	(1998-02-03)3 February 1998 (aged 27)	0	Ospreys
Rhodri Williams	Scrum-half	(1993-05-05)5 May 1993 (aged 32)	9	Dragons
Sam Costelow	Fly-half	(2001-01-10)10 January 2001 (aged 24)	18	Scarlets
Dan Edwards	Fly-half	(2003-05-07)7 May 2003 (aged 22)	2	Ospreys
Macs Page	Centre	(2004-12-17)17 December 2004 (aged 20)	0	Scarlets
Joe Roberts	Centre	(2000-05-10)10 May 2000 (aged 25)	5	Scarlets
Ben Thomas	Centre	(1998-11-25)25 November 1998 (aged 26)	12	Cardiff
Johnny Williams	Centre	(1996-10-18)18 October 1996 (aged 28)	5	Scarlets
Josh Adams	Wing	(1995-04-21)21 April 1995 (aged 30)	61	Cardiff
Keelan Giles	Wing	(1998-01-29)29 January 1998 (aged 27)	0	Ospreys
Blair Murray	Wing	(2001-10-09)9 October 2001 (aged 23)	8	Scarlets
Tom Rogers	Wing	(1998-12-17)17 December 1998 (aged 26)	9	Scarlets
Cameron Winnett	Fullback	(2003-01-07)7 January 2003 (aged 22)	9	Cardiff

On 12 June, Eddie Jones named a wider squad of 37 players to prepare for their matches against the Māori All Blacks (as Japan XV), and their test series against Wales. On 18 June, Shuntaro Kitamura and Asahi Doei were called up as additional cover ahead of the Japan XV game against the Māori All Blacks, and on 29 June, Japan finalised their squad for their two-test series against Wales, following their Japan XV match, which saw some trail players form the Japan XV squad remain with the senior team of the series.^[8]

Caps and ages are as of the first match of the tour (5 July 2025).

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Hayate Era	Hooker	(2001-09-18)18 September 2001 (aged 23)	0	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Mamoru Harada	Hooker	(1999-04-15)15 April 1999 (aged 26)	10	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Kenji Sato	Hooker	(2003-01-04)4 January 2003 (aged 22)	0	Saitama Wild Knights
Yota Kamimori	Prop	(1999-04-26)26 April 1999 (aged 26)	0	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Sanshiro Kihara	Prop	(2003-01-20)20 January 2003 (aged 22)	0	Tokyo Sungoliath
Sena Kimura	Prop	(1999-06-24)24 June 1999 (aged 26)	0	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Kenta Kobayashi	Prop	(1999-06-02)2 June 1999 (aged 26)	0	Tokyo Sungoliath
Shuhei Takeuchi	Prop	(1997-12-09)9 December 1997 (aged 27)	13	Urayasu D-Rocks
Keijiro Tamefusa	Prop	(2001-09-03)3 September 2001 (aged 23)	10	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Jack Cornelsen	Lock	(1994-10-13)13 October 1994 (aged 30)	20	Saitama Wild Knights
Warner Dearns	Lock	(2002-04-11)11 April 2002 (aged 23)	21	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Waisake Raratubua	Lock	(1998-03-17)17 March 1998 (aged 27)	0	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Vueti Tupou	Lock	(2000-04-02)2 April 2000 (aged 25)	0	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Epineri Uluiviti	Lock	(1996-07-07)7 July 1996 (aged 28)	6	Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
Amato Fakatava	Back row	(1994-12-07)7 December 1994 (aged 30)	13	Black Rams Tokyo
Ben Gunter	Back row	(1997-10-24)24 October 1997 (aged 27)	9	Saitama Wild Knights
Taishiro Kido	Back row	(2002-07-26)26 July 2002 (aged 22)	0	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Michael Leitch	Back row	(1988-10-07)7 October 1988 (aged 36)	87	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Faulua Makisi	Back row	(1997-01-20)20 January 1997 (aged 28)	15	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Akito Okui	Back row	(2001-09-17)17 September 2001 (aged 23)	0	Toyota Verblitz
Kanji Shimokawa	Back row	(1999-01-17)17 January 1999 (aged 26)	14	Tokyo Sungoliath
Asahi Doei	Scrum-half	(2003-01-09)9 January 2003 (aged 22)	0	Yokohama Canon Eagles
Shinobu Fujiwara	Scrum-half	(1999-02-08)8 February 1999 (aged 26)	10	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Kenta Fukuda	Scrum-half	(1996-12-19)19 December 1996 (aged 28)	1	Tokyo Sungoliath
Shuntaro Kitamura	Scrum-half	(2002-03-28)28 March 2002 (aged 23)	0	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Naoto Saitō	Scrum-half	(1997-08-26)26 August 1997 (aged 27)	24	Toulouse
Sam Greene	Fly-half	(1994-08-16)16 August 1994 (aged 30)	0	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Nakakusu Ichigo	Fly-half	(2000-06-01)1 June 2000 (aged 25)	0	Black Rams Tokyo
Kotaro Ito	Fly-half	(2001-11-15)15 November 2001 (aged 23)	0	Black Rams Tokyo
Lee Seung-sin	Fly-half	(2001-01-13)13 January 2001 (aged 24)	18	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Yuya Hirose	Centre	(2001-04-07)7 April 2001 (aged 24)	0	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Charlie Lawrence	Centre	(1998-05-27)27 May 1998 (aged 27)	0	Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
Shōgo Nakano	Centre	(1997-06-11)11 June 1997 (aged 28)	7	Tokyo Sungoliath
Dylan Riley	Centre	(1997-05-02)2 May 1997 (aged 28)	28	Saitama Wild Knights
Siosaia Fifita	Wing	(1998-12-20)20 December 1998 (aged 26)	16	Toyota Verblitz
Kippei Ishida	Wing	(2000-04-28)28 April 2000 (aged 25)	0	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Malo Tuitama	Wing	(1996-03-23)23 March 1996 (aged 29)	7	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Kazuma Ueda	Wing	(2002-12-04)4 December 2002 (aged 22)	0	Yokohama Canon Eagles
Takuro Matsunaga	Fullback	(1998-08-13)13 August 1998 (aged 26)	4	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Jingo Takenoshita	Fullback	(2004-06-11)11 June 2004 (aged 21)	0	Meiji University
Halatoa Vailea	Fullback	(1999-02-14)14 February 1999 (aged 26)	0	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay

28 June 2025 18:00 JST (UTC+09)

Japan XV	20–53	Māori All Blacks
Try: Ueda (2) 9' c, 32' c Con: Greene (2/2) 10', 33' Pen: Greene (2/2) 20', 50'	Report	Try: Forbes 23' m Wrampling 28' m Eklund 35' m McWhannell 43' c Sullivan 52' c Nock 59' c Brown 66' c Hauiti-Parapara 72' m Trask 80+1' m Con: Reihana (5/9) 44', 53', 60', 67'

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo[9] Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

Team details

FB 15 Jingo Takenoshita RW 14 Taira Main  53' OC 13 Siosaia Fifita  25' IC 12 Charlie Lawrence LW 11 Kazuma Ueda FH 10 Sam Greene SH 9 Kenta Fukuda  60' N8 8 Akito Okui  60' OF 7 Kanji Shimokawa (c) BF 6 Vueti Tupou  67' RL 5 Waisake Raratubua LL 4 Epineri Uluiviti TP 3 Shuhei Takeuchi  73' HK 2 Hayate Era  65' LP 1 Kenta Kobayashi  53' Substitutions: HK 16 Kenji Sato  65' PR 17 Sena Kimura  53' PR 18 Sanshiro Kihara  73' LK 19 Shu Yamamoto  67' FL 20 Taishiro Kido  60' SH 21 Shuntaro Kitamura  60' FH 22 Nakakusu Ichigo  25' FB 23 Halatoa Vailea  53' Coach: Neal Hatley FB 15 Zarn Sullivan  60' RW 14 Cole Forbes OC 13 Bailyn Sullivan  69' IC 12 Gideon Wrampling LW 11 Jonah Lowe FH 10 Rivez Reihana SH 9 Sam Nock  60' N8 8 Cullen Grace OF 7 Jahrome Brown BF 6 TK Howden  64' RL 5 Laghlan McWhannell  57' LL 4 Isaia Walker-Leawere TP 3 Kershawl Sykes-Martin  49' HK 2 Kurt Eklund (c)  61' LP 1 Jared Proffit  53' Substitutions: HK 16 Jacob Devery  61' PR 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones  53' PR 18 Benet Kumeroa  49' LK 19 Zach Gallagher  57' FL 20 Caleb Delany  64' SH 21 Kemara Hauiti-Parapara  60' FH 22 Kaleb Trask  60' CE 23 Xavi Taele  69' Coach: Ross Filipo Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England) Damian Schneider (Argentina) Television match official: Ian Tempest (England)

• 2025 mid-year rugby union tests
• 2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia
• 2025 England rugby union tour of Argentina
• 2025 France rugby union tour of New Zealand
• 2025 Italy rugby union tour of Namibia and South Africa