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The Japan side facing Italy on Saturday has a story in every jersey. The most remarkable one wears No 10: Ryunosuke Ito, 21, making his Test debut — and he is not even a professional. He still plays for Meiji University.
A student in the driving seat
At 1.72m and 77kg he is all electricity: last week against the Maori All Blacks he laid on three assists, and Eddie Jones has compared him to Richie Mo’unga. The shirt was meant for Lee Seung-sin, the champion fly-half of Kobe, but surgery ruled him out — and rather than recall a veteran, Japan threw in the kid. Alongside him, though, is a serious operator: Naoto Saito, fresh from winning the Top 14 with Toulouse.
Why is Eddie Jones not in the coaching box?
Jones is serving a four-match ban for abusing an official during Japan U23’s tour of Australia, so he watches the Nations Championship opener from afar while Neal Hatley runs the team. The character remains intact: he has joked about finding a towel trolley to hide in so he can sneak into the dressing room.
DanPat calls him «the Mourinho of rugby» — and he has already named what he fears about Italy: the defence and the work off the ball.
When an opponent pays you compliments like that, that is usually exactly where he will try to hit you.
Dearns the captain, Leitch the legend
The captaincy goes to Warner Dearns, a 24-year-old, 2.01m second-rower coming off an outstanding Super Rugby Pacific season. Next to him is Harry Hockings: 2.08m — good luck at the lineout. In midfield, Dylan Riley is the dangerman. And off a 5+3 bench comes the legend: Michael Leitch, 37, with 92 caps — nearly a quarter of the entire squad’s 369 (average age: 27).
Japan (15-1): Matsunaga; Ueda, Riley, Hirose, Ishida; Ito, Saito; Cornelsen, Shimokawa, Gunter; Dearns (c), Hockings; Takeuchi, Harada, Okabe.
Chosoku rugby — and its Achilles heel
Japan’s style even has a name: chosoku rugby — “fast and furious”. Breakneck tempo, lightning support play, rapid defensive resets, plenty of boot and short structured bursts. The weakness is the final quarter: last week the Japan XV led the Maori All Blacks 24-7… and lost 38-31. Worth remembering late on Saturday.
The national team have lost five of their last six, with a single tier-one scalp in six years (Wales, 2025). The movement, though, is thriving: League One’s final, won by the Kobe Steelers, drew 50,000 to Tokyo, the league hosts the likes of Pieter-Steph du Toit, Faf de Klerk, Cheslin Kolbe and Ardie Savea, and Japan has already put its hand up to host the 2035 World Cup.
Read more: Japan v Italy: line-ups, kick-off time and prediction · Five U20 stars to watch
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