PNC history

Number of tournaments: 12
Best finish: Champions (2011, 2014, 2019)
Most points in a match: 55 (55-28 v Canada in 2024)
Biggest win: 34 (41-7 v Tonga in 2019)

Did you know...? Japan’s first-ever victory in a rugby international was on 31 January, 1932, when they beat Canada in front of a reported crowd of 25,000.

Kit colour: Cherry red and white
Team logo: Cherry blossom, known as sakura

Nickname: Brave Blossoms

Known for: Super-fast rugby and the ability to strike from anywhere on the pitch.

Current form

World Ranking: 14
Form: LWLWL (tests only)

PNC 2025 pool matches

30 August: Japan v Canada – Yurtec Stadium, Sendai
6 September: USA v Japan – Heart Health Park, Sacramento, California

Head Coach: Eddie Jones

It’s Eddie Jones. What more needs to be said? The controversial, quotable, workaholic continues to divide opinion and continues not to care what anyone outside those closest to him think. His job is to get results and help Japan climb the World Rugby Men’s Rankings. 

In brief

Japan’s 55-28 win in Canada at last year’s Pacific Nations Cup was the first in the second era of Jones as head coach of the Brave Blossoms. They have won four of eight tests since and, in July, recorded their first win over Wales since 2013.

The veteran coach has made it perfectly clear that he wants his young side to go one better in Pacific Nations Cup 2025 than last year, when they lost in the final against a rampant Fiji. 

But he’s also looking further ahead: to Japan’s tour of Europe in November, when they face Ireland, Wales and Georgia, after taking on Australia in Tokyo at the end of October. 

Key player: Tomoki Osada

The Saitama Wild Knights centre-wing hybrid is one of the new breed of Japanese backs raised and trained in Jones’ principles of playing super-fast rugby – or ‘Chosoku rugby’, as it is known in Japan. He’s a player – along with Kippei Ishida and Haruto Kida – who can set rugby fans’ pulses racing.

Legend: Michael Leitch

The veteran forward is sitting out PNC 2025 for personal reasons, but is expected back in the squad for the Brave Blossoms’ northern hemisphere tour in November, which comes shortly after his 37th birthday. 

But let’s leave the final word to coach Jones, who will name a captain for the tournament ahead of the opening match against Canada. “Leadership and captaincy are big areas we need to develop. If you look at what Michael Leitch has done in 2015 and 2019, he is still by far the best captain in Japan. 

“We need to think of how we can introduce the next generation of leaders, and particularly the next generation of Japanese rugby captains … We will make sure those players are as well prepared as possible, but they have huge shoes to fill.”

Squad

With 11 regular-choice players either injured or, like Leitch, unavailable for personal reasons, Jones has turned to a new generation, bringing in nine previously uncapped players and 14 with no more than 10 caps, including 10 who have been involved in fewer than five tests.

Forwards

Yota Kamimori, Kenta Kobayashi, Sena Kimura, Hayate Era, Kenji Sato, Mamoru Harada, Sanshiro Kihara, Shuhei Takeuchi, Keijiro Tamefusa, Shohei Ito, Epineri Uluiviti, Waisake Raratubua, Warner Dearns, Shu Yamamoto, Akito Okui, Ben Gunter, Amanaki Saumaki, Jack Cornelsen, Kanji Shimokawa, Tiennan Costley, Amato Fakatava, Faulua Makisi, Ryosuke Iwaihara

Backs

Shuntaro Kitamura, Kenta Fukuda, Shinobu Fujiwara, Ichigo Nakakusu, Seungsin Lee, Charlie Lawrence, Shogo Nakano, Yuya Hirose, Dylan Riley, Kippei Ishida, Tomoki Osada, Haruto Kida, Malo Tuitama, Sam Greene, Jingo Takenoshita

They say

“Last year we were runners-up in the competition, and this year our target is to go one better. We feel confident we have a squad that’s going to make Japan proud. 

“We’ve established the identity of Chosoku rugby, but we know we have to develop that style of play into a more winning style of play, and that will be one of the targets of the PNC.” – Head coach Eddie Jones