In June 2013, Wales toured Japan as part of the 2013 mid-year rugby test series. They faced Japan in a two-test series on 8 and 15 June, playing in the oldest dedicated rugby union stadium in Japan, Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka, and the home stadium of Japanese rugby, Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo. The test series was Wales' first test series against Japan since 2001, when Wales were victorious 2–0, and their first encounter since Wales' 72–18 victory in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B match. Wales were also the first Tier 1 nation to play Japan in Japan since Italy in 2006.
At the start of the tour Japan were yet to earn a victory over the Welsh, with Wales winning all fixtures before this test series. However, the second match of the series saw Japan win their first test match against Wales. The test series ended in a 1–1 draw with Wales winning the first test and Japan winning the second.
Fixtures Date Venue Home Score Away 8 June 2013 Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka 18–22 15 June 2013 Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo 23–8
Squads
Wales In the absence of Warren Gatland and Rob Howley with their commitments on the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, Robin McBryde took on the role of head coach. On 21 May, McBryde named a 27-man squad for the tour.
Aaron Shingler and Ashley Beck were ruled out with injury ahead of the tour (28 May) and was replaced with Josh Navidi and Adam Warren 15 players were also unavailable due to selection for the Lions tour to Australia.
Head coach: Robin McBryde (interim)
Japan The Japanese 36-man squad for 2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup and Wales' tour of Japan.
Head coach: Eddie Jones Caps and ages are to first Test (8 June 2013)
Matches First test
FB 15Ayumu GoromaruRW 14Yoshikazu FujitaOC 13Male Sa'uIC 12Craig Wing LW 11Kenki Fukuoka FH 10Harumichi TatekawaSH 9 Fumiaki Tanaka N8 8 Takashi Kikutani (c)OF 7 Michael BroadhurstBF 6 Hendrik Tui RL 5 Shoji ItoLL 4 Hitoshi Ono TP 3 Hiroshi Yamashita HK 2 Shota Horie LP 1 Masataka Mikami Replacements:HK 16Takeshi Kizu PR 17Yusuke Nagae PR 18Kensuke Hatakeyama LK 19Toshizumi Kitagawa FL 20Ryuta Yasui SH 21Atsushi Hiwasa FH 22Yuu Tamura WG 23Hirotoki Onozawa Coach: Eddie Jones FB 15Liam WilliamsRW 14Harry RobinsonOC 13Owen WilliamsIC 12Jonathan SprattLW 11Dafydd HowellsFH 10Dan Biggar SH 9 Lloyd Williams N8 8 Rob McCusker OF 7 James KingBF 6 Andrew Coombs RL 5 Lou ReedLL 4 Bradley Davies (c)TP 3 Scott AndrewsHK 2 Emyr PhillipsLP 1 Ryan Bevington Replacements:HK 16Scott BaldwinPR 17Rhys Gill PR 18Rhodri JonesN8 19Andries Pretorius FL 20Dan Baker SH 21Tavis Knoyle FH 22Rhys Patchell FB 23Tom PrydieCoach: Robin McBryde Touch judges: Greg Garner (England) Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Note: Dan Baker, Dafydd Howells, James King, Rhys Patchell, Emyr Phillips, Andries Pretorius, Owen Williams (all Wales) and Yusuke Nagae (Japan) made their international debuts.
Second test
FB 15Ayumu GoromaruRW 14Toshiaki Hirose (c)OC 13Male Sa'uIC 12Craig Wing LW 11Kenki Fukuoka FH 10Harumichi TatekawaSH 9 Fumiaki Tanaka N8 8 Takashi Kikutani OF 7 Michael BroadhurstBF 6 Hendrik TuiRL 5 Shoji Ito LL 4 Hitoshi Ono TP 3 Hiroshi Yamashita HK 2 Shota Horie LP 1 Masataka Mikami Replacements:HK 16Takeshi Kizu PR 17Yusuke Nagae PR 18Kensuke Hatakeyama LK 19Shinya Makabe FL 20Justin Ives SH 21Atsushi Hiwasa FH 22Yuu Tamura WG 23Yoshikazu Fujita Coach: Eddie Jones FB 15Liam Williams RW 14Harry RobinsonOC 13Owen Williams IC 12Jonathan SprattLW 11Tom PrydieFH 10Dan BiggarSH 9 Lloyd Williams N8 8 Andries PretoriusOF 7 Josh Navidi BF 6 James KingRL 5 Lou Reed LL 4 Bradley Davies (c)TP 3 Scott Andrews HK 2 Emyr Phillips LP 1 Rhys Gill Replacements:HK 16Scott Baldwin PR 17Rhodri Jones PR 18Craig Mitchell LK 19Andrew Coombs FL 20Dan Baker SH 21Tavis Knoyle FH 22Rhys Patchell WG 23Dafydd Howells Coach: Robin McBryde Touch judges: Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa) Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan) Note: This was Japan's first victory over Wales.
See also 2013 mid-year rugby test series History of rugby union matches between Japan and Wales
References