Japan head coach Eddie Jones has revealed that French star Emmanuel Meafou turned down an approach to represent the Wallabies during the Australian’s short-lived second stint in charge of his country. Jones, 66, tried to entice the then-uncapped New Zealand-born lock Emmanuel Meafou, who grew up in Australia, to represent the Wallabies when he was reappointed to the Wallabies hotseat in 2023 for their ill-fated World Cup campaign. Meafou was already a starter at Top 14 giants

Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney said it would be a great honour to play his club rugby in Japan one day after playing at a sold out Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in his country’s Nations Championship loss in Tokyo. Carmarthen-born Varney, 25, a fluent Welsh speaker who qualifies for the Six Nations side through his Italian mother, played 60 minutes in Gli Azzurri’s 27-10 defeat as they were overpowered and and outplayed by their impressive hosts. The former Gloucester number n

Former Fijian Drua head coach Glen Jackson is set to join Japan’s coaching team, RugbyJP.com can exclusively reveal. Fielding, New Zealand-born Jackson, 50, left the Super Rugby side by mutual consent in April just weeks after stepping away from his role as an assistant to the Fijian national team under Mick Byrne. © Fijian Drua The former Saracens and Chiefs fly-half, who had a spell as a Test referee post-retirement, attended Japan’s impressive Nations Championship victory

Japan has named Meiji University fly-half Ryunosuke Ito to make his Brave Blossoms debut against Italy in the opening round of the inaugural Nations Championship on Saturday. Ito, 21, shone against the Māori All Blacks last week despite the hosts suffering a second half collapse and being edged out 38-31 as Eddie Jones served the penultimate game of his suspension. The highly-rated youngster, whose older brother Kotaro, 24, plays at fly-half for Black Rams Tokyo, will play th

Yokohama Canon Eagles captain Jesse Kriel has vowed to stay in Japan until he leads the Kanagawa club to League One glory. The double World Cup winner is the club’s first foreign-born captain and reflected on a testing campaign in an interview on the club website. Kriel, 32, scored eight tries in 13 appearances this season as Leon MacDonald's talent-rich side finished in a disappointing 10th place finish. Yokohama lost 12 of their 18 games but produced a three-match winning-s

Japan full-back Yoshitaka Yazaki has cut short his overseas excursion in Australia due to sustaining a minor knee injury, RugbyJP can exclusively reveal. Yazaki, who turned 22 in May, made his Brave Blossoms debut against England in 2024 and has won nine caps for his country despite still being a student at Waseda University. The Niigata-born starlet went out to Australia in April and has trained with Super Rugby side the ACT Brumbies on a daily basis. © Vikings Yazaki starte

Japan Rugby Football Union has named forwards coach Neal Hatley as their Deputy Head Coach on a temporary basis after suspending Eddie Jones for six weeks. The JRFU announced a 33-man Japan XV squad today for games against a Hong Kong China representative side in Oita this month and the Māori All Blacks in Nagoya on 27 June Former Bath forwards coach Hatley, who joined the Brave Blossoms coaching ticket in 2024, leads the Japan XV development team and was listed as Deputy Hea

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu has credited his three-year stay with Yamaha Jubilo as turning his career around ahead of his move to Glasgow Warriors during the pandemic. Australia-born Tuipulotu, 29, who qualifies for Scotland through his Greenock-born grandmother, struggled to make his mark at Super Rugby side the Melbourne Rebels and accepted an offer to try and reinvigorate his career in 2018 at Yamaha (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) in the Top League (now League One). The tea

Honda Heat star Tevita Ikanivere, Shizuoka Blue Revs wing Semi Radradra and Toshiba Brave Lupus centre Seta Tamanivalu have been named in Fiji’s provisional 50-man squad for the inaugural Nations Championship. Fiji captain Ikanivere has starred in his first season in Japan with nine tries in 16 games for Kieran Crowley’s Suzuka-based side and will be expected to lead the talent-rich group picked by interim head coach Senirusi Seruvakula. © Fiji Rugby Ex-NRL star Radradra make

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga believes that he is returning to New Zealand as a better player and is open to a possible return to Japan in 2028. The 31-year-old has won back-to-back titles and MVP awards and, while the champions have not reached the same level as their two title-winning campaigns, they’re narrowly holding onto the last play-off spot with two games to go. Mo’unga and All Blacks teammate Shannon Frizell, 32, who will also return home to become eli

Japan head coach Eddie Jones has criticised Ireland’s ‘power play’ in moving their Nations Championship fixture from Japan to a neutral venue in Newcastle, Australia. The Brave Blossoms launch their campaign in the new 12-team Tier 1 competition against Italy at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on Saturday 4 July. Their round two 'home' tie against Ireland will take place in Australia rather than Japan, it was announced at the end of April. “You know why we’re playing Ire

Shizuoka Blue Revs wing Semi Radradra is keen to return to the Test match arena with Fiji set for a daunting summer schedule in the inaugural Nations Championship. The well-travelled former NRL star, 33, last represented his country in 2024 with one appearance during their Autumn Nations Series. Radradra’s last Test match was Fiji’s historic 24-19 triumph against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in which he was sent off. The former Bristol Bears flyer could make his long-await

Kobe Steelers fly-half Bryn Gatland believes his teammate and club captain Brodie Retallick is the best lock in the world. In-form Gatland, 30, who has matured in Japan into being a highly consistent and accurate playmaker, has scored 83 points this season for the new division one leaders. The former Chiefs fly-half, who was one of new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie’s first signings at the club in June 2023, was full of praise for the 2015 World Cup winner as talk of a ret

Toyota Shuttles Aichi’s new fly-half Noah Lolesio has spoken of his desire to return to the Wallabies fold after an impressive start in Japan following a lengthy lay-off. Lolesio, 26, was overlooked for the 2023 World Cup by Eddie Jones but established himself as the Wallabies’ first-choice fly-half under Joe Schmidt before suffering a serious neck injury in a Test match against Fiji last July. The fit-again former Brumbies ace, who was signed as a replacement for ex-England