Ex-Wales u20s standout could be RWC 2027 wildcard for Japan

Former Ospreys and Wales u20s centre Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler could be a potential bolter for Eddie Jones' Japan squad for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The Neath-born midfielder, 26, made his debut for the Ospreys at 18 in the Anglo Welsh Cup and went on to make 57 appearances for the Swansea-based region.

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Thomas-Wheeler, who stands at 6ft 4in and weighs 16 stone, scored a match-winning try for Wales against New Zealand at the 2019 World Rugby u20s Championship and was tipped for a bright future for club and country.

A former cricket international for Wales as a teenager, Thomas-Wheeler was limited to only four appearances for the region in the 2022-2023 URC season with the likes of senior internationals George North, Owen Watkin, Joe Hawkins and Keiran Williams ahead of him in the pecking order.

The Welshman joined Japanese division two side Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi in 2023 and has gone on to making 22 appearances for the Aichi-based outfit.

Thomas-Wheeler has established himself as Toyota’s first-choice inside-centre and helped them to win back-to-back championships in League One’s second tier. After a season-ending ACL injury last term, he is preparing for his fifth season in Japan which will see him qualify for the Brave Blossoms on residency grounds.

The Trebanos RFC product has played with the likes of ex-England fly-half Freddie Burns (below) and Samoa international Taleni Seu for the Shuttles and has faced legends of the game such as Will Genia and Quade Cooper who played together for Kintetsu Liners.

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He will move from Category B (uncapped foreign player with the potential of playing for Japan) to Category A (Japan-qualified) next season and is understood to be eligible for selection from next summer.

Jones’ side have made progress this year after being invited to join the inaugural edition of the Nations Championship.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts impressively defeated Italy and showed their grit in a narrow loss to Andy Farrell’s Six Nations runners-up Ireland in their opening two games.

Japan were edged out by Les Kiss’ Wallabies last month, either side of heavy defeats to France and Australia after second-half collapses.

Inside-centre has been a problem area for the Brave Blossoms largely due to injuries preventing them locking down a permanent midfield partner for Saitama Wild Knights’ world-class outside-centre Dylan Riley.

Japan has picked three different starting 12’s in their first five games of the year in Kubota Spears utility-back Yuya Hirose, Urayasu D-Rocks powerhouse Samisoni Tua and Kobe Steelers full-back Shunsuke Uenobo.

Injuries have ruled out Suntory Sungoliath’s Shogo Nakano, Mitsubishi Dynaboars’ Charlie Lawrence and Toshiba Brave Lupus’ uncapped Rob Thompson who was part of their pre-Italy training camp.

The national team, who returns to action against Canada in September ahead of hosting the four-team Pacific Nations Cup, will start a training camp in Miyazaki on Thursday with Hirose, Tua, Uenobo and returning Black Rams Tokyo centre Yuki Ikeda, who has two caps for his country, all included.

When everyone is fit, the competition for the 12 jersey is likely to come down to a three-way battle between Nakano, Lawrence and Tua.

However, a host of newly-qualified, foreign-born midfielders will become eligible for Jones’ side just months out from next year's World Cup including Thomas-Wheeler and Kubota’s South Africa-born back Rikus Pretorius.

Japan has already put out feelers to ex-Junior Springbok Pretorius, 27, who joined Kubota in 2022, according to South African newspaper Rapport.

While in-form division one players will have an obvious advantage in terms of selection chances, Jones has plucked players from the country’s second tier previously.

Kintetsu lock Sanaila Waqa was summoned in 2024 while Australia-born full-back Sam Greene, who will join the training camp group tomorrow, moved down a division to JR East Green Warriors (formerly NEC Green Rockets) last week.

Thomas-Wheeler's Shuttles side, who lost promotion play-offs to division one opposition in 2025 and 2026, will kick off their pre-season schedule against Kwagga Smith’s Shizuoka Blue Revs on 3 October.

Next season’s division two competition is set to be the most competitive in League One history with ex-All Blacks Jackson Hemopo, Seta Tamanivalu and Charles Piutau among the incoming players along with former Moana Pasifika captain and Samoa international Miracle Faiʻilagi.

South African World Cup winner Mannie Libbok plies his trade with Kintetsu – under the watchful eye of attack coach Cooper – while Thomas-Wheeler's club colleagues includes Wallabies fly-half Noah Lolesio and new signing Angus Blyth who won four caps for Australia in 2024.

Toyota opens their League One season against Piutau’s Koto Blue Sharks side on Saturday 12 December in Tokyo.