Nations Championship Preview: Japan v Ireland

Ireland Men

10th July 2026

Two of last week's winning teams, Ireland and Japan, clash in the Australian harbour city of Newcastle, with an opportunity to build more momentum in the early stages of the Nations Championship.

NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SERIES:

Saturday, July 11 -

JAPAN v IRELAND, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, kick-off 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time (live on Virgin Media One & Virgin Media Play/ITV1 & ITVX/BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3/BBC Sounds)

Team News: Head coach Andy Farrell has made nine personnel changes as Ireland make the short trip to Newcastle, having opened their Nations Championship campaign by beating Australia 33-31 in Sydney.

Tadhg Beirne will lead the team for the first time having previously taken over the on-field captaincy, while hooker Rónan Kelleher will reach the milestone of 50 caps for his country when he starts in the front row.

A total of four players are set to make their debuts for Ireland, including Connacht's Sean Jansen who will don the number 8 jersey.

Sean Jansen training with the Ireland squad

Two of Jansen's provincial team-mates, Billy Bohan and Sam Illo, are poised for their international bows off the bench, while Ulster back rower Bryn Ward also features in an Ireland matchday 23 for the first time.

Having started on the left wing last week, Jamie Osborne switches to full-back in a back-three completed by Naas and Leinster duo Jimmy O’Brien and Jacob Stockdale.

Winning his 85th Ireland cap, Robbie Henshaw comes back into the midfield to partner Stuart McCloskey, who beat six defenders when coming up against the Wallabies.

Ciarán Frawley gets his first Test start at number 10, combining with Munster's Craig Casey, Ireland's captain for last year's summer tour, in a new-look half-back pairing.

Kelleher and Thomas Clarkson, the scorer of a crucial late try against Australia, join Tom O'Toole in the front row, with Beirne and James Ryan completing the tight five.

Jack Conan's switch to blindside flanker allows the 27-year-old Jansen to come in at number 8. Ulster's Nick Timoney, a try scorer during last November's 41-10 home win over Japan, will occupy the openside berth.

The uncapped forward trio of Illo, Bohan, and Ward - with the latter two aged 20 and 21 respectively, are joined on the bench by Tom Stewart and Cormac Izuchukwu, while Nathan Doak, Harry Byrne and Bundee Aki are the back-line options.

Speaking ahead of the game, Farrell said: "People get their first chance, some people get another chance, to show us what they've got going forward and whether they can truly believe that they're going to add to this team and be part of what's coming up over the next wee while.

"Obviously, it's always a special occasion when you give one person a debut, never mind four.

"Really looking forward to how they apply themselves to attacking the game, first and foremost, because that is the role, they're able to add to the team and the performance behind all that.

"But making sure that the rest of the team are there to support them and for it to be a special day for them. So, yeah, huge congratulations to the four of them. It's business time now. They need to rip in."

Sam Illo and Billy Bohan with Tom Stewart

Meanwhile, Japan boss Eddie Jones has made just one change to the side that beat Italy 27-10, as Taira Main comes in on the left wing for his second Test appearance.

The Ricoh Black Rams flyer last played for the Brave Blossoms against Uruguay in 2022. The back-line is again led by Meiji University's Ryunosuke Ito, who made his debut at out-half last week.

The promising 21-year-old Ito is partnered by Naoto Saito, who is returning to Tokyo Sungoliath after a successful two-year spell with Toulouse where he won back-to-back Top 14 titles.

Jones has kept faith with all four of his new caps from the Italy game, giving Sojiro Otsuka, Michael Stolberg, and Itsuki Kamimura the opportunity gain more experience off the bench.

The 33-times capped Warner Dearns will captain Japan from the second row. He is one of six starters retained in the starting XV from their Dublin loss last year.

Dearns is a key cog up front, and it was a very positive outing for Japan at set-piece time against Italy, winning two scrum penalties and having a 100% lineout success rate.

The talismanic figure of former skipper Michael Leitch is part of a six-two split among the replacements. Kobe Steelers' Tiennan Costley can play across the back row, and also as a utility back if required.

JAPAN: Takuro Matsunaga (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo); Kazuma Ueda )Kobelco Kobe Steelers), Dylan Riley (Saitama Wild Knights), Yuya Hirose (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay), Taira Main (Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo); Ryunosuke Ito (Meiji University), Naoto Saito (Tokyo Sungoliath); Takato Okabe (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Mamoru Harada (Moana Pasifika), Shuhei Takeuchi (Tokyo Sungoliath), Harry Hockings (Tokyo Sungoliath), Warner Dearns (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo) (capt), Ben Gunter (Saitama Wild Knights), Kanji Shimokawa (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jack Cornelsen (Saitama Wild Knights).

Replacements: Hayate Era (Kubota Spears), Sojiro Otuska (Kwansei Gakuin University), Keijiro Tamefusa (Kubota Spears), Michael Stolberg (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo), Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo), Tiennan Costley (Kobelco Kobe Steelers), Itsuki Kamimura (Kobelco Kobe Steelers), Sam Greene (Shizuoka Blue Revs).

IRELAND: Jamie Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster); Jimmy O'Brien (Naas RFC/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers RFC/Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Bangor RFC/Ulster), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan RFC/Ulster); Ciarán Frawley (UCD RFC/Leinster), Craig Casey (Shannon RFC/Munster); Tom O'Toole (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne FC/Munster) (capt), James Ryan (UCD RFC/Leinster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Nick Timoney (Queen's University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Sean Jansen (Connacht).

Replacements: Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Billy Bohan (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Sam Illo (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Bryn Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Nathan Doak (Banbridge RFC/Ulster), Harry Byrne (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians RFC/Connacht).

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Ben O'Keeffe (NZR), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

Pre-Match Quotes - Tadhg Beirne (Ireland): "(Having the captaincy) is a special moment for me, and my family as well. A huge honour for me and very excited to do so.

"To have four people making their first caps - even to have one in a team - is special. But to have four is incredibly special.

"I suppose you just want to make them feel a little bit at home. I know how big of an occasion a first cap can be. You just have to make sure that they feel confident in their own ability and the way that we're going to go about things.

"But we have to make them feel good out there on the field. I've said that to the rest of the boys as well. It's not just on me. It's on everyone in this 23 to make sure that we make it as seamless as possible for them.

"There's a lot of work-ons from last week. Japan are an incredibly good side. They play fast rugby. I've played them in the past, and they like to keep the tempo of the game up.

"It's on us to match that, but especially physically, it's going to be a big area of the game where we're going to have to put a stamp on it. A tough battle, but one we're looking forward to."

Eddie Jones (Japan): "This week we play a very strong team in Ireland who we know have a massive work ethic and are the third ranked team in the world.

"The team have settled in well to Newcastle, down at the beach, and we've had a really good preparation, so we're ready to go. The consequence of playing the game here ahead of the World Cup is that we get valuable experience in understanding the city and getting to play on this pitch.

"Ireland present different threats to Italy. They're much more of a possession-based team, so we've been working a lot on the quality of our defence and getting off the line together.

"Ireland present multiple threats with their pod type play and with the game at the moment, with the quick ruck, it's suiting attacking teams."