RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER. Vol.9, No.18

RiJ has been working back through the history of Japan tests and this week has a few snippets from 1932. The 2012 A5Nkicked off on the weekend with Japan thrashing Kazakhstan 87-0 in Almaty.

Enjoy the read.

The Japan Test Match & Player History

Project

For nine years now RiJ has been documenting Japanese rugby across various levels of the game. More recently, however, RiJ has recognised the need to accurately document the history of Japanese test match rugby and the players that have represented Japan down through the years.With this in mind, RiJ has embarked on a project to write the history of Japanese international rugby, detail every test that Japan has played and profile every player that has represented Japan.

Did you know?

Canada Tour to Japan 1932

Japan9 – Canada 8. Sunday, 31 January 1932, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.2, Japan Game No.10)

Japan38 – Canada 5. Thursday, 11 February 1932, Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium, Tokyo. (Test No.3, Japan Game No.11)

After Japan toured British Columbia in September 1930, a full Canadian representative side reciprocated by touring Japan over January and February 1932. Canada played a total of seven games on tour winning five and losing two with the loses coming in the two tests played in Osaka and Tokyo.

Shigeru Kayama was once again the coach and over the course of the two tests four players backed up for Japan from the tour of British Columbia sixteen months before. Lock Minoru Mishima, wing Takeo Kitano and Taiwan born centre Chang Ko-Chu played in both tests while wing Zenjiro Toba played in the second test in Tokyo.

Kitano not only had the distinction of having played in all three test matches Japan had played up to that time, but he also was the only player to score points in all three tests.He scored a try in the 3-all draw with British Columbia in Vancouver in the inaugural test, another try in the 9-8 win over Canada in Osaka and then kicked a conversion in the 38-5 win over Canada in Tokyo.

Japan had to come from behind with a late try to Kitano in the first test for a one point 9-8 win but it was a different story in Tokyo with Japan running in eight tries to one in the 38-5 rout in the second test with right wing Zenjiro Toba picking up a hat-trick.

Wing Takeo Baba as the elder statesmen in the first test at 27 years of age became the second captain of Japan in his one and only test while in the second test in Tokyo No8 Takuo Adachi became the third person to captain Japan.

In Canadian rugby history, the test against Japan in Osaka was the first international match for Canada followed by the second test in Tokyo. However, Canada had to wait a full thirty years to write test match number three into the record books on the tour of England and Wales in late 1962.

Obituary

Former Japan hooker Eiichi Shiga (Japan player  #111) passed away at 1:51 AM on 14 April 2012 in a hospital in Inzai city in Chiba prefecture as a result of heart failure aged 74. Shiga was born in Akita city on 20 April 1937 and attended Akita Technical High School and was part of the school team that won the National High School Championship in 1956. He then went to Waseda University where he was part of the team that won the University Championship in 1958 while he was 1959 captain under coach Shinji Ono. He earned three caps for Japan in 1959 representing Waseda,two against the visiting British Columbia side and one against the combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He was appointed chairman of the Kanto RFU in June 2007. He lived in Shiroi city in Chiba prefecture.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012

Week One

Hong Kong 85 d United Arab Emirates 10

Date: Friday 27 April 2012
Venue: The Sevens, Dubai
Kick-off: 20:00
Match Points: Hong Kong 6, UAE 0

Preview
In the opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012, the United Arab Emirates host Hong Kong at The Sevens in Dubai in an evening game on Friday 27 April 2012. In the corresponding fixture last year, Hong Kong enjoyed an emphatic 62-3 win over the UAE in Hong Kong in the closing game of the tournament. However, this time round it is Hong Kong that have to make the long trek to Dubai to face a UAE side that will well and truly have revenge on their minds. The UAE have the tough challenge of playing Japan and Korea on the road and so as UAE performance manager, Australian Duncan Hall has reported it is good to have winnable games at home. Nevertheless, Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan 23-10 in Almaty in week one last year and so they know what it takes to win first up in a game played a long way from home.

Wrap-up
Hong Kong opened their account in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012 with an emphatic 85-10 win over the United Arab Emirates at The Sevens in Dubai in an evening game on Friday 27 April 2012. Hong Kong ran in 14 tries with wing Rowan Varty touching down 4 times, centre Ally Maclay scored a hat-trick and replacement back Alex McQueen picked up a double while Salom Yiu Kam-shing and captain and No8 Pale Tauti were also among the try scorers. Hong Kong senior coach Leigh Jones noted after the test,“The scoreline flattered us. We have a lot of work to do. But this win will give us confidence as we look ahead to South Korea next week.” On the other hand, UAE coach Duncan Hall commented, “Hong Kong are a very good team. I don’t think we underestimated them but you can’t coach speed.”

Japan 87 d Kazakhstan 0

Date: Saturday 28 April 2012
Venue: Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty
Kick-off: 15:00
Match Points: Japan 6, Kazakhstan 0

Preview
In Bangkok last year Kazakhstan came as close as they ever have to Japan when they went down 61-0 after suffering much heavier defeats in the three previous meetings between these two sides. The Nomads will at least have home ground advantage in 2012 as Japan travel to Almaty for the second time after they came away with an 82-6 win in 2008. Four years on and Eddie Jones has replaced John Kirwan as head coach and in his first test in charge he has chosen a squad that is almost unrecognisable from the team that last played in Almaty with only the likes of lock Koji Shinozuka and wing Hirotoki Onozawa still in this current national side. In spite of all the changes though, Japan are still the powerhouse of Asian rugby and Kazakhstan will have their work cut out staying in touch with this new look Japanese side.

Wrap-up
In the first test under new national head coach Eddie Jones, Japan piled on thirteen unanswered tries to overwhelm hosts Kazakhstan at the Almaty Central Stadium in Almaty on Saturday 28 April 2012 in their opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012. Japan put on a fine display of open, attacking rugby with veteran Suntory wing 34 year old Hirotoki Onozawa leading the way with a hat-trick of five pointers in his sixty-ninth test appearance while fullback Ayumu Goromaru also put his name regularly on the scoresheet with two tries and eleven conversions for a personal tally of 32 points from the match. Inside centre Yu Tamura, five-eight Kosei Ono and outside centre Tomohiro Semba were some of the other try scorers. Throughout the second half Jones cleared his reserves bench giving all twenty-two players a run allowing ten players to taste full international rugby for the first time. After the test, Jones said, “I was really pleased with the intent of the players. We were slow in support at the breakdown in the first half but it got better in the second half. We missed four or five opportunities to score so if we tidy that up we will be taking a step in the right direction.”

Bye: South Korea.

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012 Table

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Japan	1	1	0	0	87	0	87	6
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	85	10	75	6
UAE	1	0	0	1	10	85	-85	0
Kazakhstan	1	0	0	1	0	87	-87	0
Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Five points for win, three points for draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries or more and one for losing by seven points or less

Japan 87 d Kazakhstan 0

Japan 87 – Tries: Hirotoki Onozawa 3, Ayumu Goromaru 2, Yu Tamura, Kosei Ono, Tomohiro Semba, Kensuke Hatakeyama, Jun Fujii, Takamichi Sasaki, Toshiaki Hirose and Yasunori Nagatomo; Conversions: Ayumu Goromaru 11 d.

Kazakhstan 0

Competition: 5^th HSBC Asian Five Nations.
Date: Saturday 28 April 2012.
Venue: Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty.
Japan Test Number: 274.
Japan Game Number:
Kick-off: 3:00 PM local Kazakhstan time (6:00 PM Japan time).

Referee: Harry Mason (Singapore).
Conditions: Fine, no wind, surface good.
Attendance: 3,400.

Halftime: Japan 35 – Kazakhstan 0.

Match Points: Japan 6, Kazakhstan 0.
Head-to-head Encounters:

Japan and Kazakhstan have met five times with Japan victorious on all occasions.

No.	Date	Result (Home – Away)	Venue	Tournament	Japan Test No.	W/D/L (For Japan)
5	28 Apr. 2012	Kazakhstan 0 – Japan 87	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty	5th A5N	274	Won
4	07 May 2011	Japan 61 – Kazakhstan 0	National Stadium, Bangkok	4th A5N	262	Won
3	15 May 2010	Japan 101 – Kazakhstan 7	Chichibu, Tokyo	3rd A5N	254	Won
2	25 Apr. 2009	Japan 87 – Kazakhstan 10	Hanazono, Osaka	2nd A5N	242	Won
1	10 May 2008	Kazakhstan 6 – Japan 82	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty	1st A5N	233	Won

A5N = Asian Five Nations.

Japan (IRB rank 14 (70.45), at 23 April 2012)

Pos.	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
1	Yusuke NAGAE	Ricoh Black Rams	26	171/105	1
2	Ryuhei ARITA	Coca-Cola West Red Sparks	23	176/100	1
3	Kensuke HATAKEYAMA	Suntory Sungoliath	26	178/116	28
4	Hitoshi ONO	Toshiba Brave Lupus	33	192/105	55
5	Shinya MAKABE	Suntory Sungoliath	25	192/112	3
6	Michael LEITCH	Toshiba Brave Lupus	23	190/105	23
7	Takamichi SASAKI	Suntory Sungoliath	28	184/95	7
8	Shoji ITO	Kobe Steelers	31	191/97	1
9	Jun FUJII	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	170/77	1
10	Kosei ONO	Suntory Sungoliath	25	171/81	6
11	Hirotoki ONOZAWA	Suntory Sungoliath	34	180/85	69
12	Yu TAMURA	NEC Green Rockets	23	181/87	1
13	Tomohiro SEMBA	Toshiba Brave Lupus	29	183/97	1
14	Toshiaki HIROSE (c)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	173/81	2
15	Ayumu GOROMARU	Yamaha Jubilo	26	185/97	12
16	Takeshi KIZU	Kobe Steelers	23	183/111	8
17	Hidetatsu TSUBOI	Chugoku Electric Power	23	181/115	1
18	Koji SHINOZUKA	Suntory Sungoliath	28	196/101	6
19	Yuta MOCHIZUKI	Toshiba Brave Lupus	30	184/105	1
20	Keisuke UCHIDA	Tsukuba University	20	177/81	1
21	Harumichi TATEKAWA	Kubota Spears	22	181/93	1
22	Yasunori NAGATOMO	Suntory Sungoliath	26	176/85	4

Head Coach: Eddie Jones (AUS). (1 test as head coach, for 1 win.)

Subs
16 subbed 2, 15 min 2H.
17 subbed 1, 21 min 2H.
18 subbed 4, 19 min 2H.
19 subbed 6, 32 min 2H.
20 subbed 9, 21 min 2H.
21 subbed 10, 15 min 2H.
22 subbed 11, 32 min 2H.

Kazakhstan (IRB rank 30 (53.62), at 23 April 2012)

	Name	Club	Age	Hgt/Wgt
1	Andrei Medvedkin
2	Maxim Frifanov
3	Vladimir CHERNIKH		39	185/115
4	Anton Makarenko
5	Yevgeniy SHEKUROV		32	193/115
6	Vitaliy Pakhomov
7	Nikolay ZHURAVLEV
8	Serik ZHANSEITOV	CSKA	31	192/102
9	Akhmetzhan BARATOV		26	169/71
10	Daulet AKYMBEKOV
11	Alexandr Kireev
12	Ildar ABDRAZAKOV		25	180/87
13	Alexandr ZAHAROV		26	183/94
14	Pavel LEONOV
15	Sergey KONEV		24	173/76
16	Sergey MENSHIKOV
17	Tairzhan ARZUEV
18	Ayrat Gariffullin
19	Dmitry Toroshin
20	Alexey Kudinov
21	Dastan SULEIMENOV
22	Evgeniy ROMANOV		25	172/70

Coach: Valery Popov.

Preview

Japan is ushering in a new era as they prepare for their opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012 against Kazakhstan in Almaty. Former Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones is the new man in charge after replacing the out-going John Kirwan and he has named a new like side for his first test at the helm of the Japan national side.

There are only two players that have retained their places in the starting line-up from the team that ran out against Canada in Napier last September in the final game for Japan at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in flanker Michael Leitch and wing Hirotoki Onozawa. Leitch is still one of the youngest players in this run one side for Japan, although this will be his 23 test, while at 34 years of age the 68 test veteran Onozawa just gets better with age. Interestingly enough, taking Onozawa out of the picture, the rest of this backline have a total cap count of 17 tests between them.

However, there are a further two players who started from the bench against Canada that are in the starting XV to face Kazakhstan in tighthead prop Kensuke Hatakeyama and lock Hitoshi Ono. The 26 year old Hatakeyama has 26 caps to his name going into this test while the 33 year old Ono is the most experienced forward in this squad with 54 international appearances for Japan.

Hatakeyama will pack down in the front row with two test debutants in loosehead Yusuke Nagae and hooker Ryuhei Arita. Arita is a young and up-an-coming hooker similar to Shota Horie in that he has also plays in the backrow and further, he has proved his leadership potential by captaining the Japan U20s in 2009 while he was the Waseda University captain in 2010. In the second row Ono will partner Suntory lock Shinya Makabe who has been recalled for his third test with the last one coming against the same opposition at Chichibu in May 2010. Makabe played under Jones at Suntory this year and his form kept former Springbok Danie Rossouw on the bench for much of the season. In the backrow, Michael Leitch moves back across to the blindside after playing ten tests in the number seven jersey in 2011 to make way for Takamichi Sasaki. Sasaki also played under Jones at Suntory this last season as a specialist No.7 with former Brumbies and Wallabies legend George Smith his mentor from the other side of the scrum. Sasaki is earning his seventh cap after a five year gap with his last test against Australia in Lyon during the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France where he captained Japan from the openside. At No8, Shoji Ito from Kobe makes his international debut at the tender age of 31 proving it never pays to give up on a dream.

With Fumiaki Tanaka (Panasonic) on a short sabbatical to play with Otago in the ITM Cup in New Zealand and Atsushi Hiwasa (Suntory) likewise with Stade Francais in France, the door has been opened for Toshiba halfback Jun Fujii to earn his first cap. One spot out, five-eighth Kosei Ono is in a similar situation to flanker Sasaki in that he played the last of his five tests against Australia in September 2007 during the Rugby World Cup in France and so he too gets a second chance at international rugby. Further out, Onozawa as the second most capped player for Japan takes up his regular position on the left wing while on the right wing new national captain Toshiaki Hirose is another one returning to international rugby after a long absence. Hirose earned his one and only cap to date against Hong Kong at Chichibu in April 2007 where he started at five-eighth and even scored two tries. However, he has since been overlooked for national duties and over recent seasons Hirose has played on the wing for his club side Toshiba and that is the position he has been picked for in this squad.

After the Suntory pairing of Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira dominated the centres for a number of years under Kirwan there is brand new midfield for this test with Yu Tamura at inside centre and Tomohiro Semba at outside centre. Tamura does not have any age grade representative honours to his name but in his first year out of Meiji University he was given the opportunity at NEC this past season at five-eighth and inside centre and he took his chances with both hands. Tamura is a versatile player and accurate goal kicker and he has earned his place in this side on form. Another accurate goal kicker is at fullback in Ayumu Goromaru. The Yamaha fullback was the leading points scorer in Top League over the 2011-12 season with 182 points and he can be expected to take the kicks against Kazakhstan. Goromaru made his test debut as a teenager against Uruguay on the tour to South America in April 2005, but over the past seven seasons he has never been able to cement his place in the national side. However, now as a 26 year old the timing might at last be right for the gifted fullback as Jones looks to build to the next Rugby World Cup in England in 2015.

On the bench, the big man Takeshi Kizu is the spare hooker as he looks to add to his seven caps, while prop Hidetatsu Tsuboi is hoping to make his debut. Suntory lock Koji Shinozuka is yet another player coming back to international rugby after he played five tests back in 2008. Toshiba backrower Yuta Mochizuki is also hoping he will get game time to make his international debut. At halfback, Jones has put 20 year old Tsukuba University student Keisuke Uchida on the bench, again with an eye to bringing through young talent. Meanwhile, Harumichi Tatekawa is another young player who stood out as captain and five-eighth of the Tenri University side last season. He is a strong, physical playmaker and the experience he should gain at this level this year should help give Jones options for the future. Finally, Yasunori Nagatomo will cover the outside back positions. Nagatomo earned three caps from the left wing in 2010 and he also was part of the highly successful Suntory outfit under Jones this season.

Wrap-up

In the first test under new national head coach Eddie Jones, Japan piled on thirteen unanswered tries to overwhelm hosts Kazakhstan at the Almaty Central Stadium in Almaty on Saturday 28 April 2012 in their opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2012.

Throughout the second half Jones cleared his reserves bench giving all twenty-two players a run allowing ten players to taste full international rugby for the first time. In the run-on side, loosehead prop Yusuke Nagae, hooker Ryuhei Arita, No8 Shoji Ito, halfback Jun Fujii and centres Yu Tamura and Tomohiro Semba all notched up their first caps, while later in the match, prop Hidetatsu Tsuboi, backrower Yuta Mochizuki, 20 year old halfback Keisuke Uchida and five-eighth Harumichi Tatekawa also made their debuts from the bench.

Japan put on a fine display of open, attacking rugby with veteran Suntory wing 34 year old Hirotoki Onozawa leading the way with a hat-trick of five pointers in his sixty-ninth test appearance. Onozawa has now scored 46 test tries and with his good form looking set to continue it will not be long before he chalks up his half century. Fullback Ayumu Goromarualso put his name regularly on the scoresheet with two tries and eleven conversions for a personal tally of 32 points from the match.

Japan were fast out of the blocks with inside centre Yu Tamura crossing for the first try in the opening minute with Goromaru potting the conversion for a 7-0 lead before Kazakhstan knew what had hit them. Centre Ildar Abdrazakov tried to narrow the difference with an attempted penalty in the seventh minute but he failed to raise the flags and this just set the wheels in motion again for the fast running Japanese backs. Five-eight Kosei Ono, playing his first test in five years scored the next try in the thirteenth minute, followed by tries to Goromaru (21^st minute), Onozawa (33^rdminute) and outside centre Tomohiro Semba in the last minute of play. This took Japan to a commanding 35-0 lead at the break leaving a lot of ground for the Nomads to catch up in the second period.

Unfortunately though for the 3,400 home fans their hopes were quickly dashed when tighthead prop Kensuke Hatakeyama crossed for his seventh test try in the opening minute of the latter half. Japan then kept the foot on the accelerator with the backs again finishing off most of the try scoring opportunities. Goromaru picked up his double in the ninth minute and Onozawa likewise in the eighteenth minute before halfback Fujii darted in for a try on debut on the hour mark. With the score already out to 61-0 the visitors did not let up over the final quarter with Onozawa bringing up his third in the twenty-fourth minute followed by former Japan captain flanker Takamichi Sasaki crossing for his first test points in his seventh test three minutes later. The new Japan captain in right wing Toshiaki Hirose touched down in the thirty-first minute while replacement back Yasunori Nagatomo crossed the Kazakhstan whitewash for the thirteenth and final try at the death to see out the match with Japan running out to an 87-0 victory.

After the match, captain Toshiaki Hirose made the following comments, “As a first up game it was a bit scratchy. We made quite a lot of small errors but the players were really willing. As this was our opening game it took us a while to find our rhythm. I also thought the low tackling in defence around the forwards areas was impressive. We put in for the full 80 minutes and that produced results and I want to take that into our next game.”

Head coach Eddie Jones said, “I was really pleased with the intent of the players. We were slow in support at the breakdown in the first half but it got better in the second half. We missed four or five opportunities to score so if we tidy that up we will be taking a step in the right direction.”

 

Odds & Sods

Odds & Sods brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

News in Japan: Catching the headlines in Japan this week are:

IRB ranking on 23 April 2012 - Japan were 14 on 70.45 points.

The Think-tank:

Former England utility back, New Zealand born Riki Flutey (32) will join Ricoh for 2012-13.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012

Now in its seventh year in 2012, the International Rugby Board (IRB) funded IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2011 involves the three island nations Fiji, Samoa and Tonga along with Japan.

In 2006 this tournament kicked off as the IRB Pacific Five Nations and involved Fiji, Japan, the Junior All Blacks, Samoa and Tonga.Australia A joined the competition in 2007 and the tournament name changed to its present moniker of Pacific Nations Cup. The same format was maintained for 2008 with the exception being the New Zealand Maori were the New Zealand representative side rather than the Junior All Blacks.

In 2009, the Junior All Blacks replaced the New Zealand Maori as the New Zealand representative team, while Australia A did not participate. The 2009 tournament was condensed with the majority of the games played in Fiji rather than the home and away format of the three previous years. Also in 2009, ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) came on board as the presenting sponsor for the tournament.

In 2010, Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga took part in the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup 2010. Except for the opening game between Fiji and Japan at Churchill Park in Lautoka, Fiji, Samoa and the Samoan Rugby Union hosted the 2010 competition with the remaining five games played at Apia Park in the capital city of Apia. With the tournament again largely hosted in one country, refereeing and coaching workshops along with junior rugby clinics took place across the two week duration of the event. This was the first time for Samoa to host a major international 15-a-side rugby tournament and the occasion was a fillip for Samoa after the 2009 Samoa Earthquake, an 8.1M submarine earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the area on 29 September causing significant damage and loss of life across the region.

In 2011, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2011 was originally slated to be hosted in Japan. However, the magnitude 9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake that struck off the coast of north-eastern Japan on the afternoon of 11 March along with the resultant tsunami and nuclear accident at the Fukushima Number One Nuclear Power Plant changed everything. On 26 April 2011, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced that except for the opening game between Japan and Samoa on 2 July, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2011 would be moved from Japan to Fiji. As a result of the ongoing situation in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake it was decided that the remaining five games would be played in Fiji. The JRFU made the decision in consultation with the International Rugby Board with Tatsuzo Yabe, chairman of the JRFU making the comment, “It is extremely unfortunate, but it cannot be helped.” On 9 May 2011, the IRB announced the revised schedule for the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2011.

This year, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 is to be hosted in Japan except for the final game between Tonga and Fiji that will be played in Fiji. In the IRB World Rankings (23 April 2012), Tonga are currently ranked the highest in ninth place on 76.63 ratings points closely followed by Samoa one place behind on 75.81 points. Japan are the next best side in fourteenth place on 70.45 points while Fiji are in sixteenth place on 68.78 points.

Previous Winners

2010: Samoa. After the New Zealand representative sides had won all four previous titles, Samoa etched their name on the trophy for the first time. Samoa left it till the last game against Fiji to win the crown when they won 31-9 with a bonus point while denying Fiji any form of bonus point in the process. Both sides finished on nine points but Samoa took the title on a better points differential. Japan finished third on 8 points after picking up two wins for the first time while Tonga finished last on four points with three losses.

2009: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB again took the PNC title undefeated on 19 points. Fiji were runner-up on 14 points followed by Samoa on 12 points, while Japan finished fourth on 6 points with one win and three losses. Tonga took the wooden spoon on one point.

2008: The New Zealand Maori. The Maori took the PNC title undefeated with 21 points when they beat Australia A 21-18 in the final game in Sydney. Australia A finished runner-up on 20 points. Japan finished fifth on 7 points with one win and four losses.

2007: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB took the PNC title undefeated with 25 points garnering maximum points in each game. Australia A finished a distant runner-up on 16 points after they lost to the JAB and drew with Fiji. Japan finished last on 4 points with one win and four losses.

2006: The Junior All Blacks. The JAB took the P5N title undefeated with 20 points with maximum points in each game. Japan finished last on 0 points with four losses.

IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 Schedule and Results

Round	Date	Team	Score	Team	Kick-off	Venue	Referee (TBC)
One	Tuesday 5 June 2012	Samoa	-	Tonga	17:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	Wayne Barnes (RFU)
		Fiji	-	Japan	19:10	Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, Nagoya	John Lacey (IRFU)
Two	Sunday 10 June 2012	Fiji		Samoa	12:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	Wayne Barnes (RFU)
		Japan	-	Tonga	14:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	Pascal Gauzere (FFR)
Three	Sunday 17 June 2012	Samoa	-	Japan	14:10	Chichibu, Tokyo	John Lacey (IRFU)
	Saturday 23 June 2012	Tonga	-	Fiji	15:40	Churchill Park, Lautoka	Keith Brown (NZRU)

Junior Japan

A Junior Japan side made up of younger players will take on Tonga at Chichibu in Tokyo on Friday 15 June 2012.

French Barbarians

A French Barbarians side made up of players in the France league will play Japan on Wednesday 20 June and Sunday 24 June 2012 with both games at Chichibu in Tokyo.