Brave Blossoms gear up for All Black storm in Tokyo

An intriguing clash awaits fans at the Tokyo Stadium as the Brave Blossoms make ready to host the All Blacks.

Despite an overwhelmingly one-sided historical record, All Black boss Ian Foster is not taking any chances, having picked a formidable side for the outing.

After performing admirably against Australia A, Japan Head Coach Jamie Joseph is looking for improvement against an All Black which is bound to create all sorts of problems for his charges.

“Our focus has been on us as a team and what we can do to create pressure and opportunities for ourselves,” he said. “The All Blacks like to control the game through the set-piece, so we’ve done a lot of work with our scrum and lineout knowing that we’re playing a very big and experienced pack that will try and dominate us up front.

“We have to manage that and then, when we can create quality ball for our backs, as we showed against Australia A, we can score some quality tries as well.”

 All Black defence coach Scott McLeod worked with Joseph and assistant coach Tony Brown at the Highlanders, and thus feels he has a good idea of what to expect from Japan.

“They’ve got a high skill level and they put the ball into space really well very quickly, and if they get their space with their skill set, they can be very dangerous,” McLeod said.

“They’ve got some power players and fast players and the other balance from that which is familiar is that if they don’t get what they want then they are very happy to kick the ball and back their defence and then pressure and try to get turnovers.”

Match facts:

 New Zealand have won all four of their previous Test matches against Japan, scoring 50+ points on each occasion; in fact, the All Blacks’ biggest victory in Test rugby came against the Brave Blossoms (145-17 in 1995).
Japan have won just two of their last six Test matches on home soil (L4), and have lost each of their last two, after winning six in seven previously (L1); however, the Brave Blossoms haven’t lost three consecutive matches on home soil since a run between June and November 2017.

Japan lost their most recent Test match against Oceanic opposition (23-32 v Australia) after winning three in a row against such opposition previously, a run which their longest ever winning streak against teams from Oceania.

New Zealand have won each of their last three Test matches after losing six in eight previously (W2) and have scored 39+ points in each of those victories.

New Zealand have lost four of their last five Test matches against Northern Hemisphere sides (W1), including each of their last two, however, the All Blacks haven’t lost three games in a row against such opposition since a run between November 1993 and July 1994.

New Zealand made more carries (675) and carried for more metres (4,574m) than any other side in this year’s Rugby Championship and also beat the most defenders (133) of any team in the competition.

New Zealand had the best tackle success rate of any side in this year’s Rugby Championship (88.5%) and were also the only side to miser fewer than 100 tackles in the competition (82).

Japan rank in the top three for tries scored (3.8, 3rd), defenders beaten (21.8, 2nd) and metres gained (507, 1st) per game among Tier 1 nations in Test matches in 2022.

Only four players carried for 400+ running metres in this year’s Rugby Championship, with each of those players being All Blacks – Will Jordan (435), Jordie Barrett (435), Rieko Ioane (538) and Caleb Clarke (551).

New Zealand’s Samisoni Taukei'aho found a teammate with 43 of his 44 lineout throws in The Rugby Championship this year, of hookers to attempt at least five throws he was the only one with a success rate over 90% (98%); Taukei'aho also finished the competition as the top try scorer, crossing five times in total.