Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Japan v Italy 
Nations Championship - Round 1 
Sat 4th July 2026, 01:40am PDT 
Chichibunomiya 
Nic Berry Last 5 Games
Last 2 Meetings
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Japan v Italy Nations Championship - Round 1 Sat 4th July 2026, 01:40am PDT Chichibunomiya Nic Berry 
56' 58' 65' 67' 77' 
Takuro Matsunaga 
Ben Gunter 
Lorenzo Cannone Lorenzo Cannone 
Juan Ignacio Brex 
Kippei Ishida 
Ryunosuke Ito 
Naoto Saito Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Don't miss your chance to see the world’s best rugby teams take centre stage 5-6 December in Cape Town.
Japan face off against Italy in Nations Championship Round 1 on Sat 4th July 2026 at Chichibunomiya. Kick-off in the UK is scheduled for 09:40. In South Africa it’s at 10:40 SAST, 20:40 NZST in New Zealand, 18:40 AEST in Australia and 01:40 EST in the US.
Japan won the last encounter but Japan are in the best form of their last 5 games.
Heading into the fixture the two sides are separated by just 1 places in the rankings with Italy in position 11 and Japan in position 12, underlining just how tight this match could be.
The official squads for Japan vs Italy will become available around 24- 48 hours before kick-off. Teams can still make changes up to an hour before the match however.
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