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Opposition analysis: Who are Ireland coming up against this weekend?
There’s a green wave coming – across the Irish Sea.
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Like all good waves, it’s been building: mostly in silence, almost entirely beneath the surface, and with inexorable intent. On its travels, there’ve been telltale signs of its potency – glimpses of what might crash onto English shores this Sunday – alongside instances where its momentum has been checked.
Gaze into its depths – and there are the eddied memories of victories over the Black Ferns, half centuries in Parma, and thumping wins against fierce Celtic rivals.
Where the water is murkier – there are shades of taking 88 points at Twickenham, Fran McGhie splashing over at the death in Edinburgh this Women’s Six Nations, and talismanic figures clutching knees and ankles with a World Cup on the horizon.
Suspended just below the surface – transfixed by sun beams – are both the scars and steel-clad determination left by an anguished, eight-year absence from this stage.
This weekend, in Northampton, the wave will break – and we’ll see what Ireland are all about in 2025.
Appropriately, given head coach Scott Bemand’s side open up at Franklin’s Gardens – there’s a floral force awaiting them: Japan’s Sakura 15 – who play with cherry blossoms on their chests, and a tricksy combination of impishness and straight-up dog in their rugby.
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As we wield the water metaphor one final time (we promise): here’s a deeper dive into the nation first up for the Irish.
World Cup history: This will be the Sakura 15s’ sixth World Cup. After contesting three of the first four editions, they were absent for over a decade – before returning to the sport’s summit briefly, winless, in 2017.
Their next attempt in 2022 was just as short-lived – departing the Land of the Long White Cloud after losses to Canada, the USA, and Italy – without notching a single bonus point.
Whilst Japan are continental heavyweights, clinching all but one Asia Championship since 2014, they struggle on the global stage – and haven’t won a meaningful match in this tournament since 1994 – when they edged Sweden 10-5 to reach their first and only quarter-final.
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Let’s not dwell on the 99-nil pasting they then suffered at the hands of Les Bleues.
Last World Cup cycle: They’ve developed a habit of going on runs of results – stringing together six dubs (including edging a fabulous 25-24 encounter in the Azzurri’s own back yard) in 2023, before seven without taking a name the following year.
In that time, they’ve been WXV2 mainstays: regularly competitive, but short on scalps. A sole victory against Samoa has been bookended by defeats to Italy, South Africa, Wales, and Scotland – twice.
In 2025? Ecstatic full-time scenes in Los Angeles – after pulling off the most audacious of comebacks in a 72-point bonanza – as they stunned the Eagles, and kicked off five consecutive victories. Their brace against Spain – a Pool C preview – will fill them with confidence, even if Italy snapped that streak a fortnight ago in Calvisano.
Japan are sat, very representatively, 11th in the world: capable of troubling, and occasionally confounding, some of the sport’s bigwigs – but just as practiced at coming a cropper against its minnows.
Head coach: Lesley McKenzie (one of only three female head coaches at this World Cup) played her own international rugby in a different red and white strip: retiring with 25 caps for Canada in 2010, and – eight years on – accepting an invitation to work with the JRFU’s women’s sevens team.
Months later, she was handed the keys to a ‘dormant’ 15s programme, with carte blanche to reinvigorate the set-up. The former hooker honed their existing calling cards – conditioning, defensive connection, ball retention, and work-rate – whilst shoring up their fallible set piece, and placing huge emphasis on decision-making.
She’s passionate about knowing each and every one of her players closely – understanding the individuals who then enmesh in what she’s described as Japan’s ‘superpower’: their collective strength. Meticulous and ambitious, McKenzie has finally had a full cycle with this group, and believes they’ve never been better-placed to shock a few titans.
Squad overview: 18 forwards – including captain Iroha Nagata, who – at just 26 – is off to her third World Cup, and has continental silverware in both sevens and 15s.
Skipper since 2023, she’s a classic ‘follow me’ kind of leader – thumping opponents, rather than tubs. Hooker Kotomi Taniguchi, meanwhile, signed off her preparations with four tries in two warm-up outings.
14 backs – including Rinka Matsuda – who’s been a star of the national sevens panel since she was just 16, and scored as Japan sealed 9th at the Paris Olympics.
Her father, Tsutomu, was named in four World Cup squads himself – and a League One legend, with infamous flowing locks, well into his 40s.
Followers of Premiership Women’s Rugby will be delighted to see the likes of Minori Yamamoto, Kanako Kobayashi, and Sachiko Kato in the mix – and many will have let out a satisfied ‘ah-hah!’ at the sight of Seina Saito’s name.
The flanker’s relentless game and irrepressible smile have seen her pull on Mie Pearls, Chiefs Manawa, and Barbarians jerseys across a 50-cap career. She’s captained her country at a World Cup, and scored against the Black Ferns at Eden Park: what else can she strike off the bucket list in England?
There’s plenty of experience here – 12 athletes have more than 25 caps, whilst only three have fewer than 10 – and lashings of club form. Six of those selected were part of the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix side who, Gloucester-Hartpury style, accomplished a dazzling domestic three-peat in February.
Fun fact: The theme of Japan’s jersey is ‘Kabuki’ – a classical form of theatre, which mixes traditional dance with spectacular, heavily stylised performances. Think elaborate costumes, emotive physicality, and an unwavering appetite for the dramatic.
Kabuki actors wear ‘kumadori’ makeup – a motif channelled by the shirt’s designers in its bold brushstrokes, and – indicating the courage and power of the heroes wearing them – deep red hues.
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