| Home team | Japan |
| Away team | Ireland |
| Venue | McDonald Jones Stadium |
| Competition | Rugby Nations Championship |
| Kick-off time | 11:10 am (UK and Ireland) |
| Watch Live in the UK | ITV |
Japan vs Ireland preview as the sides meet at the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, Australia.
This comes in the second round of the Rugby Nations Championship after both teams won their opening matches.
The match is being played in Australia despite being a home fixture for Japan.
Read more match previews for all your rugby action here
Japan vs Ireland confirmed lineups
| Japan | Ireland | ||||
| Forwards | |||||
| Okabe | 1 | O’Toole | |||
| Harada | 2 | Kelleher | |||
| Takeuchi | 3 | Clarkson | |||
| Hockings | 4 | Beirne | |||
| Dearns | 5 | Ryan | |||
| Gunter | 6 | Conan | |||
| Shimokawa | 7 | Timoney | |||
| Cornelsen | 8 | Jansen | |||
| Backs | |||||
| Saito | 9 | Casey | |||
| Ito | 10 | Frawley | |||
| Main | 11 | Stockdale | |||
| Hirose | 12 | McCloskey | |||
| Riley | 13 | Henshaw | |||
| Ueda | 14 | J O’Brien | |||
| Matsunaga | 15 | Osborne | |||
| Replacements | |||||
| Era | 16 | Stewart | |||
| Otsuka | 17 | Bohan | |||
| Tamefusa | 18 | Illo | |||
| Stolberg | 19 | Izuchukwu | |||
| Leitch | 20 | B Ward | |||
| Costley | 21 | Doak | |||
| Kamimura | 22 | Byrne | |||
| Greene | 23 | Aki | |||
Recent Form:
Japan (Home team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 4th July 2026 | Rugby Nations Championship | Italy | 27-10 |
| Won | 22nd November 2025 | Friendly | Georgia | 23-25 |
| Loss | 15th November 2025 | Friendly | Wales | 24-23 |
| Loss | 8th November 2025 | Friendly | Ireland | 41-10 |
| Loss | 1st November 2025 | Friendly | Springboks | 61-7 |
Japan started the tournament with a strong win over Italy, winning 27-10. After conceding a try early, Japan scored two and kicked a penalty to take a 17-10 lead into half time. They didn’t concede a point in the second half and scored a further 10 points themselves.
Ireland (Away team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Won | 4th July 2026 | Rugby Nations Championship | Australia | 31-33 |
| Won | 14th March 2026 | Six Nations | Scotland | 43-21 |
| Won | 6th March 2026 | Six Nations | Wales | 27-17 |
| Won | 21st February 2026 | Six Nations | England | 21-42 |
| Won | 14th February 2026 | Six Nations | Italy | 20-13 |
Ireland continued their strong form from the Six Nations and have now won five games in a row. They faced plenty of challenges in their opener against Australia. Ireland found themselves behind for 60 minutes of the game, only leading for 17 minutes. With over 25 minutes to go they were five points behind and applied consistent pressure. They consistently kicked to the corner and couldn’t get over the line until Thomas Clarkson scored with four minutes to go. Ben Donaldson had a long kick in the final play to win it for the Wallabies but pushed it wide.
Japan vs Ireland head-to-head record (last five matches):
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score |
| 8th November 2025 | Friendly | Ireland | 41-10 |
| 6th November 2021 | Friendly | Ireland | 60-5 |
| 3rd July 2021 | Friendly | Ireland | 39-31 |
| 28th September 2019 | World Cup | Japan | 19-12 |
| 25th June 2017 | Friendly | Ireland | 13-35 |
Ireland have won three meetings in a row against Japan, although they did lose against them at the 2019 World Cup, allowing Japan to win the group.
