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The 2022 July Internationals begin early. Japan will play host to Uruguay on Saturday in what is the first of two test matches. Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo will be the setting for the match-up between two teams that will compete at RWC 2023 in France.
Hosts Japan have shown a desire to give opportunities. Head Coach Jamie Joseph has four uncapped players in his starting line-up and five other uncapped players have been named as replacements.
Shunsuke Asaoka earns his first test cap at tight head. He partners Shogo Miura and Kosuke Horikoshi in the front-row. Combined there are eleven caps in the Japanese starting front-row. Replacement props Kota Kaishi and Yuhei Takeuchi are both also uncapped.
The Japanese second-row will see South African Wimpie van der Walt earning his 19th cap and Yuya Odo playing his fifth test match. The back-row is also inexperienced as Koji Iino makes his test debut at flanker while Hiroki Yamamoto and Tevita Tatafu have fourteen caps between them.
Veteran of Rugby World Cups 2015 and 2019, Yu Tamura captains the side from fly half. With 68 caps he is the most capped player on the side. His understudy, Harumichi Tatekawa has 55 caps. Tamura will play in a halves combination with Takahiro Ogawa who will be earning his third cap.
The Japanese mid-field sees veteran Timothy Lafaele at inside center and newcomer Shane Gates at outside center. The South African Gates will earn his second test cap. The back-three have three caps between them, all of which belong to fullback Seiya Ozaki. Wingers Koga Nezuka and Koki Takeyama are both on debut.
Uruguay’s line-up is Peñarol-centric. The roster contains 26 players, 23 of whom featured in the 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). They include captain Andrés Vilaseca. The three based abroad are Juan Manuel Alonso, Nicolás Freitas, and Franco Lamanna.
Lamanna is a surprising omission. In his place the uncapped Carlos Deus will start in the second-row. Deus usually plays at N8. He did so for both Peñarol and for Uruguay u20’s. Deus is one of two starting players on debut for Los Teros.
Freitas starts in the mid-field outside Vilaseca. Rodrigo Silva is the other veteran starting back. The trio have 180 caps between them. Meanwhile, wingers Baltazar Amaya and Mateo Viñals will both be earning their second test caps.
The date of the test match gives Peñarol halves Tomás Inciarte and Felipe Etcheverry a rare opportunity. They will start together with Santiago Arata and Felipe Berchesi missing. Both Inciarte and Etcheverry were strong and consistent for Peñarol and both were on Uruguay’s roster at RWC 2019.
Los Teros Head Coach Esteban Meneses is also trialing players in the forwards. Loose head prop Mateo Perillo will earn his second cap and tight head prop Ignacio Peculo will earn his fifth. Regular third-choice hooker Guillermo Pujadas joins them in the front-row.
The back-five forwards are all back-rowers. This comes in the form of natural flanker Eric Dosantos and N8 Carlos Deus starting in the second-row. Lucas Bianchi will make his test debut from flanker while RWC 2019 players Santiago Civetta and Manuel Ardao start as expected.
Uruguay have both experience and new names on their replacements bench. Emiliano Faccennini will debut as the replacement hooker and Tomás Etcheverry and Santiago Alvarez will do so covering flanker and scrum-half respectively.
There are also vastly experienced names. Props Matias Benitez and Juan Echeverría will earn their 38th and 60th caps, and Diego Magno will earn his 98th. Magno is the most capped player in the history of the Americas.
The test match is far from being a regular fixture. Japan and Uruguay have competed in three prior test matches. The other all results are one win for Uruguay and two for Japan. The home team has won all prior matches.
TEAMS
JAPAN
1 Shogo Miura, 2 Kosuke Horikoshi, 3 Shunsuke Asaoka*, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 5 Yuya Odo*, 6 Koji Ilno, 7 Hiroki Yamamoto, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 9 Takahiro Ogawa, 10 Yu Tamara (capt.), 11 Koga Nezuka*, 12 Timothy Lafaele, 13 Shane Gates, 14 Koki Takeyama*, 15 Seiya Ozaki
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Kota Kaishi*, 18 Yuhei Takeuchi, 19 Daichi Akiyama, 20 Sione Lavemai*, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Harumichi Tatekawa, 23 Taira Main*
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Perillo, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Carlos Deus*, 6 Lucas Bianchi*, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Mateo Viñals, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini*, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Tomás Etcheverry*, 21 Santiago Álvarez*, 22 Juan Manuel Alonso, 23 José Iruleguy
* Test Debut
Date: Saturday, June 18
Kick-Off: 3:05pm (Japan); 3:05am (Uruguay)
Venue: Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo, JP
Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand); Graham Cooper (Australia)
TMO: Chris Hart (New Zealand)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
August 29, 2015: Japan 40-0 Uruguay, Tokyo, JP
August 22, 2015: Japan 30-8 Uruguay, Fukuoka, JP
April 16, 2005: Uruguay 24-18 Japan, Montevideo, UY
