Wales and Japan battle to avoid World Cup nightmare

Autumn Nations Series: Wales v Japan

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 15 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

After ending their embarrassing Test losing streak at 18 in Japan last summer, 12 is the magic number for Wales when they host the Brave Blossoms in Cardiff.

The Steve Tandy era started last weekend with a 52-28 defeat by Argentina in the autumn opener at Principality Stadium.

Flashes of attacking play against the Pumas gave some reason for optimism, but the fixture against Japan is a must-win if the Wales head coach is to preserve positivity.

With dates against New Zealand and South Africa to come, Wales desperately need to end their 10-Test losing streak in Cardiff.

After just three weeks with the squad, Tandy and his new management team are understandably focused on building foundations.

However, 80 minutes against Japan will have a huge impact on what is to come in Australia in October 2027.

The draw for the World Cup takes place on 3 December with a new format for an expanded 24-team tournament.

There will be six groups of four, with the top-two teams progressing to a round of 16 along with the four best third-placed teams.

Wales are currently 12th in the world rankings and that would mean they go into the second band of six. Japan are 13th and would leapfrog Tandy’s side with victory.

“There’s lots around ranking points on this game but ultimately as a team we’ve got to focus on ourselves and how we grow as a team,” insisted the Wales boss.

Opposite number Eddie Jones insists the World Cup is not on his mind, despite suffering an early exit when in charge of Australia last time out when Wales and Fiji progressed.

“Every Test match counts. The next match is the most important game,” said Jones.

“I don’t think anybody considers their rankings when they go into a Test match. Within the team it is not a point of discussion.”

Wales progressed from tough groups in 2015, 2019 and 2023, but would like to avoid a nightmare draw in the next World Cup.

Some feel Ben Thomas was fortunate to avoid suspension after kicking out when held off the ball by Argentina flanker Pablo Matera last Sunday.

A yellow card was deemed to be sufficient because the TMO could find no evidence of the centre making contact.

Thomas was a key man at Cardiff under Wales attack coach Matt Sherratt and was at the heart of plenty of promising moments with ball in hand against the Pumas.

He now has competition from Joe Hawkins, now with Scarlets after a spell at Exeter led to his international career being put on hold.

The pair have similar dimensions – 6ft and around 15st – and the option of playing both is impacted by the need to give the diminutive Dan Edwards a proper crack at fly-half.

Thomas has won 15 caps and starts his 14th straight Test alongside Max Llewellyn.

“Ben is a quality player and that’s the way we want to play, having that second pair of hands,” said Tandy. “The vision helps Dan in how we want to play.

“Ben has played consistently well for Cardiff, has done really, really well for Wales and there was a lot of interaction between 10 and 12, and with [scrum-half] Tomos Williams as well. There was lots of positivity.”

The retention of Blair Murray, one of Wales’ bright sparks in a nightmare 2024-25, at full-back was another big talking point from the selection after Argentina ruled the air.

“A few months ago people were talking about him as a potential British and Irish Lions full-back,” said Sherratt about the 5ft 8in Scarlets back.

Tandy’s matchday squad features 12 players based outside Wales and unavailable for the autumn finale against South Africa.

The head coach has just two more games with his first-choice line-up featuring the likes of Louis Rees-Zammit, Tomos Williams, Nicky Smith, Adam Beard and Dafydd Jenkins.

“It’s going to be a bit of a headache,” admitted Tandy, who opted against adding to the contingent when overlooking Leicester open-side Tommy Reffell to replace the injured Jac Morgan.

Reinforcements will soon join the squad – further hitting Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets for a round of United Rugby Championship action – and Tandy and his coaches will be tested by getting players up to speed.

They will want to see real strides over the next two Saturdays before disruption that is likely to get worse in coming years.