Wallabies and Brave Blossoms in new Pacific pack

NEWS: Australia and Japan will face each other more often as part of a wide-ranging deal announced Friday that lasts until 2029.

Rugby Australia and its Japanese counterpart said the memorandum of understanding would also see more games played between the two countries’ women’s teams and club sides.

The deal comes hot on the heels of a similar understanding between Japan and New Zealand announced in May, under which the All Blacks and Brave Blossoms will play regular games from 2024 to 2027.

Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said the new agreement would strengthen ties with Japan “not only in rugby, but across trade, tourism and diplomacy”.

“In years to come, we will see more Australian sides playing Japan at home and away, from junior pathways to Test level across both the men’s and women’s game,” he said in a statement.

Under the agreement, Wallabies and Australia “A” matches against Japan will be scheduled in 2024 and 2025, though it did not specify which country would host.

Australia’s Super Rugby club sides will also play games against their counterparts from Japan’s Rugby League One.

Rugby League One has attracted a host of big-name international players in recent years, including current Wallabies Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley.

Women’s rugby will form a “key pillar” of the partnership, with Australia and Japan’s national teams playing Test matches between 2024 and 2026.

Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi said he hoped to “further accelerate the growth of Japanese rugby through our close association with Australian rugby”.

Brave Blossoms 2023 squad announced ahead of five domestic tests and #RWC2023 🇯🇵🏆

Read more on Jamie Joseph’s team selection here: https://t.co/oXbnEgOu6i#GoWithTheBrave | #JapanRugby pic.twitter.com/L3ZWz3h7t2

— Japan Rugby (@JRFURugby) May 24, 2023