Revelation of the 2019 World Cup where it had beaten Ireland and Scotland and qualified for the quarter-finals, the Japan team became the 10th nation in the world.
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The XV of France will travel to Japan in July for its traditional summer tour, formalized on Monday February 28 the French Rugby Federation and its Japanese counterpart. This is the first time that the Blues have traveled to this country for a tour.
The Blues will face Japan twice, on July 2 in Aichi and then a week later in a place to be defined, said a press release. “Japan has been an important nation in world rugby for years now. Their career at the last World Cup proves that this team can compete with the best (…) It is important to compete against very high quality opponents as France 2023 approaches“, explained the president of the FFR Bernard Laporte.
The Blues faced the Cherry Blossoms, quarter-finalists of the 2019 World Cup, four times, for three wins and a draw, during their last meeting, in November 2017 at the Arena de La Défense (23-23). This had notably cost Guy Novès his place as coach.
“It doesn’t take a genius to imagine that many rugby fans will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the French team, given that they top the Six Nations Tournament thanks to their skill at control speed and power“, commented the president of the Japanese Federation (JRFU) Shigetaka Mori. With these two oppositions, the JRFU hopes to “rekindle the enthusiasm and excitement” at the 2019 World Cup.