Preview - Wales v Japan

Wales look for points haul in final preparation for Six Nations

How fitting that Wales should play host to the Land of the Rising Sun when so many believe them to be at the dawn of a new era themselves?

Is it really a new era? The jury is still out. While the New Zealand match showed that Wales have indeed become competitive at the highest level again, it also exposed a possible lack of killer instinct.

The failure to go for a try rather than kick for goal with five minutes to go was attributed to the clock-keeping, but a really confident first-class team would have gone for the try anyway.

Wales now have the chance to amass a tidy score in their last match before the Six Nations opener against England in February, and Mike Ruddock has told his team to go out and do exactly that.

While French-based players Gareth Thomas, Stephen Jones and Gareth Llewellyn have resumed club commitments, Ruddock can still send out a powerful side including the likes of Colin Charvis, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams, Dafydd Jones and Michael Owen.

"We discussed resting players," said Ruddock. "From my point of view, this is the last time, really, I get the players together until we play England.

"I wanted to keep on pushing it forward with the cohesion and continuity of the team, but also to make sure that we send a message out that players have got to earn the jersey as well.

"It is a highly valued prize to wear the Welsh jersey. You have got to earn it, and you have got to put yourself right up there to get it.

"As well as that, I spoke to the majority of the players I've retained for this game, particularly up front, with people like Colin (Charvis).

"I asked him if he had the legs to go the distance again on Friday, and he felt he had and wanted to do it.

"The boys are very enthusiastic, they want to play for Wales, they are very proud to do it and they don't want to give the jersey away."

Wales defence coach Clive Griffiths has warned against the perils of over-complacency, and stresed the need for the Welsh players to remain focussed and professional.

"This game is a similar situation to the build-up to the Romania game.

"We were thoroughly professional against them in our approach to the game and we have to replicate that against Japan.

"We can't show any hint of complacency and gift them extra points. We have shown we are a top team and now we have to show consistency."

Ruddock has shown himself to be an astute politician this week in allowing Llewellyn, Thomas and Jones to return to French club duties this week.

He has allowed the fiery French clubs and National League governing body LNR some unrequested leeway and has done the clubs a favour, perticularly Clermont (Jones), who were in enough domestic trouble even before they lost their international players to the autumn tests.

He now has that favour to call in, and one wonders if that might be the weekend before the Six Nations opener against England.

He fields an experimental but strong team. Jonathan Thomas' selection at lock is the most interesting change to the pack. It shows that the possible experiment of using Michael Owen in that position has been put on hold for now, as Owen continues his run in the back row.

It must be a bitter pill for Thomas, who was ear-marked as first choice for the number six jersey before his suspension, and has since had to watch Dafydd Jones make the jersey his own.

In the backs, Rhys Williams gets another chance to transfer his club form to the international circuit. It is crucial for him and his international future to be as involved as possible in Wales' attacking play, particularly with Kevin Morgan breathing down his neck.

Japan, meanwhile, have brought an inexperienced squad on this tour, but at least it consists solely of Japanese players as opposed to the mixture of repatriated foreigners witnessed at the Rugby World Cup.

Against Scotland they were dreadfully weak, but the performance against Romania showed an improvement. They will not win against Wales, but they do have the chance to show the fight and honour that Japanese teams normally so impress with.

This match is the biggest of Japan's tour after their matches against the Six Nations' weakest team Scotland, and Europe's faded force, Romania. They will put everything on the line to preserve respectability to the scoreline. Wales must not take this lightly.

'Lightly' is, unfortunately for Japan, an operative word. Wales have by far the heavier team and more muscular presence up front. Once the forwards have worn the initial Japanese resistance out, the backs will run through them.

Players to watch:

For Wales: Jonathan Thomas has to make up for lost time in this match. He has seen his place in the team snatched away from him by Dafydd Jones' superlative form. With Gareth Llewellyn on the brink of retirement, Thomas can shoe-horn himself into the versatile 'back-five' role that Mike Ruddock has prepared for one or two of Luke Charteris, Michael Owen, and Thomas. A huge performance here is a must.

For Japan: Fullback Ryohei Miki caught the eye during the match against Romania, not least because he is  similar in style to Tana Umaga. He has a good turn of pace and a useful side-step, and Wales must be careful not to allow too many counter-attacking opportunities by kicking loose ball down his throat.

Head to head: Michael Owen v Takuro Miuchi. One of the more experienced players on this tour with 18 caps, Miuchi was another to come out of the Romania game with a lot of credit for his work-rate and ball-carrying skills. His effort carried the lightweight Japanese pack through a tough game against the hardened Romanians. Against Owen, who is looking to cement his place in the Wales back row Miuchi will have the chance to lead his pack against some of the best in the world.

Prediction: Wales to steam-roller the inexperienced Japanese
Planet rugby prediction: Wales by 60 points
Sportingodds.com prediction: Wales by 60-80 points

Recent results:

17 Jun 2001 Wales vs Japan 53-30 Tokyo (Chichibu Stadium)   
10 Jun 2001 Wales vs Japan 64-10 Osaka (Hanazono Stadium)  
09 Oct 1999 Wales vs Japan 64-15 Cardiff (Millennium Stadium)   
27 May 1995 Wales vs Japan 57-10 Bloemfontein (Vodacom Park)   
16 Oct 1993 Wales vs Japan 55-5  Cardiff (National Stadium)  

The teams:

Wales: 15 Rhys Williams (Cardiff), 14 Hal Luscombe (Newport-Gwent), 13 Gavin Henson (Neath-Swansea), 12 Tom Shanklin (Cardiff), 11 Shane Williams (Neath-Swansea), 10 Ceri Sweeney (Newport-Gwent), 9 Gareth Cooper (Newport-Gwent), 8 Michael Owen (Newport-Gwent), 7 Colin Charvis (Newcastle, captain), 6 Dafydd Jones (Llanelli), 5 Jonathan Thomas (Neath-Swansea), 4 Brent Cockbain (Neath-Swansea), 3 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff), 2 Mefin Davies (Neath), 1 Duncan Jones (Neath-Swansea)
Replacements: 16 Simon Jones (Newport-Gwent), 17 Adam Jones (Neath-Swansea), 18 Ryan Jones (Neath-Swansea), 19 Alix Popham (Leeds), 20 Martyn Williams (Cardiff), 21 Dwayne Peel (Llanelli), 22 Kevin Morgan (Newport-Gwent).

Japan: 15.Ryohei Miki, 14.Koichiro Kubota, 13.Masatoshi Mukoyama, 12.Yukio Motoki, 11.Hayato Daimon; 10.Hideyuki Yoshida, 9.Wataru Ikeda, 8.Takuro Miuchi (c), 7.Naoya Okubo, 6.Feletiliki Mau, 5.Takanori Kumagae, 4.Hajime Kiso, 3.Ryo Yamamura, 2.Takashi Yamaoka, 1. Masahito Yamamoto.  
Replacements: 16.Mitsuga Yamamoto, 17.Tatsukichi Nishiura, 18.Naoya Okubo, 19.Takayoto Yamaguchi, 20.Kiyonori Tanaka, 21.Sadanobu Imari, 22.Takashi Otao.

Date: Friday, November 26
Kick-off: 19.30 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Conditions: Partly cloudy - max 11°C, min 6°C
Referee: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Touch judges: Rob Dickson (Scotland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
Television match official: Roy Maybank (England)