Japan head coach Eddie Jones has confirmed that Welshman Kingsley Jones has been helping his side prepare for Saturday's Nations Championship clash with Wales in Cardiff, with the Brave Blossoms searching for a first win on Welsh soil.
The former Wales international was involved in Japan's camp ahead of their historic victory over Wales in Kitakyushu in July 2025, before helping out again as Japan were narrowly beaten in Cardiff the following autumn. Jones, who stepped down as Canada's head coach last year, has been back with Japan this week.
Jones jokes about Kingsley's impact
"He can talk, mate! He's been in camp for four days and I don't think he's stopped talking the whole time," joked Japan coach Jones on Thursday. "We're lacking a bit of oxygen in the camp at the moment. I'm only joking. He's a good mate of mine and we like to catch up. He's in camp, just watching what we're doing and feeding back on how we can improve."
The two are close, with the former England coach understood to have encouraged Jones to apply for a job with the Welsh Rugby Union last year.
Three meetings in 2025
Wales and Japan have played each other three times in the past year. "A historic second win against them in the history of Japanese rugby in Kitakyushu," said Brave Blossoms boss Jones. "Second game in Kobe, we were a little bit off our best. Then the third game at the Millennium Stadium, we were in a position to win the game. Japan's never beaten Wales at the Millennium Stadium."
"As we all know, as lovers of rugby, it's one of the most iconic rugby stadiums in the world. We've got this fantastic opportunity to get ourselves right at kick-off, to be full of energy, purpose and passion. We know how we want to play and we've got to do that with a lot of energy and passion. That's what we've been focusing on."
Jones knows Wales' gameplan
Jones, having coached against Steve Tandy's Wales last autumn and then spent time with the Wales boss earlier this week at a conference for coaches in world rugby, admits he already has a very good idea of how Wales will play on Saturday. He says the onus is on his Japan team to disrupt Wales' gameplan.
"You just look at this team, it's a very experienced team," he said. "775 caps. That's a lot of caps. You know with that, they bring experience - particularly around the set-piece. We know they'll target us in the set-piece and potentially in the air."
"They've created quite a strong identity for themselves. That strong mauling, goal-line attack team with a high kicking game. They've developed a lot more robustness. I heard the coach talking about how they want to be more consistent in defence. They've got an identity now and I think Steve's built on that nicely. Our challenge is to almost break that open."
"We play the opposite sort of rugby from Wales. We want to break the game open, move the ball to the space quickly. Probably take a few more risks than Wales play. It's a good contrast of styles. Both of us are trying to impose each other's style on them. The first 20 minutes of the game is going to be pretty important. Steve's done a very good job."
Atmosphere in Cardiff
There have been concerns online about ticket sales for the autumn, with some screenshots of the Welsh Rugby Union's official site showing thousands of tickets still available. However, Jones anticipates Saturday being a raucous occasion regardless of the actual attendance.
"My experience in Cardiff is that it doesn't matter how many people are there, particularly for an afternoon game," he added. "They've all been in the pub since opening hours. It's noisy, it's loud and it's passionate. Wales are going through a tough period and countries go through that. But you've got a great rugby country here and I'm sure the supporters will come through. Whatever crowd will be there, it will be a great atmosphere for the game."
