The 2001 Wales rugby union tour of Japan was a series of matches played in June 2001 in Japan by the Wales national rugby union team. With their best players involved in the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, the squad featured a blend of youth and experience.[1] Although they won just one of their non-test matches on tour, Wales won both tests against the Japan national team.
Before embarking on their tour, Wales played an uncapped match against the Barbarians, the first match of three for the Barbarians on their own tour of Great Britain.[6] Much of the discussion regarding Wales' team selection for the match centred around fly-half Gavin Henson, who at 19 years and 108 days, would be the youngest Wales player to appear at the position since Llewellyn Lloyd in 1896.[7] Henson ultimately started the game on the bench, as coach Graham Henry preferred Neil Jenkins, one of eight Wales players in the team who were due to join the British & Irish Lions on their tour to Australia later in the summer.[8] Shortly before the game, the Welsh Rugby Union decided to downgrade it from fully-capped to uncapped.[9]
The Barbarians held a 14–7 lead at half-time, thanks to tries from Dan Luger and Joeli Vidiri, either side of one from Jenkins. Wales thought Shane Williams had levelled the scores with a try under the posts just before the break, but it was ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up. After the interval, Kevin Morgan scored a pair of tries for the home side, one converted by Jenkins and the other by Stephen Jones, to put them 21–14 up. Substitute winger Friedrich Lombard responded for the Barbarians, but Braam van Straaten missed the conversion to leave them two points behind. Williams did score a try shortly afterwards, with Jones converting to put Wales 28–19 up. The Barbarians' replacement hooker Naka Drotské cut the deficit to two points again with a converted try, but Craig Quinnell restored Wales' nine-point margin soon after. As the game entered the final minutes, Percy Montgomery scored a try for the Barbarians, again converted by Van Straaten, only for Stephen Jones to kick a penalty moments later, putting Wales five points up shortly before the 80-minute mark; however, in the third minute of injury time, Lombard scored his second try of the game to level the scores, and Van Straaten kicked the conversion to give the Barbarians a 40–38 win.[10]
Wales' opening tour match was against Japanese league champions Suntory, the first time a Japanese club side had faced a touring international team.[11] Taking over as coach from Graham Henry, who was coaching the British & Irish Lions in Australia, Lynn Howells named nine full internationals in the Wales team, including Stephen Jones, who was playing out of position at inside centre to accommodate Henson at fly-half. Jones captained the team in the absence of tour captain Andy Moore, who was rested. Cardiff flanker Robin Sowden-Taylor was picked to start despite not having played a senior match at club level;[12] meanwhile, lock Craig Quinnell was picked to start the match, but he pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Adam Jones.[13] Despite wing Craig Morgan suffering a knee injury in the 17th minute that ultimately ruled him out of the rest of the tour,[4] Wales held a 21–10 lead at half-time; however, four second-half tries from Suntory, including a last-minute winner, saw them come from behind to claim a 45–41 victory.[14] Howells put the defeat down to fatigue brought about by the high temperatures, and a lack of control once they took a big lead.[15] Centre Jamie Robinson also suffered an injury during the match, but it was deemed minor and he remained on tour.[4]
Lynn Howells changed all 15 players in his starting line-up for the match against the Japan Select XV at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, and hailed the experience brought by the additions of centre Allan Bateman and lock Andy Moore for a match against a side including several foreign players;[16] however, Bateman suffered an early ankle injury and although he was able to continue until half-time, he was taken off during the break and ultimately ruled out of the rest of the tour.[17] The Japan Select XV scored the first try of the game, Jun Akune putting them 7–0 up after the conversion by Tanaka. Wales equalised through Adrian Durston's try, converted by Lee Jarvis, but a penalty from Tanaka put the Japan Select XV back in front. Jarvis put Wales 13–10 up as the interval approached, thanks to a pair of penalties, but a try from Tomokazu Yamauchi on the stroke of half-time put the home side 15–13 up at the change of ends. Within two minutes of the restart, Shane Williams gave Wales the lead again, his try again converted by Jarvis, who added a penalty shortly after. Williams then scored his second try of the match, just over 10 minutes into the second half, and Jarvis extended the margin to 15 points with the conversion. He scored a fourth penalty as the match entered the final 10 minutes to make the score 33–15, but the Japan Select XV scored a consolation try – a second for Yamauchi – to make the final score 33–22.[18][19]
Wales' first test against Japan was their 500th international match. Coach Lyn Howells selected a young team with an average age of 24, giving debuts to centre Adrian Durston and back rowers Andy Lloyd and Gavin Thomas; full-back Kevin Morgan made his first international appearance for more than three years, and Stephen Jones made his first appearance of the tour at fly-half.[20] Meanwhile, Japan had to play an under-strength team due to a dispute between the Japan Rugby Union and some of their clubs.[21]Gareth Thomas scored the opening try for Wales after just four minutes, and Mark Jones crossed soon after. Kevin Morgan added another try, followed by scores from Lloyd and Shane Williams (2) before Morgan had his second of the game, and Durston scored Wales' eighth of the game before the end of the first half. Japan scored two tries in the second half, but they proved mere consolation as Williams added to his first-half double with two more, equalling the national record for the most tries by an individual in a single game.[22][23] Captain Andy Moore came off with a strained groin before the end of the first half, but he praised the team's performance, particularly in the first half.[24]
Assistant referees: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Andrew Cole (Australia)
Reserve officials: Hideomi Miyahara (Japan)
Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Pacific Barbarians v Wales
Wales made 14 changes from the team that beat Japan three days earlier; Mark Jones was the only survivor, switching from the right wing to the left. The inexperienced side conceded two tries in the first seven minutes, but a try from Mark Jones helped them recover to trail 17–16 at half-time; however, Wales were kept scoreless in the second half. Captain Chris Stephens was sin-binned for throwing a punch, and the Pacific Barbarians scored two more tries, as well as three more penalties, giving them a 36–16 win.[25] Towards the end of the game, Mark Jones was stretchered off with knee ligament damage, putting an end to his tour.[26] Stephens was criticised after the game for picking up a yellow card for punching; his selection as captain had already come under scrutiny before the game, having been fined £2,000 for punching Cross Keys player Ioan Bebb in the first game of the previous season, causing an eye injury that ended Bebb's career.[27]
Despite his yellow card in the midweek match against the Pacific Barbarians, Chris Stephens was named on the bench for the second test against Japan. In the starting line-up, Wales made two changes from the first test; Tom Shanklin was named on the wing to make his test debut in place of the injured Mark Jones, while Nathan Budgett was named in the back row in place of Andy Lloyd.[28] Wales held a 19–3 lead after half an hour, thanks to a try from Gavin Thomas and two from Gareth Thomas, but two quick tries and a penalty for Japan put the home side 20–19 up at half-time. After the break, Wales scored four tries in the first 20 minutes; Gavin Thomas opened the scoring with his second try of the game, before Shane Williams scored his seventh try of the tour, followed by two in two minutes from debutant Shanklin. Scrum-half Dwayne Peel came on to make his test debut in the 73rd minute, shortly before Gareth Thomas completed his hat-trick. Following a consolation score from Hirotoki Onozawa, fellow substitute Jamie Robinson scored another try with the final play of the game, giving Wales a 53–30 win and a 2–0 victory in the test series.[29]
