The announcement – surprise – fell in the morning on Monday. It was announced jointly by the French Rugby Federation and its Japanese counterpart on their social networks. The XV of France will travel to Japan in July for its traditional summer tour.
The Blues will face the Brave Blossoms (the Courageous Flowers) twice, on July 2 in Aichi and then a week later in a place which is yet to be defined, said a press release.
This is the first time that France has traveled to Japan for its tour. Usually, the Blues – with a workforce often deprived of its best players and which allows the second knives to reveal themselves – play these matches in the southern hemisphere as in Australia last year.
“Japan has been an important nation in world rugby for years now. Its 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 Bernard Laporte, president of the French Federation, in the press release.
The Blues have faced their counterparts, quarter-finalists of the 2019 World Cup, only four times in their history. After three victories, they had to settle for a draw in their last meeting, in November 2017, at La Paris La Défense Arena (23-23). But since the Blues, currently undefeated leaders of the Six Nations Tournament, have metamorphosed into a winning machine.
Thanks to these two oppositions on their land, the Japanese Federation hopes to “rekindle the enthusiasm and excitement” during the 2019 World Cup. A competition where the XV of France had been eliminated by Wales in the quarterfinals. final at the end of an incredible reversal of situation.
“You don’t have to be a genius to imagine that many rugby fans will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the French team, given that they are leading the Six Nations Tournament thanks to their skill to master speed and power”, appreciates the president of the Japanese Federation Shigetaka Mori.
