B&I Lions vs Japan

The British and Irish Lions will finish their home preparations for their upcoming tour of South Africa with their inaugural meeting with world rugby’s newest Tier One (T1) nation, Japan.

This is a tougher-than-it-looks test against Japan with The Lions having some key drop-outs due to injuries, most notably perhaps Hamish Watson after a training ground concussion, but they have plenty of world class players ready for the call up. 10 of Japan’s starters from their 2019 World Cup quarter-final will start here and the ‘Brave Blossoms’ will be at their always-eager best to make more history with a win in a first ever match against the Lions.

Also, as the Lions are still very much in the ‘getting to know each other’ phase, mistakes are bound to creep into their play. But with The Lions’ defence is coached by Steve Tandy, who has transformed Scotland’s rearguard in the last two seasons we don’t see them being bothered too much. We aren’t expecting a runaway score here today for the 1st outing of the Lions Tour.