The Rugby Football Union (RFU) can confirm England U19 Men will face Japan U19 Men in 2025 as part of the U19 Men’s spring programme of fixtures.
The team, led by Andy Titterrell and the U20 Men coaching and backroom staff, will take on the Cherry Blossoms’ junior side on Saturday 22nd March 2025 at Cambridge RFC’s Ellgia Fields (14:00 GMT kick-off).
Following on from Cambridge RFC hosting a friendly fixture with the U20 Men ahead of the latter’s 2025 Six Nations campaign, the Men’s Pathway returns to the Blood and Sand’s home ground for an historic first meeting in nearly 20 years between the U19 teams. The fixture also marks over 50 years since Japan toured England and faced the latter’s U23 side in the autumn of 1973.
The U19 Men side serves as an avenue for England Rugby pathway players to develop their skillsets with meaningful gametime on the international circuit, with fixtures also giving valuable minutes to players then eligible for U20 selection in next summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship.
In 2024, England U19 Men suffered a narrow, 24-21 reverse at the hands of France at Doncaster Knights’ Castle Park before a comfortable 40-10 win away to Italy. Japan’s U19s have made an impactful return post-Covid with wins in tours to Ireland (2023) and Italy this year.
England U19 Men previously encountered Japan in a 43-9 victory for England at the IRB Under-19 World Championship on 5th April 2005 in Durban, South Africa, with Shane Geraghty contributing 16 points on the day.
The Men’s Pathway most recently challenged Japan at U20 level in 2015 with a 59-7 victory in the World Rugby U20 Championships, with the senior men gearing up to welcome Japan on the final weekend of the upcoming Autumn Nations Series this November.
Andy Titterrell, U19 Men’s head coach and U20 Men’s assistant coach, said: “It’s important to recognise our U19 programme as a vital development opportunity for those graduating from the U18 side with further international experience for the players. The U19s bridge the gap from the excellent work Jon [Pendlebury], Will [Parkin] and the U18 team do to feed into our programme to ensure maximum alignment in the Men’s Pathway.
“These games serve a purpose in bringing through a new guard of talent to incorporate and complement our U20 squad ahead of a busy summer period and into a new campaign. All 15 players that started against Italy in April have now been named in our U20 EPS this season, for example, with six of them already achieving competitive U20 caps.
“Welcoming Japan as the first U19 game of our 2025 schedule is an incredibly exciting prospect and an occasion we all eagerly anticipate. Mark [Mapletoft] and I are grateful to our hosts Cambridge, who we’ll be working closely with over the coming months, and to Japan as we establish new, strong connections at pathway level.”
