The Wallabies won, and that is about all they will take away from their Saturday in Japan. Beaten 35-32 at Hanazono Stadium in Osaka, Eddie Jones’s Japan pushed Les Kiss’s Australia all the way, using a red card against their opponents to fight back. Three points in it at the final whistle. It is the second meeting in a row between these two sides decided by fewer than five points, and that is no quirk of the calendar.
A first match Les Kiss won’t forget
Appointed in April to succeed Joe Schmidt, Les Kiss had an uncomfortable start. His Wallabies chased the scoreboard early on, then, just as they seemed to be pulling away, were reduced to fourteen men for twenty minutes after lock Miles Amatosero was shown a red card.
Australia still scored five tries and got over the line thanks to the accurate boot of scrum-half Ryan Lonergan, who kicked four conversions, with Ben Donaldson adding the fifth. For Japan, lock Warner Dearns produced one of his best performances at international level.
The trend that says it all
One tight match can be an accident. Two in a row, less so. And when you go back through the meetings between the two nations, the trend becomes hard to argue with.
| Date | Fixture | Score | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/08/2026 | Japan v Australia | 32-35 | 3 |
| 25/10/2025 | Japan v Australia | 15-19 | 4 |
| 23/10/2021 | Japan v Australia | 23-32 | 9 |
| 04/11/2017 | Japan v Australia | 30-63 | 33 |
| 08/09/2007 | Australia v Japan | 91-3 | 88 |
| 02/06/1987 | Australia v Japan | 42-23 | 19 |
An 88-point margin in 2007. Thirty-three in 2017. Nine in 2021. Four in 2025. Three on Saturday. At every meeting for twenty years, the gap has narrowed, without exception.
The 91-3 at the 2007 World Cup belongs to a different sport. Today’s Japan lose by three points while playing twenty minutes with an extra man and failing to make it count.
What it says about the Wallabies
It cuts both ways. Japan are improving, but Australia no longer crush anyone. The Brave Blossoms conceded sixty-four points against New Zealand in October 2024 and sixty-one against South Africa in November 2025. The other two southern hemisphere powers cruise through where the Wallabies have to hang on.
That is the real lesson for Les Kiss, fourteen months out from a home World Cup. A three-point win over a nation ranked below you doesn’t build much.
The return match has a special flavour
The two teams meet again on 15 August in Townsville, Queensland, for the second Test of the series. It will be Japan’s first match on Australian soil since the 1987 World Cup, a game the Wallabies won 42-23.
Thirty-nine years separate the two meetings. Given the trajectory of recent years, the score is likely to be far less comfortable.
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