Wales will be looking to end their 18 game losing streak when they take on a Japanese side that staged a magnificent come from behind victory over them this past weekend.
Japan v Wales | Saturday 12 July | Misaki Park Stadium
To Win (80 Mins)
Japan | Draw | Wales
Handicap
Japan | Wales
Things honestly cannot get much worse for the Dragons at this point as they suffered their 18th defeat on the trot going down 24-19 to Eddie Jones’ Japan this past Saturday.
A pretty much full strength Welsh side, who only contributed two players to the British and Irish Lions, got off to a decent start against the Brave Blossoms this past weekend as they opened the scoring within the first four minutes of the fixture. They would then add a further two tries to their tally prior to the half-time break to take a commanding 7-19 lead into the sheds.
The 6 Nations outfit would regress severely during the second stanza, however, as handling errors and poor decision making ensured they were unable to add any further point to their tally while Japan managed to bag two tries and a penalty as they overturned the odds to secure a 24-19 victory.
Looking ahead to the Second Test and the Welsh are likely to be without lock Ben Carter who left the field on stretcher minutes after kick-off last week.
Verdict: Japan
The bookies got it very wrong last week pricing the visitors up as favourites. Wales are in a slump at the minute and I can’t see them getting out of it against a decent enough Japanese side.
