2001 Wales rugby union tour of Japan

Before embarking on their tour, Wales played an uncapped match against the Barbarians, the first match of three for the Barbarians on their own tour of Great Britain.[5] Much of the discussion regarding Wales' team selection for the match centred around fly-half Gavin Henson, who at 19 years and 108 days, would be the youngest Wales player to appear at the position since Llewellyn Lloyd in 1896.[6] Henson ultimately started the game on the bench, as coach Graham Henry preferred Neil Jenkins, one of eight Wales players in the team who were due to join the British & Irish Lions on their tour to Australia later in the summer.[7] Shortly before the game, the Welsh Rugby Union decided to downgrade it from fully-capped to uncapped.[8]

The Barbarians held a 14–7 lead at half-time, thanks to tries from Dan Luger and Joeli Vidiri, either side of one from Jenkins. Wales thought Shane Williams had levelled the scores with a try under the posts just before the break, but it was ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up. After the interval, Kevin Morgan scored a pair of tries for the home side, one converted by Jenkins and the other by Stephen Jones, to put them 21–14 up. Substitute winger Friedrich Lombard responded for the Barbarians, but Braam van Straaten missed the conversion to leave them two points behind. Williams did score a try shortly afterwards, with Jones converting to put Wales 28–19 up. The Barbarians' replacement hooker Naka Drotské cut the deficit to two points again with a converted try, but Craig Quinnell restored Wales' nine-point margin soon after. As the game entered the final minutes, Percy Montgomery scored a try for the Barbarians, again converted by Van Straaten, only for Stephen Jones to kick a penalty moments later, putting Wales five points up shortly before the 80-minute mark; however, in the third minute of injury time, Lombard scored his second try of the game to level the scores, and Van Straaten kicked the conversion to give the Barbarians a 40–38 win.[9]

20 May 2001 15:00

Wales	38–40	Barbarians
Try: Jenkins Morgan (2) S. Williams C. Quinnell Con: Jenkins (2) Stephen Jones (3) Pen: Stephen Jones	Report	Try: Luger Vidiri Lombard (2) Drotské Montgomery Con: Van Straaten (5)

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Mark Jones OC 13 Mark Taylor IC 12 Stephen Jones LW 11 Shane Williams FH 10 Neil Jenkins SH 9 Rob Howley N8 8 Geraint Lewis OF 7 Martyn Williams BF 6 Colin Charvis RL 5 Andy Moore LL 4 Craig Quinnell TP 3 Dai Young (c) HK 2 Robin McBryde LP 1 Iestyn Thomas Replacements: HK Andrew Lewis PR Darren Morris FL Nathan Budgett FL Gavin Thomas SH Gareth Cooper FH Gavin Henson CE Gareth Thomas Coach: Graham Henry

FB 15 Percy Montgomery RW 14 Dan Luger OC 13 Jason Little IC 12 Kevin Maggs LW 11 Joeli Vidiri FH 10 Braam van Straaten SH 9 Joost van der Westhuizen N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c) OF 7 Josh Kronfeld BF 6 Ben Clarke RL 5 Ian Jones LL 4 Tom Bowman TP 3 Craig Dowd HK 2 Trevor Leota LP 1 Garry Pagel Replacements: HK Naka Drotské PR Adrian Garvey LK Robin Brooke N8 Pat Lam SH Andy Gomarsall CE Tim Horan WG Friederick Lombard Coach: Bob Dwyer

Wales' opening tour match was against Japanese league champions Suntory, the first time a Japanese club side had faced a touring international team.[10] Taking over as coach from Graham Henry, who was coaching the British & Irish Lions in Australia, Lynn Howells named nine full internationals in the Wales team, including Stephen Jones, who was playing out of position at inside centre to accommodate Henson at fly-half. Jones captained the team in the absence of tour captain Andy Moore, who was rested. Cardiff flanker Robin Sowden-Taylor was picked to start despite not having played a senior match at club level.[11] Lock Craig Quinnell was picked to start the match, but he pulled out due to injury and was replaced in the line-up by Adam Jones.[12] Wales held a 21–10 lead at half-time, but four second-half tries from Suntory, including a last-minute winner, saw them come from behind to claim a 45–41 victory.[13] Howells put the defeat down to fatigue brought about by the high temperatures, and a lack of control once they took a big lead.[14]

3 June 2001 14:00

Suntory	45–41	Wales
Try: Sawaki (2) Kurihara Uluinayau Onozawa Hojo Con: Kurihara (6) Pen: Kurihara	Report	Try: A. Jones Stephen Jones (2) J. Robinson (2) Con: Stephen Jones (5) Pen: Stephen Jones (2)

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Shinsuke Shimoi (Japan)

Team details

FB 15 Hirotoki Onozawa RW 14 Takashi Yoshida OC 13 Alama Ieremia IC 12 Alfred Uluinayau LW 11 Toru Kurihara FH 10 Keisuke Sawaki SH 9 Kiyonori Tanaka N8 8 Yuya Saito OF 7 Shinki Gen BF 6 Naoya Okubo I RL 5 Jamie Washington LL 4 Takahiro Hayano TP 3 Kazunaka Motoyoshi HK 2 Masaaki Sakata LP 1 Shin Hasegawa Replacements: N. Nakamura Naoya Okubo II Daisuke Hoshikawa Kitagawa SH Yoji Nagatomo Daisuke Yamaguchi WG Junichi Hojo Coach: FB 15 Rhys Williams RW 14 Gareth Thomas OC 13 Jamie Robinson IC 12 Stephen Jones (c) LW 11 Craig Morgan FH 10 Gavin Henson SH 9 Gareth Cooper N8 8 Geraint Lewis OF 7 Gavin Thomas BF 6 Andy Lloyd RL 5 Chris Stephens LL 4 Adam Jones TP 3 Ben Evans HK 2 Andrew Lewis LP 1 Duncan Jones Replacements: HK Saul Nelson PR Ceri Jones FL Robin Sowden-Taylor SH Dwayne Peel CE Adrian Durston WG Tom Shanklin Coach: Lynn Howells