On a mouth-watering day of international rugby, when England square off with the mighty All Blacks, Ireland battle Australia, the world champion Springboks face a buoyant Italy and France welcome Fiji to Bordeaux, it’s the distinctly lower-key Wales v Japan contest that might just be the most important of the lot.
Wales’s woes are well documented. On the field, any sliver of hope that could be extracted from finally ending their soul-destroying 18-game losing streak by beating Japan in the second match of a two-Test series over the summer was seemingly snuffed out last week. A record 52-28 defeat to Argentina in Cardiff served as a scarcely-needed reminder to new coach Steve Tandy just what a mountainous task lies ahead of him on the road back to international rugby respectability.
