On 7 July 2014, it was announced by the New Zealand Rugby Union that the Māori All Blacks would play a three-match Asian Series, including two matches against the Japanese national team and a match against an invitational Asian Pacific Barbarians (APB) team - a side made up from top Asian and Polynesian players and coached by Tana Umaga.[1] The APB match was set to take place at the newly opened National Stadium in Singapore, but due to concerns over the safety of the playing surface at the stadium, the match was cancelled on 21 October 2014.[2] For Japan, the second a third meeting between the two teams goes ahead a scheduled with the 2013 tour coach Colin Cooper remaining as head coach.
| 2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 – 8 November |
| Coach(es) |  Colin Cooper |
| Tour captain(s) | Charlie Ngatai |
| Top point scorer(s) | Ihaia West (31) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Jason Emery (2) Nehe Milner-Skudder (2) |
| Tour chronology | |
| Previous tour | 2013 |
Matches
First match
| 1 November 2014 14:00 JST (UTC+9) |
Japan  | 21–61 |  Māori All Blacks |
| Try: Penalty try (2) 25' c, 73' c Mafi 52' c Con: Goromaru (3/3) 27', 53', 73' | Report[3] | Try: Eves 7' m Emery (2) 20' c, 34' c Polwart 23' c West 46' c Milner-Skudder 55' m Ngatai 63' c Lowe 76' c Con: West (6/8) 21', 24', 35', 47', 64', 77' Pen: West (3/5) 14', 17', 40' |
| Noevir Stadium, Kobe[4] Attendance: 21,234 Referee: Luke Pearce (England) |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Touch judges: |
Second match
| 8 November 2014 14:00 JST (UTC+9) |
| Japan | 18–20 | Māori All Blacks |
| Try: Yamada 38' m Penalty try 47' c Con: Goromaru (1/2) 48' Pen: Goromaru (2/3) 54', 72' | Report[5] | Try: Taylor 16' c Milner-Skudder 22' m Pryor 80' m Con: West (1/2) 17' Pen: West (1/2) 31' |
| Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo[4] Attendance: 20,515 Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia) |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Touch judges: |
Asian Pacific Barbarians
| 15 November 2014 14:30 SST (UTC+8) |
| Asia Pacific Dragons | Cancelled | Māori All Blacks |
| New Singapore National Stadium, Singapore Referee: ARU Appointment (Australia) |
Squads
Note: Caps, ages and clubs are to 1 November, pre first match.
Māori All Blacks
New Zealand Māori 27-man squad for the 2014 Japanese November Tour was announced on 21 October.[6]
On 26 October, Nick Crosswell, Mitch Crosswell and Hayden Triggs were added to the squad to replace the injured Shane Christie, Liam Squire and Joe Wheeler respectively.[7]
Japan
Japanese 30-man squad for two uncapped matches against the Māori All Blacks.[8]
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
Statistics
Key
- Con: Conversions
- Pen: Penalties
- DG: Drop goals
- Pts: Points
Match statistics
| Name | Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Tries | Con | Pen | DG | Pts | |
| Ihaia West | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 31 |
| Ayumu Goromaru | Japan | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Nehe Milner-Skudder | Māori All Blacks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Jason Emery | Māori All Blacks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Eves | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Amanaki Mafi | Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| James Lowe | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Charlie Ngatai | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sean Polwart | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Dan Pryor | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Codie Taylor | Māori All Blacks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Akihito Yamada | Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |