THERE AREN’T MANY teams in the world who wouldn’t want Warner Dearns on their side at this stage.
The 24-year-old Japan captain just put down a superb season with the Hurricanes as they stormed to their Super Rugby Pacific title.
Second row Dearns, who will be key for Eddie Jones’ side against Ireland in Newcastle on Saturday, was born in New Zealand but moved to Japan when he was still only 14.
That was when his dad, Grant, got a job as a strength and conditioning coach for the NEC Green Rockets, who are based close to Tokyo. So Dearns came through the Japanese system and made his debut for the Brave Blossoms in 2021, quickly becoming a key figure.
Dearns – whose mother, Tanya, played netball for New Zealand – was starring in Japanese club rugby for Toshiba Brave Lupus, helping them to 2024 and 2025 League One titles, but decided to take up a sabbatical in Super Rugby for the 2026 season.
He was a roaring success in a brilliant Hurricanes team. Dearns will return to the Japan Rugby League One competition in 2027 but has said he would be open to a move to European club rugby in the future. He will attract plenty of interest.
His impact on Super Rugby was no surprise, in truth, because Dearns has been brilliant for Japan.
Opta data shows just how effective Dearns is as a force around the pitch. Among all other Nations Championship locks who have played 800+ minutes of Test rugby since the 2023 World Cup, Dearns is top of the pile in lots of categories.
He is number one for linebreaks, tries scored, metres gained, post-contact metres gained, gainline success, and percentage of carries committing two or more tacklers.
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He is ranked second for defenders beaten, tackle evasion, metres in-contact, and total carries.
This is freakish stuff for a fella who is 6ft 8ins tall.
Dearns’ smart finish as Japan beat Italy last weekend showed his footwork and power.
He is also ranked top five when it comes to successful offloads and linebreak assists, showing that he can put team-mates into excellent positions too.
His remarkable dynamism is further underlined by Dearns making more lineout steals than any other lock at the top level of the game since the 2023 World Cup.
Dearns averages 0.8 lineout steals per game, so there’s a good chance he will nick one of Ireland’s throws in Newcastle.
Because of all that action on the ball, Dearns doesn’t rank highly when it comes to ruck hits, a key role for many second rows, while he is also well down the rankings when it comes to tackles completed, in which he is 23rd.
But the numbers back up the eyeball impression of Dearns. He is a seriously potent threat with ball in hand, the kind of player who can make or cause linebreaks, and someone whose mobility is a huge strength for Japan.
On top of that, he is a world-leading menace at the defensive lineout and someone who Ireland will have had a close look at in their pre-game analysis.
So you can see why the All Blacks seemingly made an effort to get Dearns to switch allegiance to his country of birth.
“I turned them down and said I’d come back and play here,” Dearns told rugbyjp.com.
“I went to high school in Japan, was invited into the national team training camp, and was given so many opportunities. It would be a waste to throw all of that away and go and play for New Zealand.”
Dearns would only have been 27 by the time he became eligible for the All Blacks again.
Dearns in action against Ireland last year. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
But Jones has made him Japan captain in recent times, underlining just how important the second row is to the Brave Blossoms.
He is key on both sides of the Japan lineout, making steals but also as a reliable target on their own ball.
Japan are generally proficient in this area. Since the 2023 World Cup, they rank third among the Nations Championship teams for lineout success on their own throw, with 89% success leaving them behind only France and England.
They’re also usually solid on their own scrum feed, with the set-piece solidity providing possession for Japan’s clever attack to work intricate plays.
Ireland will be keen to test the Japanese lineout and scrum as ferociously as they can.
As ever, Dearns will be a pivotal figure for the Japanese.
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The line-breaking Japan skipper who could cause Ireland problems
THERE AREN’T MANY teams in the world who wouldn’t want Warner Dearns on their side at this stage.
The 24-year-old Japan captain just put down a superb season with the Hurricanes as they stormed to their Super Rugby Pacific title.
Second row Dearns, who will be key for Eddie Jones’ side against Ireland in Newcastle on Saturday, was born in New Zealand but moved to Japan when he was still only 14.
That was when his dad, Grant, got a job as a strength and conditioning coach for the NEC Green Rockets, who are based close to Tokyo. So Dearns came through the Japanese system and made his debut for the Brave Blossoms in 2021, quickly becoming a key figure.
Dearns – whose mother, Tanya, played netball for New Zealand – was starring in Japanese club rugby for Toshiba Brave Lupus, helping them to 2024 and 2025 League One titles, but decided to take up a sabbatical in Super Rugby for the 2026 season.
He was a roaring success in a brilliant Hurricanes team. Dearns will return to the Japan Rugby League One competition in 2027 but has said he would be open to a move to European club rugby in the future. He will attract plenty of interest.
His impact on Super Rugby was no surprise, in truth, because Dearns has been brilliant for Japan.
Opta data shows just how effective Dearns is as a force around the pitch. Among all other Nations Championship locks who have played 800+ minutes of Test rugby since the 2023 World Cup, Dearns is top of the pile in lots of categories.
He is number one for linebreaks, tries scored, metres gained, post-contact metres gained, gainline success, and percentage of carries committing two or more tacklers.
He is ranked second for defenders beaten, tackle evasion, metres in-contact, and total carries.
This is freakish stuff for a fella who is 6ft 8ins tall.
Dearns’ smart finish as Japan beat Italy last weekend showed his footwork and power.
He is also ranked top five when it comes to successful offloads and linebreak assists, showing that he can put team-mates into excellent positions too.
His remarkable dynamism is further underlined by Dearns making more lineout steals than any other lock at the top level of the game since the 2023 World Cup.
Dearns averages 0.8 lineout steals per game, so there’s a good chance he will nick one of Ireland’s throws in Newcastle.
Because of all that action on the ball, Dearns doesn’t rank highly when it comes to ruck hits, a key role for many second rows, while he is also well down the rankings when it comes to tackles completed, in which he is 23rd.
But the numbers back up the eyeball impression of Dearns. He is a seriously potent threat with ball in hand, the kind of player who can make or cause linebreaks, and someone whose mobility is a huge strength for Japan.
On top of that, he is a world-leading menace at the defensive lineout and someone who Ireland will have had a close look at in their pre-game analysis.
So you can see why the All Blacks seemingly made an effort to get Dearns to switch allegiance to his country of birth.
“I turned them down and said I’d come back and play here,” Dearns told rugbyjp.com.
“I went to high school in Japan, was invited into the national team training camp, and was given so many opportunities. It would be a waste to throw all of that away and go and play for New Zealand.”
Dearns would only have been 27 by the time he became eligible for the All Blacks again.
But Jones has made him Japan captain in recent times, underlining just how important the second row is to the Brave Blossoms.
He is key on both sides of the Japan lineout, making steals but also as a reliable target on their own ball.
Japan are generally proficient in this area. Since the 2023 World Cup, they rank third among the Nations Championship teams for lineout success on their own throw, with 89% success leaving them behind only France and England.
They’re also usually solid on their own scrum feed, with the set-piece solidity providing possession for Japan’s clever attack to work intricate plays.
Ireland will be keen to test the Japanese lineout and scrum as ferociously as they can.
As ever, Dearns will be a pivotal figure for the Japanese.
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danger man Ireland Japan Threat Warner Dearns