By Rich Freeman, KYODO NEWS - Apr 20, 2018 - 14:33 | Sports, All

Japan head into their home leg of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series this weekend desperate for some points as they try to retain their status on the tour.

Hitoshi Inada's side head to Kitakyushu's Mikuni World Stadium as the lowest-ranked core team, two points behind Fiji and seven back from England as the series reaches the third round of five. Captain Chiharu Nakamura has urged Japanese fans to come out to the seaside ground and support the Sakura Sevens.

"I am looking forward to the tournament as it is taking place in Japan in front of our family and friends on home turf," Nakamura said. "There aren't many opportunities where we play in Japan representing our country so it is a very important experience."

"The first day is always important as we will be playing against the top eight seeded teams and we hope to grab a victory and try to tie it into another win."

Nakamura leads a side that is the youngest in the tournament with seven of the players aged 20 or under as Japan look to build a team ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

They will get an idea of the standard required to succeed at the highest level after being drawn this weekend with New Zealand, France and the United States, the Kiwis fresh off a gold-medal winning performance at the Commonwealth Games and keen to defend the title they won last year.

"The vibes in our team at the moment are pretty positive. To come out and win that tournament was really special and it has been a hard high I suppose to come down from to prepare for this weekend," said Black Ferns captain Sarah Goss.

"We have got a tough pool against USA, France and Japan. It is going to be a tough first day but the way the girls are preparing at the moment it is going to be awesome and I can't wait to get out there in front of the Japanese fans."

New Zealand beat Canada in the inaugural Kitakyushu final last year, and the two teams are tied with Russia on 30 points in the standings, 10 behind series leaders Australia, who have begun the 2017-2018 series with a perfect 12 wins from 12 in claiming the Dubai and Sydney titles.

However, the Aussies went down in a thriller to arch-rivals New Zealand last week at home on the Gold Coast and are keen for revenge.

"We were very disappointed but extremely proud of the silver medal and the spectacle of women's rugby that Australia and New Zealand were able to put on in that final was fantastic," said Australia captain Shannon Parry, who was part of the team that won gold at the Rio Olympics.

"At the end of the day women's rugby was the winner and we're very pleased with the result and looking forward to the challenges ahead in Japan."

"I think it is going to be huge, we have very big pool matches against China, Ireland and Spain. We don't really know a lot about China, then you have got Spain and Ireland who haven't really played since Sydney so they are going to come out charging. We have done our homework but we are really just looking out there and having a crack."

China join the tournament as a guest side and they come into the tournament on a high, having won the Hong Kong qualifier a fortnight ago to secure a core team place in the 2018-2019 series, replacing the bottom ranked team from the current series.

"This is the first time in four years that China has played in the world series, and rugby fans in China are very excited to be back in the series," said captain Yan Meiling.

"In Kitakyushu we want our team to achieve our personal best and play to our advantages. Whatever the result is I think it will be the best for the team."

England play Russia in the opening game on Saturday morning with the final slated for 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening.