Wales interim boss Matt Sherratt says he has taken advice from British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell on dealing with the "grief" of his nation's losing run.

Sound heavy? I guess coaching Wales in this form will do that to you.

Adam Jones believes a win today will give Wales the confidence to "kick on" as they look to bring an end to this miserable spell of results.

The former Wales prop - now his country's scrum coach - is backing the players to respond to criticism in Kobe.

James Hook
Former Wales fly-half on BBC Radio Wales

It's a long season for these boys.

They know, they'll have gone through the video from last week. The last 20 minutes is what killed them.

They need to get a bit of territory, a bit of possession and they have enough firepower to win this game.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

It's hard to find uplifting stories in Welsh rugby at the moment, but our reporter in Japan, Gareth Griffiths, has one for us.

Ospreys duo Dan Edwards and Keelan Giles will complete Wales firsts when they line up against Japan today.

While you have the noise of Wales' 18-match international losing streak and the off-the-field turmoil that has engulfed the game, Edwards and Giles could provide something positive in these tough times.

One is making his first Test start as he tries to fill the fabled Wales number 10 jersey, while the other is set to win a first cap from the bench more than nine years after initially being included in a national squad.

Wales are looking to bounce back from defeat last weekend with interim head coach Matt Sherratt hoping Edwards, and maybe Giles, can inspire the tourists to level the series.

You can read that story here: Ospreys duo aim for special day with Wales

Now back to the misery!

Watch highlights as Japan come back from 19-7 down at half-time to beat in the first Test in Kitakyushu.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Speaking of those testing conditions, Wales are hoping Japan captain Michael Leitch will not see the tourists struggling in the Kobe heat.

Leitch said the Wales players were "blowing" and "the guys in the red shirts were feeling it more than us" during the latter stages of Japan's victory last weekend.

"Their captain came out after the game and said a few things," said Wales scrum coach Adam Jones.

"So hopefully we'll pay heed to that and hopefully he'll have a different opinion of us after the game on Saturday."

Gareth Griffiths
BBC Sport Wales at Noevir Stadium

I know I might have been banging on about the conditions over the last two weeks but it is so humid in this stadium. Just sitting down you can get a sweat on.

We are waiting for an official recording of temperature and humidity inside ultimately the indoor venue but when we came in, the outside numbers were 32C and 53% humidity. It is even more extreme in here.

The roof being closed takes away the sunshine element but intensifies the humidity.

Eddie Jones has had the roof closed. Normally it is the Principality Stadium in Cardiff that causes a roof row, but here we are 8,000 miles away, and it is still an issue.

All you can see here is a wave of fans flapping as the locals and small pockets of travelling Welsh fans try to keep cool.

Kick-off is at 14:50 local time compared to 14:00 in the first Test.

Image source, hu

Today's referee is Luke Pearce. He was born in Pontypool but officiates under the flag of England for the Rugby Football Union.

Pearce is a vastly experienced and highly competent referee, who has overseen several Wales games over the years.

The 2021 Six Nations defeat in France sticks out in my mind, a 32-30 thriller in Paris which denied Wales a Grand Slam.

Wales still ended up winning the Six Nations title that year.

Ah, success. Remember that?

Anyway, here's the full team of officials today:

Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)

Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Damian Schneider (UAR)

Television Match Official (TMO): Glenn Newman (NZR).

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

The game is being played at the Noevir Stadium in Kobe, which has also been called the Kobe City Misaki Park Stadium.

It is the home ground of J1 League football club Vissel Kobe and the rugby union side Kobelco Kobe Steelers.

Most importantly, the roof is closed today and it is going to be very hot and humid.

Last week's game was played in 31C temperatures, with high humidity making ball-handling difficult.

The forecast for today is three degrees hotter and the game will be effectively played in an indoor stadium which means the humidity will rise.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Wales have set some unwanted records lately, and there could be more today.

After 18 successive defeats, it is 644 days since Wales last won a Test match, against Georgia at the 2023 World Cup.

Should they lose against Japan again, Wales will set a new record losing streak for a tier one side, surpassing the sequence of France between 1911 and 1920.

Nine years?! At least Wales' misery has been crammed into a touch under two years. So far.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Eddie Jones' Japan side are bidding to wrap up a first series victory against Wales and make history by winning consecutive matches against tier one opposition for the first time.

Jones has made five changes to the starting side including the selection of Toulouse scrum-half Naito Saito, who was unavailable for the first game having been in France to help his club side win the Top14.

Kubota prop Keijiro Tamefusa, number eight Faulua Makisi, wing Halatoa Vailea and full-back Ichigo Nakakusu are also named, while Australian-born back Sam Greene could make his debut from the bench.

Japan: Ichigo Nakakusu; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Shogo Nakano, Halatoa Vailea; Seungsin Lee, Naito Sato; Yota Kamimori, Mamoru Harada, Keijiro Tamefusa, Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Deans, Michael Leitch (capt), Jack Cornelsen, Faulua Makisi.

Replacements: Hayate Era, Sena Kimura, Shuhei Takeuchi, Waisake Raratubua, Ben Gunter, Shinobu Fujiwara, Sam Greene, Kazema Ueda.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Let's start with a look at the Wales team, and the two most significant bits of news are that number eight Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out, while fly-half Dan Edwards is given his first international start.

Faletau, 34, came off during the second half of the 24-19 defeat in Kitakyushu after suffering "heat-related cramps" in the intense conditions and has not recovered.

He is replaced by Aaron Wainwright as one of four changes made by interim head coach Matt Sherratt, who said he wanted to "freshen things up a bit".

Edwards comes in for Sam Costelow, while prop Archie Griffin starts with Keiron Assiratti dropping out of the squad.

Gloucester lock Freddie Thomas replaces Ben Carter, who has been ruled out because of concussion.

Ospreys duo Reuben Morgan-Williams and Keelan Giles, and Dragons prop Chris Coleman, could make their international debuts from the replacements' bench.

Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Ben Thomas, Josh Adams; Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (capt), Archie Griffin, Freddie Thomas, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, Josh Macleod, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: Liam Belcher, Gareth Thomas, Chris Coleman, James Ratti, Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Keelan Giles.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Bore da! Lovely morning to end a record losing streak, don't you think?

Thanks for getting up so early on a Saturday to follow Wales' latest attempt to win their first Test match since 2023.

If you missed last week's opening game in this two-Test series, Japan fought back from 19-7 down in the searing heat of Kitakyushu to inflict Wales' 18th successive international defeat.

Now the teams have made their way to Kobe as Wales look to pick themselves up from this all-time low.

This losing run has to end at some point. Right? RIGHT?!