Eddie Jones goes rogue in fly-half picks for Nations Championship

Deprived of more experienced options at 10, Eddie Jones has picked two fly-halves with three caps between for them for Japan’s Northern Hemipshere tour in the Nations Championship.

Seungsin Lee was the leading points scorer in world rugby in 2025, and had been the regular pick at 10 for a couple of seasons until suffering an injury in Kobelco Kobe Steelers’ 22-13 win over Kubota Spears in the Japanese Rugby League One Championship final in May.

Ryunosuke Ito was thrown in at the deep end for the Southern Hemisphere Series of the Nations Championship in July and came through his first-ever game of professional rugby, the 27-10 win over Italy, with flying colours.

The fourth-year university student, 21, has started every Test since then, but will not be available for the Brave Blossoms in November, as he is due to play for Meiji University in the Kanto University Intercollegiate Championship.

Meanwhile, Jones has resisted calls to select Kobe Steelers full-back Shunsuke Uenobo and Black Rams Tokyo playmaker Ichigo Nakakusu for the games against Wales, England and Scotland.

Never afraid to blood new talent – Japan handed debuts to more players than any other leading nation in 2025 (23), Jones has instead put his faith in Honda Heat’s uncapped fly-half Riku Kitahara.

Kitahara will compete with Toyota’s Shinya Komura, who won the last of his three caps as a replacement against Georgia in November last year.

Jones’ 35-man roster includes a total of three Test rookies, with Kitahara joined by Riku Tokita in the backs and Miu Austin Moriyama in the forwards. Japan selected 13 uncapped players in their squad for the Southern Hemisphere Series.

Japan’s Nations Championship squad for November:

Forwards: Sojiro Otsuka, Yota Kamimori, Sena Kimura, Kenji Sato, Mamoru Harada, Kanato Hirano, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Shuhei Takeuchi, Keijiro Tamefusa, Jack Cornelsen, Michael Stolberg, Warner Dearns, Ruan Botha, Harry Hockings, Ben Gunter, Tiennan Costley, Kanji Shimokawa, Esei Ha’angana, Miu Austin Moriyama.

Backs: Naito Saito, Kenta Fukuda, Shinobu Fujiwara, Shinya Komura, Riku Kitahara, Yuki Ikeda, Samisoni Tua, Dylan Riley, Chisu Lee, Charlie Lawrence, Kippei Ishida, Kazuma Ueda, Riku Tokito, Kpga Nezuka, Inoke Burua, Takuro Matsunaga.