Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

Japan makes three changes as France hand Max Spring debut

By AAP
Max Spring of the Barbarians celebrates after their victory over England during the International match between England and Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on June 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images for Barbarians)

Japan coach Jamie Joseph has tweaked his team as they look to bounce back against France in Saturday’s second rugby Test while the Six Nations champions made only one change to their side.

ADVERTISEMENT

Japan, led by hooker Atsushi Sakate, lost 42-23 in the first Test last weekend after having gone into the halftime break at 13 points all.

Seungsin Lee has retained the number 10 jersey for Saturday’s match after his solid performance at five-eighth in the last game, while veteran Yu Tamura returns to the team on the bench as the reserve playmaker.

Video Spacer

Bryan Habana, Jonny Hill’s hair pulling and South Africa’s revenge | RugbyPass Offload | Ep 41

Video Spacer

Bryan Habana, Jonny Hill’s hair pulling and South Africa’s revenge | RugbyPass Offload | Ep 41

Naoto Saito at halfback and reserve hooker Shota Horie also return to the squad after missing out last weekend, while Takayusa Tsuji is set to earn his first cap. He is joined by 13 players with fewer than 10 Test caps.

“Last week we were able to play well and put pressure on France, but in the second half we lost a bit of control and started overplaying at times. This week we’ve got to be more balanced and controlled,” said Jo seph.

“We won’t look to change how we play but will need to be a little smarter when we have the ball.”

Related

France coach Fabien Galthie has brought in Max Spring, who will play at fullback in place of Melvyn Jaminet. Max Lucu will take the kicks in the absence of Jaminet.

France have never lost to Japan.

Japan: 15-Ryohei Yamanaka, 14-Gerhard Van Den Heever, 13-Dylan Riley, 12-Shogo Nakano, 11-Siosaia Fifita, 10-Seungsin Lee, 9-Naoto Saito, 8-Jack Cornelsen, 7-Ben Gunter, 6-Michael Leitch, 5-Sanaila Waqa, 4-Warner Dearns, 3-Asaeli Ai Valu, 2-Atsushi Sakate, 1-Keita Inagaki. Replacements: 16-Shota Horie, 17-Yukio Morikawa, 18-Yusuke Kizu, 19-Takayasu Tsuji, 20-Tevita Tatafu, 21-Kaito Shigeno, 22-Yu Tamura, 23-Shane Gates.

ADVERTISEMENT

France: 15-Max Spring, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Virimi Vakatawa, 12-Yoram Moefana, 11-Matthis Lebel, 10-Matthieu Jalibert, 9-Maxime Lucu, 8-Yoan Tanga, 7-Charles Ollivon, 6-Dylan Cretin, 5-Thomas Jolmes, 4-Thibaud Flament, 3-Demba Bamba, 2- Peato Mauvaka, 1-Jean-Baptiste Gros. Replacement s: 16-Pierre Bourgarit, 17-Dany Priso, 18-Sipili Falatea, 19-Thomas Lavault, 20-Ibrahim Diallo, 21-Sekou Macalou, 22-Baptiste Couilloud, 23-Antoine Hastoy

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

B
Bull Shark 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Sharks captain Mbonambi addresses controversial incident with referee Sharks captain Mbonambi addresses controversial incident with referee
Search