Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Japan name side tasked with keeping their 100 per cent win record over South Africa alive

Kotaro Matsushima takes on the French defence during Japan's 23-23 draw with France in Paris in 2017. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Japan has named a strong squad for their pre-Rugby World Cup Test with South Africa, with coach Jamie Joseph placing the tournament hosts on notice.

ADVERTISEMENT

The former All Black described Friday’s assignment in Kumagaya as a “must-perform” match as the Brave Blossoms finalise preparations with their last warm-up match before the Cup opener against Russia on September 20.

After winning all three matches in the competition to clinch the Pacific Nations Cup last month, Joseph’s men are coming into the contest full of confidence but know that the Springboks, recent winners of the Rugby Championship, pose a different threat.

“South Africa is a must-perform game; we need to perform, play our type of rugby and take our challenge to them,” he said.

“It is the last game of our preparation, gives our players a real physical experience at the set-piece, at the tackle, in the lineout and in the maul.”

Japan will be without injured key forwards Shota Horie and Kazuki Himenobut Joseph believes he has selected a team that can challenge the South Africans at the set-piece and breakdown.

Joseph saw the match as key World Cup preparation.

ADVERTISEMENT

“You have to think about the opposition we are coming up against in the World Cup and all the four teams have strong set-piece,” said Joseph, whose team are drawn in Pool A alongside Russia, Samoa, Ireland and Scotland.

“Russia have a very strong pack, a very strong lineout. Samoa is a very strong scrum, Ireland and Scotland will target us in those areas so they (South Africa) play similar rugby to what we are expecting.”

With a physical battle expected, Uwe Helu starts at lock alongside Luke Thompson, a veteran of Japan’s famous victory over South Africa four years ago, with captain Michael Leitch joined in the back row by Pieter Labuschagne and Amanaki Mafi.

Japan: Will Tupou, Kotaro Matsushima, Timothy Lafaele, Ryoto Nakamura, Kenki Fukuoka, Yu Tamura, Kaito Shigeno, Amana ki Mafi, Pieter Labuschagne, Michael Leitch (capt), Uwe Helu, Luke Thompson, Jiwon Koo, Atsushi Sakate, Keita Inagaki. Res: Takuya Kitade, Isileli Nakajima, Asaeli Ai Valu, James Moore, Kazuki Tokunaga, Yutaka Nagare, Rikiya Matsuda, Ataata Moeakiola.

ADVERTISEMENT

– AAP

There’s plenty to keep you entertained in Fukuoka at night:

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

f
fl 1 hour ago
‘Props are awesome…so why don’t they win prizes?’

“The reason most props don’t last the whole game is that they expend proportionally more effort than players outside the front row. Should they be penalised for that?”

No, they don’t last the whole game because they are less fit than players outside the front row. I’d be interested to know if you’d apply this logic to other positions; do PSDT and Itoje regularly last longer than other players in their positions because they put in less effort?

None of this is about “penalising” props, its about being realistic about their impact on a game.


“While scrums are a small part of the game in terms of time spent in them, they have disproportionate impact. Dominant scrums win games; feeble ones lose them.”

Strength at the breakdown wins games. Good kicking wins games. Good handling wins games. Strong defence wins games. Good lineouts win games. Ultimately, I think that of all these things, the scrum is probably the least important, because it demonstrably doesn’t correlate very well with winning games. I don’t think Rugbypass will allow me to link articles, but if you google “HG Rugby Crowning the Best Scrum in Club Rugby” you’ll get a pretty convincing analysis that ranks Toulouse and Bordeaux outside of the 10 best club sides in the scrum - and ranks Leinster outside of the top 30.


“Or there’s Joe Marler’s epic performance in the Bristol v Quins 2021 Premiership Semi-Final, in which he finally left the pitch 15 minutes into extra time having signed off with a try saving tackle.”

Yeah - that’s a good example actually, but it kind of disproves your point. Marler played 95 minutes, which is unheard of for a prop.


“Maybe we need a dedicated Hall of Fame with entry only for props, and voted for only by props.”

Well we have the World Rugby XV of the year. Its only been going for a few years, but in time it’ll be a pretty good record of who are perceived as best props - although the lack of interest most people have in scrums means that perception of who the best props are doesn’t always match reality (e.g. Tadgh Furlong was great in 2018 - but was he really the best tighthead in the world in 2021, 2022, & 2023?).

7 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Christian Wade scores twice in just second rugby league match Christian Wade scores twice for Wigan Warriors reserves
Search