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World Cup stars return as Jamie Joseph confirms Japan squad to face British and Irish Lions
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has named a raft of 2019 World Cup heroes in his 36-man squad to face the British and Irish Lions in Edinburgh next month.
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Joseph confirmed the squad a day after the Top League final, trimming 16 players from the 52-man wider training squad announced in April.
Of those who made the cut, 19 players from the Brave Blossoms squad that made an historic run to the 2019 World Cup knockout stages on home soil have returned for what is set to be Japan’s first test match since their quarter-final defeat to South Africa.
Headlining those returnees is Toshiba Brave Lupus loose forward Michael Leitch, who will resume captaincy duties of the national side.
Leitch will be joined by fellow World Cup stars such as Highlanders No 8 Kazuki Himeno and Clermont wing Kotaro Matsushima.
Both Himeno and Matsushima will be unavailable for Japan’s warm-up fixture against the Sunwolves in Shizuoka on June 12 due to their club commitments overseas.
Joseph has also named a cohort of 13 uncapped players, many of whom are foreigners who have qualified for Japan on residency grounds.
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That contingent includes Kiwi forwards Craig Millar and Mark Abbott, South African backs Shane Gates and Gerhard van den Heever, and Australian flankers Ben Gunter and Jack Cornelsen.
Millar, Abbott, Gates and van den Heever all played Super Rugby for the Sunwolves under the guidance of Joseph and assistant coach Tony Brown between 2018 and 2019, as did uncapped flyer Semisi Masirewa, who has also been named in the Japan squad.
There are also 16 players who featured in Sunday’s Top League final, seven of whom played for the title-winning Panasonic Wild Knights side, while a further nine were part of the Suntory Sungoliath team.
Notable omissions from the 16 players who were cut from the extended training squad include 2019 World Cup prop Isileli Nakajima, ex-Blues and Sunwolves lock Liaki Moli, recently-departed Kobelco Steelers star Lui Naeata, former Australian U20 midfielder Dylan Riley and ex-Chiefs wing Ataata Moeakiola.
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Following their match against the Sunwolves, Japan will fly out to Scotland on June 16 to play their first-ever test against the British and Irish Lions at Murrayfield on June 26 in front of a restricted crowd of 16,500.
The Brave Blossoms will then face off against Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on July 3.
Brave Blossoms squad to face British and Irish Lions, Ireland and Sunwolves
Props: Keita Inagaki (Panasonic Wild Knights), Asaeli Ai Valu (Panasonic Wild Knights), Shinnosuke Kakinaga (Suntory Sungoliath), Jiwon Koo (Honda Heat), Craig Millar (Panasonic Wild Knights)*, Yukio Morikawa (Suntory Sungoliath)*
Hookers: Atsushi Sakate (Panasonic Wild Knights), Shunta Nakamura (Suntory Sungoliath)*, Kosuke Horikoshi (Suntory Sungoliath)
Locks: Mark Abbott (Munakata Sanix Blues)*, Wimpie van der Walt (NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes), Uwe Helu (Yamaha Jubilo), James Moore (Munakata Sanix Blues)
Flankers: Naoki Ozawa (Suntory Sungoliath), Ben Gunter (Panasonic Wild Knights)*, Jack Cornelsen (Panasonic Wild Knights)*, Pieter Labuschagne (Kubota Spears), Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
No 8s: Tevita Tatafu (Suntory Sungoliath), Amanaki Lelei Mafi (Canon Eagles), Kazuki Himeno (Toyota Verblitz/Highlanders)
Halfbacks: Koki Arai (Canon Eagles)*, Naoto Saito (Suntory Sungoliath)*, Kaito Shigeno (Toyota Verblitz)
First-Fives: Yu Tamura (Canon Eagles), Rikiya Matsuda (Panasonic Wild Knights)
Midfielders: Shane Gates (NTT Communications Shining Arcs)*, Ryoto Nakamura (Suntory Sungoliath), Timothy Lafaele (Kobelco Steelers)
Wings: Shota Emi (Suntory Sungoliath)*, Siosaia Fifita (Kintetsu Liners)*, Semisi Masirewa (Kintetsu Liners)*, Kotaro Matsushima (Clermont Auvergne), Lomano Lava Lemeki (Munakata Sanix Blues)
Fullbacks: Gerhard van den Heever (Kubota Spears)*, Ryohei Yamanaka (Kobelco Steelers)
* – denotes new cap
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments