Japan head coach Eddie Jones has made six alterations to his starting line-up for their clash with the Wallabies in Tokyo on Saturday with veteran back-row Michael Leitch making his return in the back-row.
Leitch, who is a former Japan head coach, has been named to start at number eight in this this eagerly anticipated Test which will be the first time that Jones will face off against Australia since he stepped down from his position as Wallabies head coach.
This, after their disastrous 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign, to start his second stint in charge of the Brave Blossoms.
Meanwhile, Ben Gunter has also been recalled and joins Leitch amongst the loose forwards as he has been named on the blindside flank while Kanji Shimokawa completes the back-row as he starting openside.
Four Australian-raised players in Japan’s matchday 23
Gunter is one of four Australian-raised players in Japan‘s matchday 23 alongside Dylan Riley and Jack Cornelsen, who have been named at outside centre and lock respectively, as well as Sam Greene who is one of the replacements backs.
Other changes from Japan’s run-on side which suffered a narrow loss to Fiji in last month’s Pacific Nations Cup final in Salt Lake City sees Yoshitaka Yazaki and Kippei Ishida returning to start at full-back and on the right wing respectively.
Ishida’s return means Tomoki Osada moves to the left wing and Shogo Nakano joins Riley to form the midfield partnership, while Lee Seung-sin retains his spot as the starting fly-half.
Cornelsen is joined in the second-row by the team’s skipper Warner Dearns while Hayate Era packs down at hooker alongside Shuhei Takeuchi and Kenta Kobayashi, who are the starting props.
Meanwhile, South African utility forward Tyler Paul, who covers lock and the back-row, is set to make his Test debut off the bench and is joined by Kenji Sato, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa and Tiennan Costley as forward cover.
Jones has opted for a 5/3 bench split with Kenta Fukuda, Charlie Lawrence and Sam Greene lining up as the backline replacements.
Japan have never beaten Australia in six previous Tests between these nations.
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Coaching against Australia is nothing new to Jones, who had a successful head-to-head record against the Wallabies during his stint as England’s head coach from 2015 to 2022.
The 65-year-old revealed that he is looking forward to upsetting his countrymen again.
“I enjoy beating Australia – I coached against them 10 times for England and beat them nine times,” he said.
“Playing against you own country, there’s always a certain amount of different feeling involved in it, but it just brings out the extreme competitive spirit within yourself.”
Japan team to face Australia
Japan: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Shogo Nakano, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Lee Seung-sin, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Hayate Era, 1 Kenta Kobayashi
Replacements: 16 Kenji Sato, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Tiennan Costley, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Charlie Lawrence, 23 Sam Greene
Date: Saturday, October 25
Venue: National Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 14:50 local (16:50 AEDT, 06:50 BST, 05:50 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Mabey (New Zealand), Morgan White (Hong Kong)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
FPRO: Matt Rodden (HKCR)
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