New-look Japan to face England
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has made wholesale changes for Saturday’s clash against England at Twickenham.
Joseph made several changes to the side that suffered a 31-69 defeat to New Zealand two weekends ago.
In the pack Masakatsu Nishikawa comes into the starting XV in the absence of Hendrik Tui.
Nishikawa’s spot in the starting line-up means that Kazuki Himeno will don the No.8 jersey and captain Michael Leitch retain his place at flank.
The second row sees Uwe Helu partner up with South African-born Wimpie van der Walt. In the front row Jiwon Koo will take up the role as blindside flank and he will line up at alongside Atsushi Sakate and Keita Inagaki.
Joseph also reshuffled the backline.
William Tupou switches from outside centre to fullback, replacing Ryohei Yamanaka. The move means that Timothy Lafaele will now move from outside to inside centre, where he partners up with Ryoto Nakamura.
Akihito Yamada comes in on the wing, while Fumikai Tanaka replaces Yutaka Nagare at scrumhalf.
Japan: 15 William Tupou, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 22 Yutaka Nagare, 23 Rikiya Matsuda
Date: Saturday, November 17
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Kick-off: 15.00 (00.00, Sunday, November 18)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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