Japan backs rookie playmaker for Italian job
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Japan forwards coach Neal Hatley named uncapped student flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito to start against Italy in their Nations Championship opener in Tokyo, with banned head coach Eddie Jones absent.
Hatley is filling in for Jones, who is serving the last game of a four-match suspension imposed by the Japan Rugby Football Union for abusing match officials on a tour of Australia earlier this year.
The 21-year-old Ito is set to make his debut in Saturday’s encounter after being called up on the strength of his performances for Meiji University.
Hatley said Ito was capable of “flashes of attacking brilliance” and backed him to make an impact against Italy.
“He’s really aggressive, and he looks to attack the line,” said Hatley.
“A big part of our DNA is attack. We want to play like a strong Japanese team, so attack is a big part of that.
“We feel that the way that we want to play, he suits starting for our team,” he added.
Ito is one of four uncapped players in Japan’s matchday squad, with the three others among the replacements.
Warner Dearns captains the side and will be joined in the second row by Harry Hockings, who will win his third cap.
Dearns comes to the team fresh from winning the Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes.
Naoto Saito, who will start at scrumhalf, also tasted club success this season, winning the French Top 14 title with Toulouse.
“We are looking for players who are used to winning, and Warner’s won three titles in three years,” said Hatley.
“Naoto’s been part of a Toulouse team that is probably the best team in Europe.
“They’ve got winning experience, which is very important for the other young men in our team.”
Michael Leitch was named among the substitutes and will win his 93rd cap if he plays.
Japan will also play Ireland in Australia and France at home in the inaugural Nations Championship this month.
Japan: 15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Kazuma Ueda, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Yuya Hirose, 11 Kippei Ishida, 10 Ryunosuke Ito, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (captain), 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe
Replacements: 16 Hayate Era, 17 Sojiro Otsuka, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Tiennan Costley, 22 Itsuki Kamimura, 23 Sam Greene
Date: Saturday, July 4
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 17.40 JST (10.40 CEST; 08.40 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
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