Japan v Italy - Teams and Prediction

PREVIEW: Banned Japan coach Eddie Jones will be absent as his team begin their Nations Championship campaign in Tokyo on Saturday against an Italy side looking to build on Six Nations success.

Jones 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 this year.

Forwards coach Neal Hatley will fill in for the visit of Italy, who are riding high after beating England for the first time this year and matching their Six Nations record with a fourth-place finish.

Japan have named uncapped university student Ryunosuke Ito to start at flyhalf, and Hatley is expecting “a heavy-fought battle” against the physical Italians.

“The sides from the northern hemisphere have a very good scrum, very good drive,” he said.

“They’re very forward-dominated, so that’s where we expect the hardest part of the game to be, and we’re prepared for that.”

Ito is one of four uncapped players in Japan’s matchday squad, with the three others among the replacements.

The team is captained by Warner Dearns, who arrives fresh from winning the Super Rugby title in his first season with the Hurricanes.

Naoto Saito, who will start at scrumhalf, also tasted club success this season, winning the French Top 14 title with Toulouse.

Continues below…

Dearns said Japan were looking to crank their preparations for next year’s World Cup up a notch.

“This is the third year since Eddie started coaching us, and in the first year there were a lot of new things, and everyone was trying to make a connection, so it was a difficult year,” he said.

“We got a lot better last year, and this year we want to get better again.”

Japan also face Ireland in Newcastle, and France in Tokyo in the Nations Championship this month.

“I feel that there’s no point in playing rugby if you don’t want to win every game,” said Dearns.

“I want to give good performances leading up to the World Cup, but I also want to win every game.”

Italy debutants

Italy have two debutants in their starting line-up in the shape of flanker Alessandro Ortombina and winger Malik Faissal.

There is experience elsewhere in the team, with Juan Ignacio Brex partnering Tommaso Menoncello in the centres and flyhalf Paolo Garbisi alongside scrumhalf Stephen Varney.

Head coach Gonzalo Quesada said the team’s preparations have not been ideal, with players rusty after a post-season break and tired from a long flight to Tokyo.

Quesada said his players were “really committed” but also wary of the threat Japan pose.

“They showed the kind of exciting rugby they want to play, full of speed,” Quesada said of Japan.

“We know it can be super challenging for us, but we have worked on a strategy that can beat their style and try to also impose our rugby we want to play.”

Italy will travel to face New Zealand in Wellington and Australia in Perth in the Nations Championship after their game against Japan.

Quesada said his team’s schedule was “terribly hard, but we are really excited to start”.

“We know that we have to start playing the best rugby we can and not waste time and miss opportunities,” he said.

“Just go to the basics and do well.”

Players to watch:

For Japan: Centre Dylan Riley’s experience will have to come to the fore alongside his game-breaking ability to get his outside backs into space. There’s big praise for the university No.10 Ryunosuke Ito, and he will be tested to unlock an experienced Italian backline. In the pack, the mammoth figure of Warner Dearns, who on current form is one of the best locks in the world, will want to impose his dominance. The towering second rower played a key part in the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby title success, and he will want to carry that form into Test level.

For Italy: The centre combination of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello is one of the most dangerous in world rugby, and when they fire on all cylinders, they’re hard to stop. Left winger Monty Ioane is a lethal finisher who needs no invitation to the tryline. Of course, everything starts up front – the experienced front row of Danilo Fischetti, Tommaso Di Bartolomeo and Marco Riccioni will have to ensure they dominate so those backs can have a field day.

*See the teams and prediction below!

Prediction:

Rugby365: Italy by 12 points

Teams:

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

Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Malik Faissal, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan

Date: Saturday, July 4
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 17.40 JST (10.40 CEST; 08.40 GMT)
Predicted weather: A high of 26 degrees Celsius with wind gusts at 26 kilometres per hour and no chance of rain.
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)