Eddie Jones selects former Sharks player for Bok clash

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Japan head coach Eddie Jones has revealed his hand for Saturday’s clash against the Springboks in London.

From a South African point of view, there will be a spotlight on forward Tyler Paul, who has been included on the bench.

The 30-year-old South African made his debut for Japan when he came off the bench in last weekend’s 15-19 defeat to the Wallabies in Tokyo.

He represented the Southern Kings and the Sharks before he made the move to Japan in 2021, where he joined the Red Hurricanes.

In 2022, he joined the D-Rocks before switching to the Spears in 2024.

Meanwhile, Yoshitaka Yazaki will start at fullback, and he is joined in the back three by Kippei Ishida and Tomoki Osada.

Dylan Riley, who was born in Durban, and Charlie Lawrence will form the midfield combination.

Lee Seung-sin holds onto the No.10 jersey, and his halfback partner will be Shinobu Fujiwara.

In the front row, Shuhei Takeuchi, Kenji Sato and Kenta Kobayashi will pack down in the scrums, while Warner Dearns and Jack Cornelsen will form the second row combination.

The back row will consist of Michael Leitch, Kanji Shimokawa and Ben Gunter.

Japan: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 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 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi.
Replacements: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tiennan Costley.

Date: Saturday, November 1
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
Kick-off: 16.10 (18.10 SAST; 16.10 GMT; 00.10 JST, Sunday, November 2)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)