Japan bring in Wimpie for World Cup opener
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Japan captain Michael Leitch said Wednesday that he has been “all over the place” in practice in the run-up to this week’s World Cup opener against Russia.
The talismanic skipper, who missed a chunk of the year with a groin injury, was named in a strong Brave Blossoms side by Japan coach Jamie Joseph for Friday’s Pool A clash in Tokyo.
Joseph has made seven changes to the team that lost to the Springboks with SA-born lock Wimpie van der Walt included in the second row.
Leitch, joined by Japan stalwarts Yu Tamura and Shota Horie in an experienced starting line-up, admitted he has been taken aback by the scale of the media attention on the hosts in the run-up to the game.
“This is no normal turnout,” Leitch told a packed news conference.
“I’m so nervous I’ve been making all sorts of mistakes in training – there’s so many people and so many cameras. But I’m very proud to be part of the World Cup and to be captain of the Japan rugby team.”
Leitch, who orchestrated Japan’s jaw-dropping 34-32 victory over South Africa in their opening game on England’s south coast four years ago, predicted that the home side would make history by reaching the knockout stage for the first time.
“In 2015 everyone expected us to lose – even the Japanese public,” said the Japan flanker.
“But when we beat South Africa, all eyes were on us. The next game against Scotland 30 million people watched on TV and even though we lost, it inspired Japan.
“This time we’ve got the opportunity to inspire Japan again. We’ve trained well, prepared well and this will be Japan’s best World Cup ever.”
Joseph, who will be without flying wing Kenki Fukuoka (thigh strain), insisted Japan would not go into Friday’s game as favourites, despite the weight of evidence.
【日本代表】
日本ラグビーフットボール協会は、9月20日（金）に開幕する「ラグビーワールドカップ2019（#RWC2019）」へ向けた日本代表最終登録メンバー計31名を決定しました→https://t.co/cA70bBuVKz #rugbyjp #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/IAyyYxFo7T— 日本ラグビーフットボール協会 (@JRFUMedia) August 29, 2019
Japan: 15 William Tupou, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Lomano Lava Lemeki, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 James Moore, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Asaeli Ai Valu, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Koo Ji-won, 19 Luke Thompson, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka.
Date: Friday, September 20
Venue: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 19.45 (10.45 GMT; 13.45 Russia [Moscow] time)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
