Kirwan to uncork new 'Japanese style'
Japan pledged on Thursday to unleash an all-new ‘Japanese style’ to rival France’s ‘champagne rugby’ at the World Cup, as they announced a strong line-up to face the European heavyweights this weekend.
Coach and All Blacks great John Kirwan said the Brave Blossoms would put on a display of expansive, committed rugby on Saturday as they go in search of just their second World Cup win.
“What you’ll see on Saturday is an incredibly committed group of players that know how to play the game. We’ve chosen a style that suits us and we’re hoping that that style you’ll see very quickly,” Kirwan said.
“We call it ‘Japanese style’. I think if you talk about French rugby, when they play their best you call it ‘champagne rugby’. I’m hoping that on Saturday night after the game you’ll understand what Japanese rugby is.
“For us it’s about playing the game expansively and showing courage and commitment in all facets of play.”
Kirwan made just two changes from last month’s warm-up defeat to Italy, with Luke Thompson coming in for the injured Justin Ives and veteran Hirotoki Onozawa getting the nod on the wing.
Flank Takashi Kikutani remains captain of the team which claimed their fourth straight Asian Five Nations title in May and lifted a maiden Pacific Nations Cup in July.
“These guys are definitely the guys who are on form. We had two guys who are unavailable through injury – Justin Ives and [Yuta] Imamura – so besides those two these are the 22 that we decided are playing the best at the moment,” Kirwan said.
Japan are seeking to improve their World Cup record of just one win in six appearances, but they are facing a tough Pool A also including New Zealand, Tonga and Canada.
“We talked about winning two games and that’s one of the important goals for us. I think the most important thing for us is to be the most improved side in the World Cup,” Kirwan said.
“To do that we need to be very competitive on Saturday night and next Friday night (against New Zealand) and play incredibly well to get two wins.
“For us it’s the start of the tournament and we really want to show the world how much the Japanese team has improved.”
The run-on team featured five non-ethnic Japanese players, continuing Kirwan’s policy of using foreign talent to boost the team’s fortunes as they prepare to host the World Cup in 2019.
Japan have never won in eight meetings with France, including a 29-51 reverse at the 2003 World Cup in Australia.
Japan: 15 Shaun Webb, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryukoliniasi Holani, 7 Michael Leitch, 6 Takashi Kikutani (captain), 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Nozomu Fujita, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Itaru Taniguchi, 20 Atsushi Hiwasa, 21 Murray Williams, 22 Alisi Tupuailai.
Date: Saturday, September 10
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Kick-off: 18.00 (06.00 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland)), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
AFP
