Jones names squad for HSBC A5N opener

TOKYO (April 8) – Japan coach Eddie Jones named a 35-man squad Monday for his team’s opening game in this year’s HSBC Asian Five Nations. 

Five-time champions Japan takes on the Philippines in Fukuoka on April 20, the opening day of the tournament, having won all 20 of their previous games in the competition, picking up a bonus point in every game.

Jones’ squad is the strongest available to him, barring injuries and the unavailability of three players – Fumiaki Tanaka, Shota Horie and Michael Leitch – currently involved in Super Rugby.

Hirotoki Onozawa and Hitoshi Ono provide the experience with 76 and 63 caps, respectively, with Onozawa needing just three caps to draw level with Yukio Motoki as Japan’s most capped player.

The future of Japanese rugby is represented by the collegiate trio of Keisuke Uchida, Ryota Nakamura and Kenki Fukuoka. The latter two are joined by six other uncapped players, including Male Sa’u.

Kosuke Endo, Toshizumi Kitagawa and Justin Ives all earn recalls to the squad. The three were all part of Japan’s squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but have yet to play under Jones.

In addition to the squad, it was also announced that former All Black Filo Tiatia would be working with the squad as a spot coach from April 17-25. Tiatia currently works in Japan as head coach of Toyota Verblitz.

Following the game against the newly promoted Philippines, Japan travels to Hong Kong for a game on April 27 before taking on South Korea in Tokyo on May 4 and the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on May 10.