Japan make changes for Tonga test
BURNABY, British Columbia (Aug. 1) – Japan coach Eddie Jones has made five changes and one positional switch from the side that started last week’s narrow loss to Fiji as the Brave Blossoms look to take third place in this year’s Pacific Nations Cup.
Michael Leitch leads the side against Tonga at Swangard Stadium and lines up in the back row alongside Michael Broadhurst and Ryu Koliniasi Holani, who is back in the side with Hendrik Tui on the bench.
Veteran lock Hitoshi Ono is also restored and the 37-year-old (who will be winning his 91st cap) will pack down with Shoji Ito with Keita Inagaki, Shota Horie and Hiroshi Yamashita in the front row.
In the backs, Kosei Ono starts at flyhalf alongside Fumiaki Tanaka with Harumichi Tatekawa moving to inside center.
Tatekawa will partner Kotaro Matsushima in the midfield with Yoshikazu Fujita and Karne Hesketh coming in on the wings.
Vice captain Ayumu Goromaru is set to win his 50th cap at fullback.
On the bench, Hisateru Hirashima, Hiroki Yuhara and Kensuke Hatakeyama provide the cover for the front row, with Hayden Hopgood and Hendrik Tui the two other reserve forwards.
Atsushi Hiwasa is the back-up scrumhalf while the other two backs on the bench are Tim Bennetts and Craig Wing, whose last game for Japan was against Scotland in November 2013.
| No | Name | Club Team | Graduate | cm | kg | D/O/B | Caps |
| 1 | Keita INAGAKI | PANASONIC Wild Knights | Kanto Gakuin Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1990/6/2 | 5 |
| 2 | Shota HORIE | PANASONIC Wild Knights | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1986/1/21 | 34 |
| 3 | Hiroshi YAMASHITA | KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 183 | 122 | 1986/1/1 | 41 |
| 4 | Shoji ITO | KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 191 | 100 | 1980/12/2 | 33 |
| 5 | Hitoshi ONO | TOSHIBA Brave Lupus | Nihon Univ. | 192 | 106 | 1978/5/6 | 90 |
| 6 | * Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA Brave Lupus | Tokai Univ. | 190 | 105 | 1988/10/7 | 39 |
| 7 | Michael BROADHURST | RICOH BlackRams | Campion College | 196 | 111 | 1986/10/30 | 19 |
| 8 | Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI | PANASONIC Wild Knights | Saitama Institute of Technology Univ. | 188 | 112 | 1981/10/25 | 40 |
| 9 | Fumiaki TANAKA | PANASONIC Wild Knights | Kyoto Sangyo Univ. | 166 | 71 | 1985/1/3 | 45 |
| 10 | Kosei ONO | SUNTORY Sungoliath | Christchurch Boys HS | 171 | 83 | 1987/4/17 | 26 |
| 11 | Yoshikazu FUJITA | Waseda Univ. | Higashi Fukuoka HS | 184 | 90 | 1993/9/8 | 25 |
| 12 | Harumichi TATEKAWA | KUBOTA Spears | Tenri Univ. | 181 | 94 | 1989/12/2 | 35 |
| 13 | Kotaro MATSUSHIMA | SUNTORY Sungoliath | Toin Gakuen HS | 175 | 88 | 1993/2/26 | 9 |
| 14 | Karne HESKETH | Munakata SANIX Blues | Univ. of Otago | 178 | 98 | 1985/8/1 | 7 |
| 15 | Ayumu GOROMARU | YAMAHA Jubilo | Waseda Univ. | 185 | 99 | 1986/3/1 | 49 |
| 16 | Hisateru HIRASHIMA | KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers | Fukuoka Univ. | 180 | 110 | 1983/1/15 | 41 |
| 17 | Hiroki YUHARA | TOSHIBA Brave Lupus | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. | 173 | 102 | 1984/1/21 | 21 |
| 18 | Kensuke HATAKEYAMA | SUNTORY Sungoliath | Waseda Univ. | 178 | 115 | 1985/8/2 | 65 |
| 19 | Hayden HOPGOOD | – | Shirley Boys HS | 190 | 105 | 1980/7/30 | 8 |
| 20 | Hendrik TUI | SUNTORY Sungoliath | Teikyo Univ. | 189 | 107 | 1987/12/13 | 28 |
| 21 | Atsushi HIWASA | SUNTORY Sungoliath | Hosei Univ. | 166 | 72 | 1987/5/22 | 43 |
| 22 | Craig WING | KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers | Univ. of New South Wales | 180 | 90 | 1979/12/26 | 7 |
| 23 | Tim BENNETTS | CANON Eagles | Pennant Hills HS | 185 | 90 | 1990/8/1 | 1 |
*Captain
