Preview: France v Japan

In the third and final test of the autumn international season, Japan play France at the U Arena in the western suburbs of Paris on Saturday, 25 November 2017 on the Lipovitan D Tour 2017. The U Arena is the new home of Top 14 club Racing 92 and this will be the first test played at the venue.

France should still be buzzing this week, as the World Rugby Council awarded the rights to France for the Rugby World Cup 2023. At the meeting held in London on Wednesday, 15 November 2017, France received 23 votes to 15 for South Africa in the final round of voting after Ireland were eliminated in the first round. This will be the second time for France to host the finals after staging the event in 2007.

In the lead up to this test, Japan beat Tonga 39-6 in Toulouse last weekend, while before that, the Brave Blossoms lost 63-30 to Australia in Yokohama after a World XV side beat a Japan XV 47-27 in Fukuoka in late October.

South Africa edged past France 18-17 at the Stade de France in Paris last Saturday night, while les Bleus lost 38-18 to New Zealand at the same venue on Saturday, 11 November 2017. Meanwhile, a New Zealand XV beat France XV 38-23 in Lyon on the 14 November. Earlier in the year, France lost 35-12 and 37-15 to South Africa in the republic in June.

This will be the fourth full test played between Japan and France stretching back to 1973. France won the inaugural encounter 30-18 in Bordeaux and then followed that up with a 51-29 win in Townsville in the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and a 47-21 win in Auckland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Elsewhere, Japan have played France XV on six other occasions. Altogether, Japan and France, or France XV have met on nine occasions dating back to 1973 with the French yet to taste defeat.

The most recent meeting between Japan and France was at Auckland during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. France outscored Japan six tries to two on the way to a comfortable 47-21 win over the Brave Blossoms. Julien Pierre, Francois Trinh-Duc, Vincent Clerc, Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra scored the tries for France while five-eighth James Arlidge scored all the points for Japan through two tries, a conversion and three penalties.

Coming into this test, Japan are at 11 in the World Rugby Rankings this week, while France are eighth in the listings.

Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has made minimal changes to the side that beat Tonga for this test against France. The only change in the starting line-up is halfback Yutaka Nagare swapping places with Fumiaki Tanaka who drops to the bench. On the bench, back-rower Yoshitaka Tokunaga comes in to the XXIII for the injured Shunsuke Nunomaki.

In the starting side, in an unchanged pack, Keita Inagaki, Shota Horie and Jiwon Koo make up the front row. Meanwhile, South African-born Wimpie van der Walt and Shinya Makabe start in the second row. In the back-row, Michael Leitch is on the blind side flank with Kazuki Himeno on the open side and the dynamic Amanaki Mafi is at No8. New Zealand-born Leitch will captain Japan for the twenty-second time in his fifty-third test for his adopted country.

In the only change in the backs, halfback Yutaka Nagare is promoted from the bench with Fumiaki Tanaka dropping back to the woodwork. Meanwhile, Yu Tamura is the flyhalf and in the centres, Harumichi Tatekawa will collaborate with the enterprising Tim Lafaele for the third test in a row. Kenki Fukuoka is on the left wing, Mano Lemeki keeps his place on the right wing, as does Kotaro Matsushima at fullback. In all likelihood, Tamura will be the first-choice goal kicker, but Tatekawa is another option.

On the bench, Atsushi Sakate is the second hooker to Panasonic teammate Horie, Shintaro Ishihara is the spare loose head prop and Asaeli Ai Valu is the additional tight head prop. Elsewhere, back-rower Yoshitaka Tokunaga, who comes on to the bench for the injured Shunsuke Nunomaki, will cover the rest of the forward positions with Fetuani Lautaimi. Joseph is carrying three backs on the bench with Tanaka the back-up halfback while Sione Teaupa and Yoshikazu Fujita complete the reserves.

Horie and Leitch are the only survivors in the starting line-up from the last time Japan played France at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland during Rugby World Cup 2011. Moreover, Tanaka was in the run-on side against France back in 2011, but he will start from the bench this time around.

Following the one-point loss to South Africa at Stade de France last weekend, France head coach Guy Noves has made eight changes to his run-on side to play Japan in Nanterre. He has named a big, powerful side to face the Brave Blossoms with two uncapped players in the starting line-up to offset a very experienced pack of forwards. Racing 92 winger Teddy Thomas is the only survivor out wide as Noves rings the changes in the backline.

Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado and Rabah Slimani make up the unchanged front row with Guirado the captain. Meanwhile, Romain Taofifenua and Sebastien Vahaamahina are massive locks who both stand over two metres and this will give les Bleus a significant height advantage at line-out time. Judicael Cancoriet and the uncapped Sekou Macalou are on the side of the scrum while the experienced Louis Picamoles at number eight is the most-capped player in this squad with 67 caps to his name.

In the backs, Baptiste Serin is the halfback and Francois Trinh-Duc takes his place in the number ten jersey. Trinh-Duc lines up against Japan for the second time as the only survivor in the side from the last time these two sides met in Auckland in 2011. Henry Chavancy and Damian Penaud are the centres, while Teddy Thomas and the uncapped Gabriel Lacroix from the La Rochelle club are the wings. South African-born Scott Spedding is fullback to add experience and stability at the back.

On a relatively inexperienced bench, Camille Chat, Daniel Kotze and Sebastien Taofifenua are the spare front row. Sebastien is the younger brother of lock Romain Taofifenua. Paul Jedrasiak and Fabien Sanconnie will cover the rest of the forward positions. Noves has a five-three split on the bench with Antoine Dupont, who is the only player from Toulouse in his side, the second halfback. Finally, the Toulon pair of Mathieu Bastareaud and Hugo Bonneval complete the listing. The devastating Bastareaud is the most experienced player on the bench for France with 41 caps and he is certain to have an impact when he takes to the field.