Brave Blossoms Team Announced Ahead of Portugal Match

Japan Head Coach Jamie Joseph has announced the Brave Blossoms Team to take on Portugal at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra on Saturday November 13. The fixture will be the first test match played between the two nations.

Captained for the first time by Ryoto Nakamura, the side sees two new debutants receiving their first test caps, with Shogo Nakano starting at outside-center and second-row Warner Dearns named as a replacement on the reserves bench.

Michael Leitch returns to the match day 23 and will start at blindside-flanker, while Kaito Shigeno will start at half-back, returning to the starting 15 for the first time since Japan played the British & Irish Lions in June. Ishileli Nakajima, a key member of Japan’s Rugby World Cup 2019 squad, is set to play his first international test match since Japan’s Quarter-Final against South Africa in Tokyo at RWC2019 after being named as a reserve-prop.