Brave Blossoms Team Announced For All Blacks Clash
Japan Head Coach Jamie Joseph has today announced the Brave Blossoms team to take on the All Blacks this Saturday, October 29 in their Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2022 clash at Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo. Kicking off at 14:50 local time, Japan will be looking to make a strong start on home soil in their Autumn test match series, before departing for Europe to take on England and France in November.
The match will be the seventh between the two nations since their first test match in 1987, with the Brave Blossoms yet to taste victory against the three-time World Champions. With Japan having developed significantly since their last match in Tokyo in 2018, the Brave Blossoms will be looking to take this opportunity to record their best result against New Zealand.
The Brave Blossoms will be once again led from the front row, with Captain Atsushi Sakate set to earn his 31st test cap at hooker. He is joined by the experienced, 42-cap Keita Inagaki at loosehead, while at tight head, 18-cap Jiwon Gu returns to the national team for the first time since Japan’s test against Portugal in November 2021.
The second row sees the emerging locking combination of 4-cap Warner Dearns alongside 9-cap Jack Cornelsen, while a strong backrow sees the dynamic, 22-cap Kazuki Himeno at openside, the talismanic, 75-cap Michael Leith at blindside and 124-kilogram wrecking ball, 12-cap Tevita Tatafu anchors the scrum at number eight.
In the halves, the experienced, 27-cap Yutake Nagare slots in at halfback alongside emerging playmaker, Takuya Yamasawa who is set to earn his 5th test cap at flyhalf, while the remainder of the backline is the same employed by the Japan XV in their last two, non-capped fixtures against Australia A.
Ryoto Nakamura brings his 30 test caps of experience to inside centre, alongside the hard running, hard tacking, 7-cap Dylan Riley at outside centre. In the back three, the potent try scoring combination of 9-cap Siosaia Fifita and 44-cap veteran, Kotaro Matsushima cover the left and right wings respectively, while the ever-reliable Ryohei Yamanaka slots in once again at fullback in his 25th test for Japan.
On the reserves bench, replacement hooker Takeshi Hino is set to earn his 6th test cap after returning to the side for the first time since the first test against Uruguay back in June. He is joined by replacement props, 6-cap Craig Millar and Shuhei Takeuchi, who will make his second test appearance after debuting in the first Uruguay test. The impressive Kanji Shimokawa is set to earn his first Japan cap as a backrow replacement after having started in all three of the recent Japan XV fixtures against Australia A, while 4-cap Faulua Makisi is named as a second backrow replacement.
For the backline reserves, the exciting Naoto Saito had been named as replacement scrumhalf in his 9th appearance and is joined by 3-cap Seungsin Lee as the reserve playmaker, while outside back Gerhard van den Heever rounds off the matchday 23 in his fourth test for Japan.
Commenting on the Brave Blossoms team selection, Japan Head Coach Jamie Joseph said:
“Coming into this weekend, the energy within the team has been really positive and we’re excited for the match. Against Australia A we learnt the need to be consistent when the pressure comes on. In the last match, we were up by 20 points and through some mental lapses, we allowed them back into the game and they put us under real pressure. This week we need to ensure we’ve got really experienced, highly competent players coming on during those tough parts of the match, so that’s been a big driver with our selections on the bench.
“Our focus has been on us as a team and what we can do to create pressure and opportunities for ourselves. The All Blacks like to control the game through the set piece, so we’ve done a lot of work with our scrum and lineout knowing that we’re playing a very big and experienced pack that will try and dominate us up front. We have to manage that and then, when we can create quality ball for our backs, as we showed against Ausatralia A, we can score some quality tries as well.”
Saturday’s match kicks off at 14:50 JST and will be telecast in Japan via NTV and Hulu from 14:30 JST and JSports One from 14:00 JST. The match will also be shown live and via catch-up on JSports On-demand.
In addition to their match against New Zealand in Tokyo, Japan is also due to face England at Twickenham on Saturday, November 12 and France in Toulouse on Sunday, November 20.
TEAM LIST
| No. | Name | Club Team |
| 1 | Keita INAGAKI | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 2 | Atsushi SAKATE | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 3 | Jiwon GU | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS |
| 4 | Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO |
| 5 | Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 6 | Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO |
| 7 | Kazuki HIMENO | TOYOTA VERBLITZ |
| 8 | Tevita TATAFU | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 9 | Yutaka NAGARE | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 10 | Takuya YAMASAWA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 11 | Siosaia FIFITA | HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS |
| 12 | Ryoto NAKAMURA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 14 | Kotaro MATSUSHIMA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 15 | Ryohei YAMANAKA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS |
| 16 | Takeshi HINO | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs |
| 17 | Craig MILLAR | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS |
| 18 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | URAYASU D-Rocks |
| 19 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 20 | Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY |
| 21 | Naoto SAITO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH |
| 22 | Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS |
| 23 | Gerhard Van Den HEEVER | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY |
Japan vs New Zealand Past Results:
October 25, 1987 (L) 0-74 Osaka
November 1, 1987 (L) 4-106 Tokyo
June 4, 1995 (L) 17-145 Bloemfontein (RWC 1995)
September 16, 2011 (L) 7-83 Hamilton
November 2, 2013 (L) 6-54 Tokyo
November 3, 2018 (L) 31-69 Tokyo