First Brave Blossoms Team for 2023 Announced for All Blacks XV Clash
Japan Head Coach, Jamie Joseph has today named the Brave Blossoms team to take on the All Blacks XV this Saturday, July 15 at Egao Kenko Stadium in Kumamoto, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. Kicking off at 18:05 Japan local time, the match will be the second of two non-capped matches in the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2023.
Following the heavy defeat suffered by the Japan XV last weekend, Joseph has made 13 changes to the team that went down 6-38 in the first match in Tokyo. This includes six new players who have been brought into the team to provide more starch in defence and spark a more effective attack.
This week sees the continuation in the naming of two Co-Captains, with number-eight Kazuki Himeno and replacement hooker, Atsushi Sakate both assuming Co-Captain responsibilities. In the front-row, Kieta Inagaki comes into the team at tighthead, alongside Jiwon Gu who packs down at loosehead, after having started last week from the reserves bench. At hooker, 68-test veteran Shota Horie also moves from the bench to assume the starting rake position.
The second-row remains unchanged with James Moore and the uncapped Amato Fakatava retaining their starting positions. In the backrow, the impressive Shota Fukui retains his position at number-seven, while Jack Cornelsen, who started last week on the pine, slots in at number-six to replace Michael Leitch who moves to the bench. Co-Captain, Kazuki Himeno also moves from the bench into number-eight to anchor the back of the scrum.
In the backs, Naoto Saito remains at halfback, while young playmaker, Seungsin Lee comes into the side at number-ten. In the centres there is one change, with the experienced Ryoto Nakamura coming into the team at inside-centre, alongside the hard running Dylan Riley who retains his position at outside-centre. The back-three remains the same as last week with Semisi Masirewa and Jone Naikabula on the left and right wings respectively, and Kotaro Matsushima slotting in at fullback.
On the reserves bench, Co-Captain Atsushi Sakate starts the match from the bench at reserve hooker, while Craig Miller moves from starting tighthead to the bench, alongside reserve prop, Asaeli Ai Valu, who comes into the matchday 23. The versatile Uwe Helu, who covers both lock and the back-row moves into the team, while 78-cap veteran, Michael Leitch moves from the blindside-flank to the bench.
Yutaka Nagare retains his reserve halfback position alongside the uncapped Tomoki Osada as the reserve wing, while Rikiya Matsuda, who started last week at number-ten moves to the reserves bench.
Commenting on the Japan VX team selection, Japan Head Coach Jamie Joseph said:
“A lot of our experienced players weren’t playing last weekend so when it got hot and tough, particularly in the first 10 minutes after half time, the team went very quiet. We recognise that and our solution is to bring our key, experienced players back into the team. Our communication will be a lot better this week with these guys who have played a lot of rugby for us, so we’re expecting an improvement in that area.
“Last week there were parts of our defence we were happy with. We were physical and created a lot of turnovers, which was a positive part of the game. But when it came to our attack, it didn’t go well. We made a lot of careless mistakes and turned the ball over easily. We’ve got to get our attack right, but I’m confident that we will get this right over time. Attack has always been a strong part of Japanese rugby and we’ve got a very good coach in Tony Brown. We’ve been working a lot on our attack this week, so I expect to see a much better performance.”
Saturday’s match will be telecast live in Japan on JSports 1 from 17:35 and through BS Nippon TV from 18:00. A delayed recording will be shown from 24:55 on Kumamoto Kenmin TV. Live streaming and catch-up will be available on JSports On-demand from 17:35, while the match will also be live streamed by Hulu from 18:00. Following Saturday’s match, the Brave Blossoms will play three test matches in the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2023 Pacific Nations Series, taking on Samoa on Saturday, July 22 at Sapporo Dome and Tonga on Saturday, July 29 at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka. They then return to Tokyo to play Fiji at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on Satur
TEAM LIST
| No. | Name | Team | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Caps |
| 1 | Keita INAGAKI | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 186 | 116 | 1990/6/2 | 45 |
| 2 | Shota HORIE | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 180 | 104 | 1986/1/21 | 68 |
| 3 | Jiwon GU | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | 183 | 117 | 1994/7/20 | 21 |
| 4 | James MOORE | URAYASU D-Rocks | 195 | 110 | 1993/6/11 | 13 |
| 5 | Amato FAKATAVA | RICOH BLACKRAMS TOKYO | 195 | 118 | 1994/12/7 | 0 |
| 6 | Jack CORNELSEN | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 195 | 110 | 1994/10/13 | 12 |
| 7 | Shota FUKUI | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 186 | 101 | 1999/9/28 | 0 |
| 8 | Kazuki HIMENO | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | 187 | 108 | 1994/7/27 | 25 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 11 |
| 10 | Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | 176 | 85 | 2001/1/13 | 6 |
| 11 | Semisi MASIREWA | HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS | 181 | 93 | 1992/6/9 | 2 |
| 12 | Ryoto NAKAMURA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | 182 | 92 | 1991/6/3 | 33 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 10 |
| 14 | Jone NAIKABULA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | 177 | 95 | 1994/4/12 | 0 |
| 15 | Kotaro MATSUSHIMA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | 178 | 88 | 1993/2/26 | 47 |
| 16 | Atsushi SAKATE | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 180 | 104 | 1993/6/21 | 33 |
| 17 | Craig MILLAR | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 186 | 116 | 1990/10/29 | 9 |
| 18 | Asaeli VALU | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 187 | 115 | 1989/5/7 | 23 |
| 19 | Uwe HELU | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | 193 | 120 | 1990/7/12 | 16 |
| 20 | Michael LEITCH | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 78 |
| 21 | Yutaka NAGARE | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | 166 | 75 | 1992/9/4 | 30 |
| 22 | Rikiya MATSUDA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 181 | 92 | 1994/5/3 | 29 |
| 23 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 0 |
