Sakura Fifteen Team Announced for Second Home Test Against Fijiana

Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has today named the Sakura Fifteen team for their second test in the Taiyo Seimei Japan Rugby Challenge Series 2023 against Fiji at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo this Saturday, September 16. Kicking off at 18:00 local time, the match follows Japan’s 29-24 victory over Fiji in their opening test last weekend in Fukuoka.

Captained once again by openside-flanker, Iroha Nagata, this week’s side sees six new members come into the matchday 23 including uncapped lock, Jennifer Nduka who is set to make her Japan debut from the reserves bench. Nagata will be looking to add her four straight wins since taking over the captaincy against Kazakhstan, in Almaty back in May.

In the forwards, both the starting and replacement front-rows remain unchanged from last week, with the experienced Sachiko Kato and Yuka Sadaka named at loosehead and tighthead respectively. Kotomi Taniguchi packs down at starting hooker, while Hinata Komaki and Nijiho Nagata are the reserves props, and Ayumu Kokaji is named as the reserve rake.

In the second-row, Mio Nishimura moves from the reserves bench to starting lock, alongside Masami Kawamura who comes into the team for her third Japan cap. The back-row remains unchanged with the formidable combination of Japan’s most capped player, Seina Saito at blindside, Ayano Nagai at number-eight and Captain, Iroha Nagata at number-seven. Sakurako Korai has been named as the reserve back-row forward.

In the halves, Megumi Abe moves from the bench to starting half-back, as a direct replacement for Moe Tsukui who starts this week from the pine. At flyhalf, the ever-steady Ayasa Otsuka retains the playmaker role, while flyhalf Minori Yamamoto, who plays in the Premier 15s with English side Worcester Warriors has been named on the reserves bench. In the midfield, Kanako Kobayashi remains at inside-centre, while at outside-centre, Haruka Hirotsu comes into the team to earn her second Japan cap.

In the back-three, Komachi Imakugi comes into the team on the left wing, while 18-year-old rookie, Misaki Matsumura, who scored a brace of tries on debut last weekend, moves from the left to the right wing. Sora Nishimura retains the fullback position, while Nao Ando rounds off the matchday 23 as the backline reserve.

The match will be telecast live in Japan from 18:00 JST on JSports Two and will be available live and via catch-up on JSports On-demand.

Team List:

No.	Name	Team	Company/University	height	weight	DOB	caps
1	Sachiko KATO	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	Waseda Univ.	164	89	2000/2/19	17
2	Kotomi TANIGUCHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	NKS Corp	163	74	1995/4/10	8
3	Yuka SADAKA	Hirosaki sakura ovals	SEINAN Corp.	167	100	1994/11/2	15
4	Masami KAWAMURA	RKU GRACE	Morooka Co.,Ltd.	173	70	1999/7/13	6
5	Mio NISHIMURA	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	168	83	2002/11/29	2
6	Seina　SAITO	MIE PEARLS	Sumitomo Wiring Systems	167	73	1992/5/30	36
7	Iroha NAGATA	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd.	167	70	1998/12/21	22
8	Ayano NAGAI	YOKOHAMA TKM	Yokohama Mirai Healthcare System	168	84	1997/10/14	16
9	Megumi ABE	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	RDC Co.,Ltd.	147	53	1998/4/28	15
10	Ayasa OTSUKA	RKUグレース	IBARAKI TOYOPET Co.,Ltd.	163	63	1999/5/5	16
11	Komachi IMAKUGI	ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA	Rissho Univ.	158	62	2002/1/6	15
12	Kanako KOBAYASHI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	–	162	70	1998/11/13	7
13	Haruka HIROTSU	Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA	Waseda Univ.	169	68	2000/10/29	1
14	Misaki MATSUMURA	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	Waseda Univ.	169	68	2005/3/6	1
15	Sora NISHIMURA	MIE PEARLS	Choko Co.，Ltd.	167	68	2000/9/29	3
16	Ayumu KOKAJI	Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix	OSP Holdings co., ltd.	160	80	2000/11/24	7
17	Hinata KOMAKI	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	166	78	2001/5/9	9
18	Nijiho NAGATA	–	–	162	80	2000/12/6	11
19	Jennifer NDUKA	Hokkaido Barbarians Diana	Medical System Network	165	74	2000/10/18	–
20	Sakurako KORAI	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	Nippon Sport Science Univ.	168	74	2003/4/9	4
21	Moe TSUKUI	YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars	LIBEST Corp.	153	53	2000/3/28	25
22	Minori YAMAMOTO	Worcester Warriors Women	–	169	70	1996/12/9	24
23	Nao ANDO	BRAVE LOUVE	Tokyo Ariake Univ.	169	62	2001/7/17	2