Sakura Fifteen to Take on Scotland in Final WXV Match
Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has today named the Sakura Fifteen side to face Scotland in their third and final WXV2 match at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Friday, 23 October. Kicking off at 14:00 local time, 21:00 JST, the Sakura Fifteen will be looking to finish the tournament strongly, following their 32-10, four-try, bonus point win over Samoa last Saturday and their 28-12 loss to Italy in their opening match the weekend prior.
Japan currently sit in third place within the six-team tournament, with one win from two matches. They would need to defeat Scotland by 15 points or more and score a bonus point, while denying their opponents a losing bonus point to move above the second-placed Scots in the final tournament standings. With Scotland having scored bonus point victories over both South Africa and the USA, they will provide a stern test for a Sakura Fifteen looking to secure back-to-back wins after having their six-match win-streak brought to an end by Italy two weeks ago.
McKenzie has made the slightest of changes to the team that defeated Samoa, with one new player coming into the matchday 23, along with two positional changes.
In the front-row, loosehead prop, Hinata Komaki moves back to the bench to make way for the experienced Sachiko Kato who packs down alongside Kotomi Taniguchi at hooker and Yuka Sadaka at tighthead. Nijiho Nagata joins Komaki on the bench as the other reserve prop, while Asuka Kuga is the reserve rake.
The second-row sees the same locking combination for the third week running, with Masami Kawamura and Otoka Yoshimura starting in the engine room, while Jennifer Nduka starts that match from the pine.
In the backrow, Japan’s most capped player, Seina Saito will play her 40th test for her country from number-eight, while Sakurako Korai and Sakura Fifteen Captain, Iroha Nagata who both scored tries against Samoa, start at blindside and openside respectively. Ayano Nagai starts from the bench as the backrow replacement.
In the halves, Moe Tsukui comes into the team for the first time this tournament at halfback. She will play alongside Ayasa Otsuka at flyhalf who enjoyed a strong game against Samoa. The starting centres see a direct positional swap with Kaneko Kobayashi moving this week to inside-centre, while last week’s try scoring centre, Haruka Hirotsu moves to outside-centre.
The back-three once again sees Komachi Imakugi on the left wing, with Misaki Matsumura, the 18-year-old speedster covering the right-wing and Sora Nishimura slotting in at fullback. The backline reserves consist of Kotono Yasuo and Minori Yamamoto. They are joined by Nao Ando, who scored a well worked try last weekend against Samoa.
Commenting on the team selection, Sakura Fifteen High-Performance Advisor Simon Middleton said:
“Scotland are a very good side with many players contracted in the English game. They have a strong set piece, are well organised in defence and have good connections in attack. They have some very good, experienced players with real strengths, including an attacking back-three with lots of pace, as well as an experienced pack, particularly with their back-row. So for us, it’s about looking at how we played against Samoa and how we can build on what was a very good performance. We will look at Scotland and see how we can use our strengths to exploit areas of their game and apply pressure.”
The match will be telecast live and available on catch-up via JSports On-demand, and delayed telecast will be shown on J SPORTS 1 from 13:00 JST on Saturday 28 October. The entire WXV tournament will also be available on RugbyPass TV, World Rugby’s new global streaming platform.
Team List:
| No. | Name | Team | Company/School | height | wieght | BOD | caps |
| 1 | Sachiko KATO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | ― | 164 | 89 | 2000/2/19 | 21 |
| 2 | Kotomi TANIGUCHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | NKS Corp | 163 | 74 | 1995/4/10 | 12 |
| 3 | Yuka SADAKA | Hirosaki sakura ovals | SEINAN Corp. | 167 | 100 | 1994/11/2 | 19 |
| 4 | Masami KAWAMURA | RKU GRACE | Morooka Co.,Ltd. | 173 | 70 | 1999/7/13 | 10 |
| 5 | Otoka YOSHIMURA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Rissho Univ. | 174 | 83 | 2001/5/15 | 14 |
| 6 | Sakurako KORAI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 168 | 74 | 2003/4/9 | 8 |
| 7 | Iroha NAGATA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Kanto Foods Co.,Ltd. | 167 | 70 | 1998/12/21 | 26 |
| 8 | Seina SAITO | MIE PEARLS | Sumitomo Wiring Systems | 167 | 73 | 1992/5/30 | 39 |
| 9 | Moe TSUKUI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | LIBEST Corp. | 153 | 53 | 2000/3/28 | 27 |
| 10 | Ayasa OTSUKA | RKU GRACE | IBARAKI TOYOPET Co.,Ltd. | 163 | 63 | 1999/5/5 | 20 |
| 11 | Komachi IMAKUGI | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Rissho Univ. | 158 | 62 | 2002/1/6 | 19 |
| 12 | Kanako KOBAYASHI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars | ― | 162 | 70 | 1998/11/13 | 11 |
| 13 | Haruka HIROTSU | Nanairo PRISM FUKUOKA | Waseda Univ. | 169 | 68 | 2000/10/29 | 4 |
| 14 | Misaki MATSUMURA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix | Waseda Univ. | 169 | 68 | 2005/3/6 | 4 |
| 15 | Sora NISHIMURA | MIE PEARLS | Choko Co.，Ltd. | 167 | 68 | 2000/9/29 | 7 |
| 16 | Hinata KOMAKI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | Nippon Sport Science Univ. | 166 | 78 | 2001/5/9 | 13 |
| 17 | Asuka KUGE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA | Goto Hygine Consultant | 163 | 75 | 1994/9/22 | 7 |
| 18 | Nijiho NAGATA | ― | ― | 162 | 80 | 2000/12/6 | 15 |
| 19 | Jennifer NDUKA | Hokkaido Barbarians Diana | Medical System Network | 165 | 74 | 2000/10/18 | 4 |
| 20 | Ayano NAGAI | YOKOHAMA TKM | Yokohama Mirai Healthcare System | 168 | 84 | 1997/10/14 | 20 |
| 21 | Kotono YASUO | BRAVE LOUVE | Toyo Univ. | 156 | 61 | 2001/10/2 | 8 |
| 22 | Minori YAMAMOTO | Worcester Warriors Women | ― | 169 | 70 | 1996/12/9 | 27 |
| 23 | Nao ANDO | BRAVE LOUVE | Tokyo Ariake Univ. | 169 | 62 | 2001/7/17 | 4 |