Jones Sticks With Youth For Georgia Test
Brave Blossoms Head Coach, Eddie Jones has named his side for Japan’s second test of the year in the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2024, with the Brave Blossoms set to take on Georgia this Saturday, July 13. Kicking off at 19:05 at Yurtec STADIUM SENDAI, in the North of Japan’s main island, the match will see the 12th ranked Brave Blossoms take on Georgia’s Lelos who currently sit at 14th in World Rugby’s rankings.
While Japan lost their first test of the year against a dominant England side three weeks ago in Tokyo, confidence will be running high in the Brave Blossoms camp following the historic first-ever victory of the Japan XV over the Māori All Blacks in the second of their non-capped matches last weekend in Toyota City. Japanese rugby fans got to see their first victory under Eddie Jones’ new mantra of chosoku or ‘superfast rugby’ and will be hoping to see more of it this weekend.
Jones has once again opted for youth in his matchday 23 with two new debutants and six players who will play their second test after making their debuts against England. In the forwards, he has picked the same starting front row who held their own against an experienced England scrum, while on the bench, Takato Okabe from the Yokohama Canon Eagles is set to earn his first cap if called upon as the replacement loosehead.
The other notable selection is the recall of the experienced Tevita Tatafu who slots in at number eight, while Kanji Shimokawa who impressed on the blindside in both Māori All Blacks fixtures starts this week at openside. The reshuffled backrow also sees Captain Michael Leitch move into the second row alongside the ever-impressive Warner Dearns.
In the backs, Takuya Yamasawa moves back into the test side after strong performances against the Māori All Blacks, while the Saitama Wild Knights’ Taiki Koyama is set to earn his first test cap after being named on the bench as the replacement scrumhalf.
Commenting on the Brave Blossoms’ team selection, Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“This is our most important game of the year. We’ve prepared well and I’ve been really pleased with the attitude of the players. We feel like this is the game where we can really play our style of rugby. In terms of our selection, we always try to pick our best 23, so this team is the best selection for the game this week. When you play Georgia, you have to meet them front on. You can’t get away from that contest. So we’ve picked a pack that we think can dominate them and then we obviously want to move the ball into space.”
The match will be broadcast live, nationwide on Nippon TV from 19:00 and J Sports 2 from 18:30. It will also be available for streaming via Hulu from 19:00 and through J Sports On-Demand, both live and via catch-up from 18:30.
| No | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Takayoshi MOHARA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Chuo Univ. | 187 | 116 | 2000/3/17 | 1 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 1 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | URAYASU D-Rocks | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 4 |
| 4 | Michael LEITCH ◎ | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tokai Univ. | 189 | 113 | 1988/10/7 | 85 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 12 |
| 6 | Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 6 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 5 |
| 8 | Tevita TATAFU | Union Bordeaux Bègles [FRA] | Tokai Univ. | 183 | 124 | 1996/1/2 | 16 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO | Stade Toulousain [FRA] | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 20 |
| 10 | Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Osaka Korean HS. | 176 | 86 | 2001/1/13 | 12 |
| 11 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 8 |
| 12 | Samisoni TUA | URAYASU D-Rocks | Setsunan Univ. | 182 | 108 | 1995/5/24 | 1 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. [AUS] | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 18 |
| 14 | Jone NAIKABULA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Setsunan Univ. | 177 | 95 | 1994/4/12 | 9 |
| 15 | Yoshitaka YAZAKI | Waseda Univ. | Toin Gakuen HS. | 180 | 85 | 2004/5/12 | 1 |
| 16 | Atsushi SAKATE | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 104 | 1993/6/21 | 42 |
| 17 | Takato OKABE | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kansai Gakuin Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1995/2/19 | 0 |
| 18 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 1 |
| 19 | Sanaila WAQA | HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS | Hastings Boys’ High School [ＮＺ] | 202 | 120 | 1995/7/17 | 3 |
| 20 | Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 1 |
| 21 | Taiki KOYAMA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Daito Bunka Univ. | 171 | 74 | 1994/10/31 | 0 |
| 22 | Takuya YAMASAWA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Tsukuba Univ. | 176 | 84 | 1994/9/21 | 7 |
| 23 | Koga NEZUKA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Hosei Univ. | 173 | 82 | 1998/9/15 | 2 |