Brave Blossoms Side to Face USA in PNC Clash
Brave Blossoms Head Coach, Eddie Jones has named his side to take on the USA in Japan’s second Pool B match of the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024. The match kicks off at 19:05 this Saturday, September 7 at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium in Saitama and follows the Brave Blossoms’ solid 28-55 victory over Canada in their first-round pool match.
Japan, currently ranked 14th in the world will take on the 19th placed USA Eagles, with both teams fighting to secure the top Pool B spot after having won their opening pool matches against Canada.
Jones has named a near identical matchday 23 to the team that downed Canada two weeks ago in Vancouver. The only two changes see fullback, Takuya Yamasawa come in for Waseda University student and rising test star, Yoshitaka Yazaki who has rejoined his university side. While on the bench, Amato Fakatava will add his significant physical presence to the forward back as the replacement lock.
Commenting on the Brave Blossoms’ team selection, Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“We’re a young team that’s still developing so each week is an opportunity for us to get a little bit better. Our consistency of play remains an issue in that we have good moments and then not so good moments, so we’ve been working on our concentration in training, particularly around when we’re fatigued during games. Looking at how we can quickly get back on the front foot, not make repeat errors and put the pressure back on the opposition. We’ve also been concentrating on tightening up our defence, doing a fair amount of work in that area.”
The match will be broadcast live from 18:35 on J Sports2 and via J Sports On-Demand, both live and via catch-up. It will also be shown life from 19:00 on Nippon Television and via live streaming on Hulu.
Following Saturday’s match, Japan and the USA will be joined in Japan by Canada, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa for the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup 2024 Finals Series that will be played in Tokyo and Osaka over the following two weekends. The Finals will consist of a Fifth Place Play-Off and two Semi-Finals in which the four top-ranked teams will compete for a spot in the Final.
The Fifth Place Play-Off and Semi-Finals will be played at Tokyo’s historic Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium across the weekend of September 14 and 15. The following weekend the action moves to Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Higashi-Osaka for the Third Place Play-Off and winner-takes-all Final on the Saturday, September 21.
For tickets information in English check https://www.rugby-japan.jp/lp/pnc2024/en/ticket/
To purchase tickets in English, go to http://en.rugby-japan.jp/ticket/
*(C) Team Captain
**(MC) Match Captain
| No | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height cm | Weight kg | DOB | Caps |
| 1 | Shogo MIURA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Tokai Univ. | 180 | 115 | 1995/6/8 | 11 |
| 2 | Atsushi SAKATE (MC) | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 104 | 1993/6/21 | 45 |
| 3 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 4 |
| 4 | Sanaila WAQA | HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS | Hastings Boys’ High School | 202 | 120 | 1995/7/17 | 6 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 15 |
| 6 | Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 | 3 |
| 7 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 7 |
| 8 | Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 9 |
| 9 | Shinobu FUJIWARA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 171 | 76 | 1999/2/8 | 3 |
| 10 | Seungsin LEE | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Osaka Korean HS. | 176 | 86 | 2001/1/13 | 15 |
| 11 | Malo TUITAMA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Scots College | 182 | 91 | 1996/3/23 | 1 |
| 12 | Nicholas MCCURRAN | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 188 | 93 | 1996/6/13 | 1 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 21 |
| 14 | Jone NAIKABULA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Setsunan Univ. | 177 | 95 | 1994/4/12 | 12 |
| 15 | Takuya YAMASAWA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Tsukuba Univ. | 176 | 84 | 1994/9/21 | 9 |
| 16 | Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 4 |
| 17 | Takayoshi MOHARA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Chuo Univ. | 187 | 116 | 2000/3/17 | 4 |
| 18 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | URAYASU D-Rocks | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 7 |
| 19 | Amato FAKATAVA | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Daito Bunka Univ. | 195 | 118 | 1994/12/7 | 7 |
| 20 | Isaiah MAPUSUA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Keio Univ. | 191 | 112 | 2000/12/21 | 1 |
| 21 | Taiki KOYAMA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Daito Bunka Univ. | 171 | 74 | 1994/10/31 | 3 |
| 22 | Harumichi TATEKAWA (C) | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 180 | 94 | 1989/12/2 | 57 |
| 23 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 11 |