Sakura Fifteen Team Announced For RWC Pool Match Against the USA
Japan Head Coach Lesley McKenzie has today named the Sakura Fifteen team for their second Rugby World Cup Pool B clash against the USA. Kicking off at 17:30 New Zealand local time, 13:30 Japan Standard Time on Saturday, October 15, the Sakura Fifteen will be looking to get their World Cup campaign back on track after going down to Canada 5-41 in their opening match last Sunday. With the USA having also lost their opening match against Italy 10-22, Saturday’s match will be hugely important for both teams.
In the front row, the Sakura Fifteen will be led by Captain Saki Minami in her 28th test at loose-head prop, with Sachiko Kato packing down once again at tight-head. This week sees a change at hooker with Kotomi Taniguchi coming into the team, with last week’s starting hooker, Nijiho Nagata moving to the bench.
The second row sees Yuna Sato and last week’s try scorer, Maki Takano packing down in the engine room once again, and in the backrow, Kyoko Hosokawa moves from the bench to starting openside, while Iroha Nagata moves from number seven to the blindside. The Sakura Fifteen’s most capped player, the formidable Seina Saito will earn her 34th test cap, anchoring the scrum at number eight.
The halves pairing remains the same as last week, with livewire scrumhalf Megumi Abe and the impressive Ayasa Otsuka at flyhalf, directing Japan’s attack. The remainder of the backline also stays the same, with the exception of Minori Yamamoto, who moves from the bench to inside centre. She joins Mana Furuta at outside centre, Komachi Imakugi and Hinano Nagura on the left and right wings respectively, and try scoring, speed-machine Rinka Matsuda at fullback.
On the reserves bench, Hinata Komaki, Kie Tamai, Otoka Yoshimura and Moe Tsukui all retain their positions as replacements, while Wako Kitano and Ria Anoku move into the team for the first time in the tournament. Nijiho Nagata and Ayano Nagai both move from the starting side to the reserves bench.
Sakura Fifteen Head Coach, Lesley McKenzie commented:
“This tournament is a new experience for so many of the team and we knew that the first game would be a big hurdle. Canada are a global force for a reason and it was always going to be a big challenge straight up. I’ve got a lot of faith in what the girls are doing, the character they bring, and in our preparations, and I’m really pleased with how the team have responded this week. The USA will be another huge challenge. Not only are they big, physical, fast and strong, they’re also well educated in rugby, with half the team playing in the semi-professional environment of the Premier 15s in England.
“The fallback for when people talk about Japan is that we’re fit, organised and well skilled. But we have to realise that the professionalism of the women’s game means we now have 12 teams at the tournament that are fit, well skilled and organised, so we have to find more than that, and grapple with the fact that our defining features aren’t unique to us anymore. So, what else do we bring? That’s something that we are constantly challenging the girls with.”
Saturday’s match will be telecast live in Japan from 13:15 JST via JSports One and will available live and via catch-up on JSports On-demand.
Following their match against the USA, the Sakura Fifteen will play their final Pool B match against Italy on Sunday, October 23, at Waitakere Stadium in Auckland.
TEAM LIST
| No. | Name | Club Team |
| 1 | Saki MINAMI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars |
| 2 | Kotomi TANIGUCHI | MIE PEARLS |
| 3 | Sachiko KATO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars |
| 4 | Yuna SATO | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix |
| 5 | Maki TAKANO | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars |
| 6 | Iroha NAGATA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA |
| 7 | Kyoko HOSOKAWA | MIE PEARLS |
| 8 | Seina SAITO | MIE PEARLS |
| 9 | Megumi ABE | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA |
| 10 | Ayasa OTSUKA | RKU GRACE |
| 11 | Komachi IMAKUGI | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA/Rissho Univ. |
| 12 | inori YAMAMOTO | MIE PEARLS |
| 13 | Mana FURUTA | Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix |
| 14 | Hinano NAGURA | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars |
| 15 | Rinka MATSUDA | Nippon Sport Science Univ. |
| 16 | Hinata KOMAKI | Nippon Sport Science Univ. |
| 17 | Nijiho NAGATA | International Budo Univ. |
| 18 | Wako KITANO | MIE PEARLS |
| 19 | Kie TAMAI | MIE PEARLS |
| 20 | Otoka YOSHIMURA | ARUKAS QUEEN KUMAGAYA/Rissho Univ. |
| 21 | Moe TSUKUI | YOKOGAWA Musashino Artemi-Stars |
| 22 | Ria ANOKU | MIE PEARLS |
| 23 | Ayano NAGAI | YOKOHAMA TKM |