Brave Blossoms Side Named for France Clash
Japan Head Coach, Eddie Jones has announced his Brave Blossoms side to take on France this Saturday, November 9 in their Lipovitan D Tour 2024 match at Stade de France in Paris. Kicking off at 21:00 local time, the match will be played at 05:10 on Sunday morning, November 10, Japan Standard Time.
The fixture will be the 13th test match between the two nations, with Japan having yet to taste victory against the French. The closest they came was back in 2017 when they drew 23-all in Nanterre. The Brave Blossoms almost did enough during their last meeting in Tokyo in 2022, in the second of their two-test series that year. While Japan pushed Les Bleus all the way, the visitors held on for a 15-20 win in front of a packed National Stadium.
Captained by number 10, Harumichi Tatekawa, the team features six players from the Japan team that lined up against France the last time they met in Tokyo. Incumbent second row, Warner Dearns and outside centre, Dylan Riley are joined by Siosaia Fifita who returns to the team at inside centre for his 14th test cap. The match will be Fifita’s first since Japan’s final Pool D match against Argentina at Rugby World Cup 2023 in Nantes.
The match also sees the return of two France based players in starting halfback, Naoto Saito and backrow reserve, Tevita Tatafu. There is another French connection with the call up of reserve prop, Yukio Morikawa. The front rower comes back into the national team for his third test cap, after earning his previous two caps against France during their 2022 tour to Japan.
Commenting ahead of the match, Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“We’ve settled into Paris and have been preparing well, with the players adjusting to the different conditions here in France. We’ve picked our strongest 23 for this game and welcomed back Tevita and Saito who are playing in the French league, both of whom are in good condition.
“We’re looking forward to playing a really big game against France at Stade de France. There will be 80,000 people there and it’s a great experience for this young team. We want to walk towards the pressure of the game, enjoy the pressure and play the Japan way.”
The match will be broadcast live on Sunday morning from 04:40 on WOWOW Live (BS192ch) and available for catch-up via WOWOW On Demand
| No | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height(cm) | Weight(kg) | DOB | Cap |
| 1 | Takato OKABE | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1995/2/19 | 5 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 | 8 |
| 3 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | URAYASU D-Rocks | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 | 11 |
| 4 | Epineri ULUIVITI | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars | Ratu Kadavulevu School | 196 | 122 | 1996/7/7 | 3 |
| 5 | Warner DEARNS | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Ryutsu Keizai Univ. KASHIWA HS. | 201 | 117 | 2002/4/11 | 19 |
| 6 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 | 11 |
| 7 | Kazuki HIMENO | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ | 187 | 109 | 1994/7/27 | 33 |
| 8 | Faulua MAKISI | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 112 | 1997/1/20 | 13 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO | Stade Toulousain | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 | 21 |
| 10 | Harumichi TATEKAWA (C) | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 180 | 94 | 1989/12/2 | 61 |
| 11 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 | 15 |
| 12 | Siosaia FIFITA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Tenri Univ. | 187 | 105 | 1998/12/20 | 13 |
| 13 | Dylan RILEY | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Bond Univ. | 187 | 102 | 1997/5/2 | 25 |
| 14 | Jone NAIKABULA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Setsunan Univ. | 177 | 95 | 1994/4/12 | 14 |
| 15 | Malo TUITAMA | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Scots College | 182 | 91 | 1996/3/23 | 5 |
| 16 | Kenta MATSUOKA | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Meiji Univ. | 175 | 100 | 1997/6/6 | 2 |
| 17 | Yukio MORIKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Teikyo Univ. | 180 | 114 | 1993/2/6 | 2 |
| 18 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 | 7 |
| 19 | Amato FAKATAVA | RICOH BlackRams Tokyo | Daito Bunka Univ. | 195 | 118 | 1994/12/7 | 11 |
| 20 | Tevita TATAFU | Union Bordeaux Bègles | Tokai Univ. | 183 | 124 | 1996/1/2 | 18 |
| 21 | Shinobu FUJIWARA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 171 | 76 | 1999/2/8 | 7 |
| 22 | Yusuke KAJIMURA | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Meiji Univ. | 181 | 95 | 1995/9/13 | 4 |
| 23 | Takuro MATSUNAGA | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Tenri Univ. | 172 | 82 | 1998/8/13 | 1 |
*(C) Captain
Japan vs France Past Results:
July 9, 2022 (L) 15-20 Tokyo
July 2, 2022 (L) 42-23 Toyota City
November 26, 2017 (D) 23-23 Nanterre
September 10, 2011 (L) 21-47 North Harbour (RWC2011)
October 18, 2003 (L) 29-51 Townsville (RWC2003)
October 26, 1985 (L) 0-52 Beaujoire