Japan make changes for Tonga test

BURNABY, British Columbia (Aug. 1) – Japan coach Eddie Jones has made five changes and one positional switch from the side that started last week’s narrow loss to Fiji as the Brave Blossoms look to take third place in this year’s Pacific Nations Cup.

Michael Leitch leads the side against Tonga at Swangard Stadium and lines up in the back row alongside Michael Broadhurst and Ryu Koliniasi Holani, who is back in the side with Hendrik Tui on the bench.

Veteran lock Hitoshi Ono is also restored and the 37-year-old (who will be winning his 91st cap) will pack down with Shoji Ito with Keita Inagaki, Shota Horie and Hiroshi Yamashita in the front row.

In the backs, Kosei Ono starts at flyhalf alongside Fumiaki Tanaka with Harumichi Tatekawa moving to inside center.

Tatekawa will partner Kotaro Matsushima in the midfield with Yoshikazu Fujita and Karne Hesketh coming in on the wings.

Vice captain Ayumu Goromaru is set to win his 50th cap at fullback.

On the bench, Hisateru Hirashima, Hiroki Yuhara and Kensuke Hatakeyama provide the cover for the front row, with Hayden Hopgood and Hendrik Tui the two other reserve forwards.

Atsushi Hiwasa is the back-up scrumhalf while the other two backs on the bench are Tim Bennetts and Craig Wing, whose last game for Japan was against Scotland in November 2013.

 

 

No Name Club Team Graduate cm kg D/O/B Caps
1 Keita INAGAKI PANASONIC Wild Knights Kanto Gakuin Univ. 183 115 1990/6/2 5
2 Shota HORIE PANASONIC Wild Knights Teikyo Univ. 180 105 1986/1/21 34
3 Hiroshi YAMASHITA KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 183 122 1986/1/1 41
4 Shoji ITO KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 191 100 1980/12/2 33
5 Hitoshi ONO TOSHIBA Brave Lupus Nihon Univ. 192 106 1978/5/6 90
6 * Michael LEITCH TOSHIBA Brave Lupus Tokai Univ. 190 105 1988/10/7 39
7 Michael BROADHURST RICOH BlackRams Campion College 196 111 1986/10/30 19
8 Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI PANASONIC Wild Knights Saitama Institute of Technology Univ. 188 112 1981/10/25 40
9 Fumiaki TANAKA PANASONIC Wild Knights Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 166 71 1985/1/3 45
10 Kosei ONO SUNTORY Sungoliath Christchurch Boys HS 171 83 1987/4/17 26
11 Yoshikazu FUJITA Waseda Univ. Higashi Fukuoka HS 184 90 1993/9/8 25
12 Harumichi TATEKAWA KUBOTA Spears Tenri Univ. 181 94 1989/12/2 35
13 Kotaro MATSUSHIMA SUNTORY Sungoliath Toin Gakuen HS 175 88 1993/2/26 9
14 Karne HESKETH Munakata SANIX Blues Univ. of Otago 178 98 1985/8/1 7
15 Ayumu GOROMARU YAMAHA Jubilo Waseda Univ. 185 99 1986/3/1 49
16 Hisateru HIRASHIMA KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers Fukuoka Univ. 180 110 1983/1/15 41
17 Hiroki YUHARA TOSHIBA Brave Lupus Ryutsu Keizai Univ. 173 102 1984/1/21 21
18 Kensuke HATAKEYAMA SUNTORY Sungoliath Waseda Univ. 178 115 1985/8/2 65
19 Hayden HOPGOOD Shirley Boys HS 190 105 1980/7/30 8
20 Hendrik TUI SUNTORY Sungoliath Teikyo Univ. 189 107 1987/12/13 28
21 Atsushi HIWASA SUNTORY Sungoliath Hosei Univ. 166 72 1987/5/22 43
22 Craig WING KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers Univ. of New South Wales 180 90 1979/12/26 7
23 Tim BENNETTS CANON Eagles Pennant Hills HS 185 90 1990/8/1 1

*Captain

 

 

 

 

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