COLWYN BAY, Wales (Nov. 14) – The Japan side to take on Russia on Friday evening at Parc Eirias shows three changes from the run-on XV that lost to Scotland last weekend and 13 from the team that went down to Gloucester on Tuesday night.
The tight turnaround – Japan play three games in six games – meant stand-in coach Scott Wisemantel was unable to name the team until Thursday morning.
“We had to have a few medical checks and weren’t able to give the final verdict on certain players until this morning,” Wisemantel said.
Craig Wing has been ruled out with an ankle injury and will be replaced by Yu Tamura, who moves to inside center, having played flyhalf on Tuesday night.
The other survivor from the defeat to Gloucester is Yoshikazu Fujita, who shifts from fullback to wing to replace Kenki Fukuoka, who had to fly back to Japan.
The other change from the side that took to the field last weekend in Edinburgh sees Hitoshi Ono replace Shinya Makabe in the second row, Makabe dropping down to the bench.
There are a number of changes among the replacements.
Hiroki Yuhara is named as the reserve hooker, even though he arrived in Wales earlier Thursday after Yusuke Aoki was ruled out of the remainder of the tour.
Hisateru Hirashima will play his first full international for his country since Rugby World Cup 2011 if he comes off the bench to replace one of the props, while wing Akihito Yamada is set to win his first cap, providing he comes off the bench.
Following Friday’s game in North Wales, Wisemantel and the team fly to Madrid where they will take on Spain on Nov. 23.
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Japan Squad Announcement
Nov 15, 2013 test match against Russia, Kick Off 19:30 at Parc Eirias
| No |
Name |
Club Team |
Graduate |
(cm) |
(kg) |
D.O.B |
Caps |
| 1 |
Masataka MIKAMI |
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus |
Tokai Univ. |
178 |
115 |
1988/6/4 |
11 |
| 2 |
Shota HORIE |
PANASONIC Wild Knights |
Teikyo Univ. |
180 |
105 |
1986/1/21 |
25 |
| 3 |
Kensuke HATAKEYAMA |
SUNTORY Sungoliath |
Waseda Univ. |
178 |
115 |
1985/8/2 |
48 |
| 4 |
Hitoshi ONO |
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus |
Nihon Univ. |
192 |
106 |
1978/5/6 |
75 |
| 5 |
Luke THOMPSON |
KINTETSU Liners |
Lincoln Univ.(NZ) |
196 |
108 |
1981/4/16 |
41 |
| 6 |
Hendrik TUI |
SUNTORY Sungoliath |
Teikyo Univ. |
189 |
107 |
1987/12/13 |
16 |
| 7 |
Michael BROADHURST |
RICOH Black Rams |
Campion College (NZ) |
196 |
111 |
1986/10/30 |
14 |
| 8 |
Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI |
PANASONIC Wild Knights |
Saitama Institute of
Technology Univ. |
188 |
112 |
1981/10/25 |
27 |
| 9 |
Fumiaki TANAKA |
PANASONIC Wild Knights |
Kyoto Sangyo Univ. |
166 |
71 |
1985/1/3 |
39 |
| 10 |
Kosei ONO |
SUNTORY Sungoliath |
Christchurch Boys HS (NZ) |
171 |
83 |
1987/4/17 |
20 |
| 11 |
Yoshikazu FUJITA |
Waseda Univ. (2nd Year) |
Higashi Fukuoka HS |
184 |
90 |
1993/9/8 |
11 |
| 12 |
Yu TAMURA |
NEC Green Rockets |
Meiji Univ. |
181 |
92 |
1989/1/9 |
15 |
| 13 |
Male SAU |
YAMAHA Jubilo |
Tangaroa College (NZ) |
183 |
97 |
1987/10/13 |
11 |
| 14 |
*
Toshiaki HIROSE |
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus |
Keio Univ. |
173 |
82 |
1981/10/17 |
17 |
| 15 |
Ayumu GOROMARU |
YAMAHA Jubilo |
Waseda Univ. |
185 |
99 |
1986/3/1 |
31 |
| 16 |
Hiroki YUHARA |
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus |
Ryutsu Keizai Univ. |
173 |
102 |
1984/1/21 |
11 |
| 17 |
Hisateru HIRASHIMA |
KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers |
Fukuoka Univ. |
180 |
110 |
1983/1/15 |
27 |
| 18 |
Hiroshi YAMASHITA |
KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers |
Kyoto Sangyo Univ. |
183 |
122 |
1986/1/1 |
27 |
| 19 |
Shinya MAKABE |
SUNTORY Sungoliath |
Chuo Univ. |
192 |
118 |
1987/3/26 |
18 |
| 20 |
Justin IVES |
CANON Eagles |
Taieri College (NZ) |
196 |
105 |
1984/5/24 |
14 |
| 21 |
Atsushi HIWASA |
SUNTORY Sungoliath |
Hosei Univ. |
166 |
72 |
1987/5/22 |
28 |
| 22 |
Seiichi SHIMOMURA |
PANASONIC Wild Knights |
Kanto Gakuin Univ. |
175 |
87 |
1981/9/20 |
4 |
| 23 |
Akihito YAMADA |
PANASONIC Wild Knights |
Keio Univ. |
181 |
90 |
1985/7/26 |
– |
*Captain
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