Jones makes changes for Korea clash

The Japan team that will start against South Korea in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations on Saturday shows seven changes and one positional switch from the starting XV that beat Hong Kong last weekend.

Coach Eddie Jones announced his 23-man squad Thursday, saying he expects the visitors to be aggressive opponents who will play their normal brand of rugby.

“I watched the video of their win last week (against the United Arab Emirates) and expect them to play a traditional Korean game,” Jones said.

With Toshiaki Hirose out for 3-4 weeks with a hamstring strain, Takashi Kikutani will skipper the team and will move across the back row to flanker allowing Ryu Koliniasi Holani to return at No. 8.

“Koli’s best position is No. 8, while Kiku is pretty changeable,” Jones said of the move.

Elsewhere in the pack, Justin Ives comes in at lock to partner Hitoshi Ono, while there is an all new front row in props Takuma Asahara and Kensuke Hatakeyama and hooker Hiroki Yuhara.

The two changes in the backline see Kenki Fukuoka and Yoshikazu Fujita starting on the wing.

Fukuoka scored two tries in the 121-0 win over the Philippines but missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury, while Fujita came off the bench last week and scored Japan’s sixth and final five-pointer.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Jones said of the inclusion of the two young speedsters.

The eight-man bench contains five players who started last week, along with regular replacements Yusuke Aoki, Shoji Ito and Yu Tamura.

Following Saturday’s game at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, the Brave Blossoms fly out to Dubai for their final game against the UAE on May 10.