Japan XV Sees Minimal Changes for Second Māori All Blacks Clash
Following last weekend’s 10-36 defeat in the first of two non-capped matches against the Māori All Blacks, Japan Head Coach, Eddie Jones has named his Japan XV side for the return match this Saturday, July 6 at Toyota Stadium in Aichi. Despite an evening kick-off at 18:00 local time, conditions are expected to be hot and humid as the Japan XV looks to balance the ledger in the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2024.
The team is once again Co-Captained by hooker, Mamoru Harada and scrumhalf, Naoto Saito, who comes into the starting side in place of Taiki Koyama who moves to the reserves bench. This is one of two changes from last week’s starting fifteen, with Taichi Takahashi also coming onto the right wing.
There are three additional changes on the reserves bench with Shuhei Takeuchi coming into the matchday 23 as the reserve tighthead, while Tiennan Costley, who earned his first cap against England two weeks ago has been named as the backrow reserve. Japan veteran Harumichi Tatekawa comes into the team as a reserve utility back, with his ability to play at both number ten and in the centres.
Commenting on the Japan XV team selection, Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones said:
“The purpose of the Japan XV is to develop our talent. We would obviously like to have a good win on Saturday, and we’ve had a fantastic preparation. I’m really impressed by this group of young players who will get another opportunity to get some international experience. The Māori All Blacks are a very proud team that plays with good spirit and endeavour, and I’m sure the fans who come to Toyota Stadium will be thrilled by the game. We will play our part, playing hard and fast rugby from the start.
“In our two games this year we’ve been progressively able to play better, for longer periods of time. The challenge for us is to keep that progression going, so we’re looking forward to the game on Saturday.
The match will be telecast in Japan 17:30JST on J Sports 1 and shown live and via catch-up on J Sports On-demand.
Japan VX Team:
| No. | Name | Club Team | Graduate | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | DOB |
| 1 | Shogo MIURA | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Tokai Univ. | 180 | 115 | 1995/6/8 |
| 2 | Mamoru HARADA (CC) | TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO | Keio Univ. | 175 | 101 | 1999/4/15 |
| 3 | Keijiro TAMEFUSA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 108 | 2001/9/3 |
| 4 | Eishin KUWANO | SHIZUOKA BlueRevs | Waseda Univ. | 193 | 112 | 1994/10/11 |
| 5 | Naohiro KOTAKI | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Teikyo Univ. | 194 | 110 | 1992/6/13 |
| 6 | Kanji SHIMOKAWA | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Waseda Univ. | 188 | 105 | 1999/1/17 |
| 7 | Kai YAMAMOTO | TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH | Keio Univ. | 177 | 100 | 2000/3/17 |
| 8 | Amanaki SAUMAKI | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | Tupou College | 189 | 107 | 1997/3/8 |
| 9 | Naoto SAITO (CC) | ― | Waseda Univ. | 165 | 73 | 1997/8/26 |
| 10 | Takuya YAMASAWA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Tsukuba Univ. | 176 | 84 | 1994/9/21 |
| 11 | Koga NEZUKA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Hosei Univ. | 173 | 82 | 1998/9/15 |
| 12 | Samisoni TUA | URAYASU D-Rocks | Setsunan Univ. | 182 | 108 | 1995/5/24 |
| 13 | Tomoki OSADA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Waseda Univ. | 179 | 90 | 1999/11/25 |
| 14 | Taichi TAKAHASHI | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Meiji Univ. | 180 | 91 | 1996/6/24 |
| 15 | Yoshitaka YAZAKI | Waseda Univ. | Toin Gakuen HS. | 180 | 85 | 2004/5/12 |
| 16 | Kenji SATO | Waseda Univ. | Toin Gakuen HS. | 177 | 108 | 2003/1/4 |
| 17 | Takato OKABE | YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES | Kwansei Gakuin Univ. | 180 | 105 | 1995/2/19 |
| 18 | Shuhei TAKEUCHI | URAYASU D-Rocks | Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ. | 183 | 115 | 1997/12/9 |
| 19 | Sanaila WAQA | HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS | Hastings Boys’ High School | 202 | 120 | 1995/7/17 |
| 20 | Tiennan COSTLEY | KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS | International Pacific Univ. | 192 | 102 | 2000/6/14 |
| 21 | Taiki KOYAMA | SAITAMA Panasonic WILD KNIGHTS | Daito Bunka Univ. | 171 | 74 | 1994/10/31 |
| 22 | Harumichi TATEKAWA | Kubota Spears Funabashi TOKYO-BAY | Tenri Univ. | 180 | 94 | 1989/12/2 |
| 23 | Nicholas MCCURRAN | TOYOTA VERBLITZ | Teikyo Univ. | 188 | 93 | 1996/6/13 |
(CC) denotes Co-Captain