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History will be made on Sunday when Japan takes part in their first ever Rugby World Cup Quarter Final, the last game of the weekend that will be played in front of a packed house at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium. The Brave Blossoms are the darlings of the tournament, not just as host country but for their outstanding form which saw them push through the pool stage undefeated.
Famous wins over Ireland and Scotland have seen the team rising to new heights and Jamie Joseph has no interest in messing with his winning formula. The only change to the run-on side is at fullback where Will Tupou is replaced by Ryohei Yamanaka, the former ruled out after failing his head injury assessment during the week.
The impact of the replacements has been significant for Japan and there are three notable changes there. Wimpie van der Walt comes in to face his home country with Uwe Helu dropping out, while Amanaki Mafi has recovered sufficiently from a rib problem to act as loose forward cover. Lomano Lemeki fills the vacancy left by Yamanaka’s promotion.
Rassie Erasmus is also sticking to the script. After playing his second-stringers against Canada, the Springboks have named an identical match day squad to the one that throttled Italy. Once again it is a 6-2 split on the bench with an entire tight five able to add energy in the second half.
This is a stark contrast in styles, with the free-wheeling Japan set to collide with the brutal power of the South African forwards. The Springboks will enjoy a considerable advantage in size, particularly at lock where Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will tower over their opposites, and there is no respite offered with RG Snyman an impact sub.
When the two sides met in their final tune-up match prior to the tournament, the result was 41-7 in favor of South Africa. It’s been six weeks since then, however, and this Japan side have lifted their game with the backing of an entire nation. The Springboks remain strong favorites to reverse the historic result at RWC 2015, but there will be compelling moments before the story is fully written.
Kickoff is set for 7:15pm local time, 3:15am Pacific, 6:15am Eastern, and 7:15am in Rio de la Plata. Live broadcasts will be available on ESPN 3 in Latin and South America, NBC Sports Network in the USA, and TSN channels 1 and 4 in Canada.
RWC 2019 RESULTS – JAPAN
W – Japan 30-10 Russia
W – Japan 19-12 Ireland
W – Japan 38-19 Samoa
W – Japan 28-21 Scotland
RWC 2019 RESULTS – SOUTH AFRICA
L – South Africa 23-13 New Zealand
W – South Africa 57-3 Namibia
W – South Africa 49-3 Italy
W – South Africa 66-7 Canada
W – Win
L – Loss
D – Draw
TEAMS
JAPAN
1 Keita Inagaki, 2 Shota Horie, 3 Ji-Won Koo, 4 Luke Thompson, 5 James Moore, 6 Michael Leitch (capt.), 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 10 Yu Tamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 15 Ryohei Yamanaka
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Asaeli Valu, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Lomano Lemeki
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 9 Faf de Klerk, 10 Handré Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Willie le Roux
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Francois Louw, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn
Date: Sunday, October 20
Venue: Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo
Kickoff: 19:15 local (03:15 Pacific, 06:15 Eastern, 07:15 Rio de la Plata)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistants: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) & Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Latin/South America), NBCSN (USA) TSN 1/4 (Canada)
