Japan name World Cup roster

Eddie Jones has named his final squad of 31 players to take part in the World Cup. Included are all seven of the players who were part of Super Rugby squads this past season, with Chiefs back row Michael Leitch retained as captain. A total of 10 foreign-born players are present, including all six loose forwards.

Only four prop forwards have been named, with veteran Hisateru Hirashima the unlucky one to be left out. Justin Ives is named after being injured in the match against the World XV, and there is also a spot for dynamic no8 Amanaki Mafi, who has yet to play this year after suffering a serious hip injury in December.

Only two scrumhalves have been selected, as Keisuke Uchida misses out despite being played on the wing against Uruguay to test his versatility. Midfielder Craig Wing is included in the midfield having started only one test in the past two years. Ryohei Yamanaka and Tim Bennetts have both been overlooked in favour of the 35-year-old former Australian rugby league international.

Japan are in Pool B in the World Cup, along with USA, Samoa, Scotland, and South Africa. The Brave Blossoms outscored Uruguay 70-8 in a two-match warm-up series, and will conclude their tournament preparations against Georgia in Gloucester on September 5.

FORWARDS
Kensuke Hatakeyama (Suntory), Keita Inagaki (Panasonic / Rebels), Masataka Mikami (Toshiba), Hiroshi Yamashita (Kobe Steel), Shota Horie (Panasonic), Takeshi Kizu (Kobe Steel), Hiroki Yuhara (Toshiba), Shoji Ito (Kobe Steel), Shinya Makabe (Suntory), Hitoshi Ono (Toshiba), Luke Thompson (Kintetsu), Michael Broadhurst (Ricoh), Justin Ives (Canon), Koliniasi Holani (Panasonic), Michael Leitch (capt., Toshiba / Chiefs), Amanaki Mafi (NTT Shining Arcs), Hendrik Tui (Suntory / Reds)

BACKS
Atsushi Hiwasa (Suntory), Fumiaki Tanaka (Panasonic / Highlanders), Kosei Ono (Suntory), Yu Tamura (NEC), Harumichi Tatekawa (Kubota), Craig Wing (Kobe Steel), Male Sa’u (Yamaha), Karne Hesketh (Sanix), Kotaro Matsushima (Suntory / Waratahs), Kenki Fukuoka (Tsukuba), Toshiaki Hirose (Toshiba), Akihito Yamada (Panasonic / Force), Yoshikazu Fujita (Waseda / Crusaders), Ayumu Goromaru (Yamaha)