Preview: England v Japan

England will be eager to bury last week’s agonising defeat to New Zealand when they take on Japan in their third November Test on Saturday.

A narrow victory over South Africa was followed by that 16-15 loss to the All Blacks at Twickenham in what has been a positive month so far. This weekend they will be determined to build on those performances and in turn rack up a comfortable win over the Brave Blossoms.

However, that won’t be a simple task as Japan aren’t a walkover like they were prior to Rugby World Cup 2015. Jamie Joseph’s men have been the biggest improvers on the planet in recent years – with Super Rugby helping their progress – and can’t be written off as easy meat.

England too have named a much-changed XV as Eddie Jones looks to gain as much knowledge of his players as next year’s World Cup looms. Into the side comes Joe Cokanasiga, Jack Nowell, Alex Lozowski, George Ford, Danny Care, Zach Mercer, Courtney Lawes, Charlie Ewels, Harry Williams, Jamie George and Alec Hepburn, while Ted Hill and Richard Wigglesworth have made the bench.

“It is exciting to be able to give starting opportunities to Zach Mercer and Joe Cokanasiga and young Ted Hill on the bench,” said Jones, who is pleased with the progress Cokanasiga has made in the early season.

“He has really come on. We took him on tour in 2017 to Argentina and he was a young lad and didn’t really understand what it takes to be a top-flight rugby player but he had plenty of natural talent. Now he is starting to hone that natural talent through hard work and a real growth mindset, so we are pleased as to how he has progressed.”

Jones is also predicting a fast-paced clash at Twickenham as England meet Japan for only the second time – the last being way back in 1987.

“We are expecting plenty of energy, aggression and fast ball movement,” said the England head coach, whose side will hope to build momentum ahead of their clash with Australia. “They (Japan) will be full of surprises, quick taps, lineouts and plays. They’re going to have a bag of magic.”

Indeed, the Brave Blossoms scored an impressive 31 points against New Zealand in a recent match and will be taken seriously by Jones, who of course knows this side very well from his time as head coach. There will be no sentimentality on Saturday, though, with England taking Japan lightly at their peril.

Players to watch:

For England: On debut it will be a special occasion for Joe Cokanasiga as he runs out at Twickenham for the first time in the senior white jersey. There is excitement surrounding the Bath finisher, as his size and power makes him a genuine prospect for Jones as next year’s World Cup approaches. Stand-in captain George Ford is also set for a big day as he leads the side on the occasion of his 50th game.

For Japan: Keep an eye on livewire left wing Kenki Fukuoka who is dangerous if afforded any space with ball in hand. Alongside Akihito Yamada wide out, Fukuoka possesses searing pace and can feast on any line busts from the likes of Timothy Lafaele, who scored a brace against New Zealand earlier this month.

[playbuzz-item item=”fe3449d5-ea72-49a5-a1a8-01f17ebbdf9c” info=”false” shares=”false” wp-pb-id=”263473″]

Head-to-head: We go to the scrum-halves here as experienced duo Danny Care and Fumiaki Tanaka face off. Care has found game time limited to bench appearances thus far in November while Tanaka is also given a start after riding the pine for the All Blacks match. Both enjoy a high tempo game and it would not be surprising to see the try hungry Harlequins number nine grabbing this starting opportunity with both hands.

Previous result:

1987: England won 60-7 in Sydney

Prediction: It’s hard to think the hosts will regress from their recent efforts and gain anything but a handsome win. England by 20.

The teams:

England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jack Nowell, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Danny Care, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jamie George, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Henry Slade

Japan: 15 William Tupou, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 22 Yutaka Nagare, 23 Rikiya Matsuda

Date: Saturday, November 17
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)