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Japan World Cup star Kotaro Matsushima returns for Ireland showdown

Kotaru Matsushima (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

Having been unavailable for selection in the squad to play against the Wallabies in Oita, Kotaro Matsushima has been quickly recalled to Japan’s line-up for this weekend’s game with Ireland.

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Matsushima, who scored five tries for the Brave Blossoms at the 2019 Rugby World Cup – including a hat-trick in the opening match of the tournament – will line up at fullback as one of just three changes to the starting XV from Japan’s most recent hit-out with Australia.

All three adjustments come in the backline, with experienced playmaker Yu Tamura taking over from Rikiya Matsuda at No 10 and recent debutant Dylan Riley slotting onto the right wing in favour of Lomano Lemeki.

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The panel of Ross Karl, Bryn Hall and James Parsons run their eyes over all the developments from the past week of rugby.

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      The panel of Ross Karl, Bryn Hall and James Parsons run their eyes over all the developments from the past week of rugby.

      The starting forward pack is unchanged from the loss to the Wallabies but there are a few movements on the bench.

      Former captain Michael Leitch remains unavailable after he was a late scratching from the game in Oita. As such, Yoshitaka Tokunaga will again cover the back row from the reserves.

      With Tamura coming into the starting line-up, Matsuda will wear jersey No 21 while Riley’s spot on the bench is filled by 33-year-old Ryohei Yamanaka.

      Outside backs Lemeki and Semisi Masirewa have missed out on selection entirely.

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      Pieter Labuschagne will again captain the side from the openside flanker role.

      While the Brave Blossoms were able to pull off a historic victory over Ireland at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, their last encounter in July ended in defeat, despite Ireland playing without their British and Irish Lions.

      Japan were in control of the match at various stages and held the lead early in the second half but eventually succumbed 39-31.

      While the Ireland side named today has a handful of changes to the winning line-up from earlier this year, Japan coach Jamie Joseph has largely kept faith in the team that came close to securing a first-ever victory in Dublin. Injured forwards Leitch and Wimpie van der Walt are both unavailable for this weekend while Masirewa is the sole starting back from that team who won’t feature on Saturday.

      Japan: Kotaro Matsushima, Dylan Riley, Timothy Lafaele, Ryoto Nakamura, Siosaia Fifita, Yu Tamura, Yutaka Nagare, Kazuki Himeno, Pieter Labuschagne (c), Ben Gunter, James Moore, Jack Cornelsen, Koo Ji-won, Atsushi Sakate, Keita Inagaki. Reserves: Yusuke Niwai, Craig Millar, Asaeli Ai Valu, Yoshitaka Tokunaga, Tevita Tatafu, Naoto Saito, Yu Tamura, Ryohei Yamanaka.

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      TokoRFC 11 minutes ago
      Super Rugby Pacific's greatest season stained by one playoff game

      Mate, what TK and Ben Smith are forgetting is that a comp needs more games that matter, and its a balancing act getting that right.

      They haven’t understood that having so many teams fighting over the 6th spot is what fueled the back end of the regular season. Not to mention the games to decide the top end of the finals seeding. It would have been a bit flat if the 4 bottom teams were out of the running with a few rounds still to go.


      The current finals format is a bit funny to get used to, I agree. But if they sort out the scheduling guff where the BRU vs HUR match could have been a non knockout game, as well as giving more punishment for the lucky looser (dropping them to 4th seed in the semis). The current format creates more meaningful matches than the alternatives.


      Some examples of finals formats:


      Top 6 14 matches that matter

      With the improvements above, the current system creates 6 competitive finals, plus say 8 matches in the regular season that are effectively knockout games. 14 games that definitely matter. Plus some games to decide the finals seeding in there too.


      Top 4 10 matches that matter

      3 finals matches and say 6 games to fight over the top 4. At a best case you may get 12 crucial games


      If offered the choice, the sponsors, the broadcasters, the fans, the players and the all blacks selectors would all take more meaningful games over any alternative format.

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