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Mafi starts as Japan make four changes for Ireland
By Online Editors
Japan coach Jamie Joseph has named his team for the Pool A match against Ireland at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa on Saturday.
The Brave Blossoms have made four changes to the starting XV that defeated Russia 30-10 in the opening match at RWC 2019.
Captain Michael Leitch drops to the bench, as do Asaeli Ai Valu, Lomano Lava Lemeki and Wimpie van der Walt drop to the bench.
Luke Thompson, at 38 the oldest player at RWC 2019, is promoted to the starting line-up. The same goes for Jiwon Koo, Amanaki Lelei Mafi and Ryohei Yamanaka.
Pieter Labuschagne, one of only three players to captain the Brave Blossoms on debut, also captains the side against Ireland.
Labuschagne, also going by his nickname 'Lappies', is the third foreign-born player to captain Japan in a World Cup match following Andrew McCormick (NZL) and Michael Leitch (NZL).
Pieter Labuschagne will become the fourth South African-born player to captain a country other than South Africa at the Rugby World Cup following Kevin Dalzell (USA), Quintin Geldenhuys (Italy) and Dion O'Cuinneagain (Ireland).
William Tupou will play on the wing for the first time in his test career. He has made all of his previous test appearances at full-back and centre.
TEAM:
1. Keita Inagaki
2. Shota Horie
3. Jiwon Koo
4. Luke Thompson
5. James Moore
6. Kazuki Himeno
7. Pieter Labuschagne (capt.)
8. Amanaki Lelei Mafi
9. Yutaka Nagare
10. Yu Tamura
11. William Tupou
12. Ryoto Nakamura
13. Timothy Lafaele
14. Kotaro Matsushima
15. Ryohei Yamanaka
16. Atsushi Sakate
17. Isileli Nakajima
18. Asaeli Ai Valu
19. Wimpie van der Walt
20. Michael Leitch
21. Fumiaki Tanaka
22. Rikiya Matsuda
23. Lomano Lava Lemeki
Jim Hamilton and RugbyPass sat down with Scotland Legend Gavin Hastings, who talked us through his best and worst memories of the '91 RWC.
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Latest Comments
More indecision and excuses from Razor.
You've given a spot at 6 to Finau whom you haven't even had the courage to use off the bench in the last two games. Now the young enforcer is going into a big much with no rugby, we should expect a similar result to how Aumua struggled to impact a game after he'd hardly been given any chances of the bench either.
Weve now dropped a back three player who also wasn't even given any game time off the bench for someone coming in cold when they really need to have been playing constantly to perform at their best. There are just so many better pictures that should have been present rather than this mickey mouse selection.
I really hope Finau can overcome this, it won't be the first time he's had to. How is the bench even made up? Could you not just have included these changes in the article as well? I actually like BB coming back in, it highlights how courageous he is after sitting out through another concussion that could just as easily sent him back into months of symptoms again.
Dmac was also off his game last week, as was Ratima, with the poor platform Razor and his team have been setting the players up with. He needs to freedom to clear his mind from the clutter that saw him make so many bad decisions last week. It will still probably be a net loss for the team performance not having him on from the start but it should be better for them in the long run if he's allowed to just come on late and play his game trying to claw things back for the team.
With Roigard starting that might prove an outlet for the team to actually get on top first however. Along with Ardie busting a gut in his new role and emptying the tank by halftime, and being replaced by another new star, might mean that Dmac is just icing on the cake at the end.
Go to commentsLet's hope so, that was a fantastic game.
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