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Three threats an inexperienced England will need to be wary of at Twickenham

Keita Inagaki has been one of the most consistent loosehead props in world rugby over the last four years. (Photo by Ken Ishii/Getty Images)

England and Eddie Jones have chosen to roll the dice against Japan at Twickenham on Saturday, bringing in a number of fresh faces and giving them an opportunity to put down a marker at international level.

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Joe Cokansiga is making his debut on the wing, whilst starters Alec Hepburn, Zach Mercer and Alex Lozowski have less than 10 caps between them. Ted Hill is also set to debut from the bench, with the 19-year-old enjoying a stellar season with his club Worcester Warriors.

As for Japan, they have opted for a much more settled line-up, even if it doesn’t necessarily boast a major experience advantage, as they bid to upset the odds in their first ever visit to Twickenham.

We have picked out three key threats that England will need to be wary of on Saturday, lest they face the same kind of upset that South Africa endured during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

 

Keita Inagaki (RugbyPass Index score – 68)

Japan’s starting loosehead is no pushover in the scrum, and he was one of they key contributors in that historic victory over the Springboks. He has taken on more experienced operators than Harry Williams and come out with credit before, so the Exeter man will need to be at his best on Saturday.

The 28-year-old has the relatively small amount of 23 caps to his name, but his experience includes a Rugby World Cup, growing Super Rugby exposure with the Sunwolves and a wealth of rugby in Japan’s Top 14 with the Panasonic Wild Knights. Unfortunately for Inagaki, he is without his long-term hooking partner Shota Horie, a combination which has brought Japan plenty of success, but starting hooker Atsushi Sakate is also a teammate at club level in both the Top League and Super Rugby, so there should be a good understanding between the pair.

 

Michael Leitch (RPI score – 65)

A name that should be slightly more familiar to English rugby fans, with the Cherry Blossoms’ captain a regular feature in Super Rugby, initially with the Chiefs and now with the Sunwolves. With the exception of scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka, Leitch is the most experience player in the Japan squad, with 57 test caps to his name.

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Leitch has prospered in Super Rugby as a balanced operator in the back row, capable of piling up eye-watering tackle numbers, influencing the breakdown or providing a necessary carrying threat, depending on the game situation and what his team needs. He will certainly test England’s fringe defence and keep them honest, whilst his work at the lineout and the maul will be one of Japan’s main scoring threats on Saturday.

 

Kenki Fukuoka (RPI score – 62)

Speaking of scoring threats, another one of Japan’s key weapons will be wing Fukuoka. He has 17 tries in his 27 international matches to date, although that should be treated with a pinch of salt, as seven of those tries have come in three games against the Philippines and Korea.

That said, he is an elusive threat in the wider channels, using his smaller height and slighter frame to his advantage offensively. He will be matched up with Cokanasiga on Saturday, which is quite the physical mismatch in England’s favour, but Jones will have to be wary about kicks in behind Cokanasiga, as the big Bath wing will be under constant pressure from the more agile Fukuoka. Do not be surprised if the Panasonic Wild Knights wing sniffs out a try in broken play this weekend.

Watch: England defence coach John Mitchell talks to RugbyPass ahead of the game against Japan.

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H
Hellhound 23 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

2 Go to comments
J
JW 38 minutes ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

23 Go to comments
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