Despite a promising start to the game, Japan have fallen to a disheartening 34-12 loss to England in Nice on Sunday evening. How did the Brave Blossoms rate in defeat?
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has named his 23-man match-day squad to face England in Pool D at Stade de Nice on Sunday, 17 September.
The scoreline might trick you into thinking Japan were brilliant today. They were anything but. A disjointed performance was made to look much better by an inflated scorecard.
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has been forced to make a late change to his team to face Chile in Toulouse on Sunday, with captain Kazuki Himeno being forced to withdraw due to injury.
Japan have bounced back from last weekend’s defeat to Samoa by beating Tonga 21-16 in Osaka.
Japan have made six changes as they look to bounce back from last weekend’s home loss to Samoa with this Saturday’s clash against Tonga.
The All Blacks XV had an entertaining 41-27 win over Japan in sticky conditions in Tokyo with All Blacks XV centre Billy Procter a standout with four tries.
The rebranded Japan Rugby League One kicks off this weekend, so here's a XV of the league's top stars playing in this year's competition.