PREVIEW: Japan and France are preparing for a heavyweight arm-wrestle in Tokyo on Saturday, with the heat and humidity set to turn their Nations Championship contest into a forwards’ battle.
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The mercury is forecast to hover around 30C in the Japanese capital, with the possibility of rain making a fast and accurate passing game even more unlikely.
Both teams have made wholesale changes to their front rows, as France arrive in Tokyo fresh from a 42-26 demolition of Australia in Brisbane.
Japan showed spirit in a 20-36 defeat to Ireland last week in Newcastle, Australia, and coach Eddie Jones said his team were “looking forward to having that challenge of stopping the French attack”.
“One of the things we’ve got to do is put pressure on the source, the line-out or the scrum, and then we’ve just got to keep pressure on the ball,” he said.
“We can create mistakes, we can create opportunities to play the rugby we’re really good at.”
Jones has shuffled his forward pack, bringing in debutant flanker Esei Haangana as well as a new front row of Sojiro Otsuka, Hayate Era and Keijiro Tamefusa.
He believes his forwards are “well-equipped to handle” a French pack spearheaded by incoming trio Regis Montagne, Maxime Lamothe and Jefferson Poirot.
Alexandre Roumat replaces the injured Oscar Jegou in the back row in the only other change to France’s starting line-up.
France coach Fabien Galthie said he was “not completely satisfied” with his team’s scrum against Australia.
He is hoping for an improvement on Saturday, but he is wary of a Japan side who “know how to play in these weather conditions, which come as a huge shock to European teams”.
“On Tuesday and Wednesday, we suffered a lot in training, and we’ll suffer a lot on Saturday, partly because the Japanese are capable of putting great pace into their game,” said Galthie.
“And also because of the weather, which is really special.”
Continues below…
Friends reunited
Both teams head into the game with one win and one loss apiece in the inaugural Nations Championship.
Japan beat Italy 27-10 in their opener in Tokyo before losing to Ireland, while France were edged 32-34 by the All Blacks in New Zealand before thrashing the Wallabies.
Japan and France will meet again at next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, where they have been drawn in Pool E and will face off in Brisbane.
Japan scrumhalf Naoto Saito is already familiar with French rugby, having played for Toulouse and won this season’s Top 14 title.
Jones said it was “an important game” for Saito, who will again link up with university flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito in the halfbacks.
Saito could come up against his former Toulouse teammate Paul Graou, who has been named on the France bench and is in line to win his first cap.
Galthie said scrumhalf Graou “deserves” his call-up after deputising for Antoine Dupont at club level.
Ultimately, both teams are expecting their forwards to take centre stage in what could be a physical end to the inaugural Nations Championship’s Southern Hemisphere series.
“If it’s wet, it’s probably going to be a bit more of a forward battle, so their front row, their tight five, are going to be really important for their team,” said Japan captain Warner Dearns.
“But we’re confident that we can go out and pressure them and stop them.”
Players to watch:
For Japan: Dylan Riley will have to be the defensive glue in the backline against a dangerous France attacking backline. The halfback combination of Naoto Saito and Ryunosuke Ito will have their work cut out for them against Maxime Lucu and Romain Ntamack. In the pack, captain Warner Dearns, who is in the form of his life, will be key in the tight-loose.
For France: The back there of Matthieu Jalibert, Theo Attissogbe and newbie Aaron Grandidier-Nkakang boasts pace and flair which could see Japan having a long day. The lock combination of Emmanuel Meafou and Florian Verhaeghe will be key in securing set-piece ball to allow those above-mentioned players the platform to express themselves
Prediction:
Rugby365: France by 22 points
Teams:
Japan: 15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Kazuma Ueda, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Samisoni Tua, 11 Kippei Ishida, 10 Ryunosuke Ito, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Ben Gunter, 6 Esei Haangana, 5 Warner Dearns (captain), 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Keijiro Tamefusa, 2 Hayate Era, 1 Sojiro Otsuka
Replacements: 16 Kenji Sato, 17 Takato Okabe, 18 Izi Sword, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Tiennan Costley, 22 Taira Main, 23 Shunsuke Uenobo
France: 15 Matthieu Jalibert, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Aaron Grandidier-Nkakang, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Marko Gazzotti, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Regis Montagne, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Killian Tixeront, 22 Paul Graou, 23 Kalvin Gourgues.
Date: Saturday, July 18
Venue: Tokyo National Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 17.40 (10.40 CEST; 08.40 GMT)
Expected weather: A thunderstorm warning with temperatures expected of 27 and a low of 25 degrees Celsius and winds of 10 kilometres an hour.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)