The Springboks will head into Saturday’s clash as overwhelming favourites against Japan, but they will also be very mindful that any semblance of complacency could run them intro trouble against Eddie Jones’ unpredictable outfit.
Rassie Erasmus has named 16 players in his matchday squad that featured in the team’s 29-27 victory against Argentina in their final Rugby Championship clash earlier this month, which saw them clinch the title for the second year in a row.
Meanwhile, Japan have named a typically exciting team that interestingly includes former Sharks player Tyler Paul on the bench, while Durban-born Dylan Riley starts in the midfield.
The match kicks off at 18:10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live and exclusively on SuperSport.
LIVE SCORING: SPRINGBOKS V JAPAN
South Africa: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok
Japan: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Lee Seung-sin, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi.
Replacements: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tiennan Costley.
Date: Saturday, November 1
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
Kick-off: 18:10 SAST
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
<< GRAB YOUR TICKETS FOR JAPAN AT WEMBLEY HERE >>
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against Japan:
Played 3; Won 2; Lost 1; Drawn 0; Points for: 99, Points against: 44; Tries scored 12, Tries conceded 4; Highest score 41-7; Biggest winning margin 34 points. Win % 66.7%.
Miscellaneous:
- The Springboks’ only defeat against Japan was in 2015, when they went down 34-32 in Brighton in their Rugby World Cup pool opener.
- The last time the teams crossed paths was in the 2019 RWC quarter-final in Tokyo, where the Boks registered a 26-3 victory, and went on to be crowned the world champions for the third time in history.
- Siya Kolisi will play his 99th Test match, leaving him only one game short of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game.
- Zachary Porthen captained the Junior Springboks last year and will become Springbok #953 on Saturday.
- Jesse Kriel has scored 95 Test points in his 84 Tests and requires only five to make it to 100 in the green and gold.
- The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 781. There are 316 caps in the backline, with 465 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 182 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 45, the forwards 58, while the players on the bench average 23.
