Japan make four changes to team for England showdown in Nice

NICE, France : Japan have beefed up their forward pack and picked centre Tomoki Osada among the backs to face England in their second Rugby World Cup Pool D fixture at the Stade de Nice on Sunday.

Coach Jamie Joseph has brought in hooker Shota Horie to replace Atsushi Sakate and flanker Pieter Labuschagne is preferred to Kanji Shimokawa.

Captain Kazuki Himeno also returns to the team after being a late withdrawal from the side that beat Chile 42-12 in their opening game.

It means Jack Cornelsen moves from number eight to lock, where he replaces Amanaki Saumaki.

Osada comes into the team at outside centre in the place of Dylan Riley as Joseph largely sticks with the selection that claimed their seventh World Cup pool stage win in a row dating back to the 2015 tournament.

Himeno will captain the side for the fourth time, while ex-skipper Michael Leitch becomes Japan’s most capped player at a World Cup with his 15th appearance, edging ahead of Luke Thompson.

There are 13 players in the match-day squad from the side that lost 52-13 to England in November last year.

Team: 1-Keita Inagaki, 2-Shota Horie, 3-Jiwon Gu, 4-Jack Cornelsen, 5-Amato Fakatava, 6-Michael Leitch, 7-Pieter Labuschagne, 8-Kazuki Himeno (c), 9-Yutaka Nagare, 10-Rikiya Matsuda, 11-Jone Naikabula, 12-Ryoto Nakamura, 13-Tomoki Osada, 14-Kotaro Matsushima, 15-Semisi Masirewa

Replacements: 16-Atsushi Sakate, 17-Craig Millar, 18-Asaeli Ai Valu, 19-Warner Dearns, 20-Kanji Shimokawa, 21-Naoto Saito, 22-Dylan Riley, 23-Lomano Lemeki.