Rugby World Cup winners Andy Ellis and Ma'a Nonu and former Springboks captain Adriaan Strauss will all start Friday's Japan Rugby Challenge Match 2018 against the Brave Blossoms at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, coach Robbie Deans said Wednesday.
Kobe Kobelco Steelers scrumhalf Ellis returns as captain having led the invitation outfit last year when they beat Japan 47-27 in Fukuoka. That team also included South African Strauss, who packs down this time between two Sunwolves, and Harold Vorster, who forms a powerful midfield partnership with two-time RWC winner Nonu.
The side contains five All Blacks in the starting line-up with a further two on the bench in a game in which both sides can field 10 replacements.
(Adriaan Strauss)[Getty/Kyodo]
In the forwards, Craig Millar and Hencus van Wyk prop down in the front row either side of Strauss.
Australia international Sam Carter and South African Jason Jenkins man the engine room with All Blacks Jackson Hemopo and Dillon Hunt teaming up with 50-cap Argentine veteran Leonardo Senatore in the back row.
In the backs, Ellis partners Lionel Cronje at halfback with Vorster and Nonu looking to make the most of the speed of New Zealand-based wingers Tevita Li and Toni Pulu and All Black Nehe Milner Skudder at fullback.
Deans and his assistant Scott Robertson, who between them boast seven Super Rugby titles, can call on plenty of experience from the bench for the game, which marks the refurbishment of the iconic Hanazono stadium ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.
(Andy Ellis)
Friday night's game will be the last in the 13-year professional career of Wyatt Crockett, the only player in the 23-year history of Super Rugby to have made more than 200 appearances.
The veteran is joined on the bench by former Wallaby prop Ben Alexander and hookers Corne Fourie, who recently signed for Deans' Panasonic Wild Knights side, and Ricky Riccitelli from the Hurricanes.
Fourie's clubmate Ben Gunter, Willie Britz and former Tonga captain Nili Latu, back in the Top League with Hino Red Dolphins, are the other back-up forwards.
The reserve backs are made up of three different nationalities -- former All Black scrumhalf Augustine Pulu, Argentina flyhalf Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias and the uncapped Keisuke Moriya, who can cover a number of positions.
Eleven of the squad are playing for Japanese clubs in the Top League this year, some on short-term contracts, while 12 have test experience.
The match-night squad boasts a combined 525 test and 1556 Super Rugby appearances.
The Japan Rugby Football Union named a 25-man squad, led by World Cup captain Michael Leitch.
In the front row, Panasonic's Keita Inagaki and the Steelers' Hiroshi Yamashita, with Japan for the first time since the 2015 World Cup, will pack down either side of Canon Eagles hooker Yusuke Niwai.
Wimpie van der Walt of the NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes has been named at lock alongside the Eagles' Samuela Anise, while Leitch, Sungoliath No. 8 Hendrik Tui and Panasonic's Shunsuke Nunomaki make up the back row.
In the backs, Suntory's Yutaka Nagare will start at scrumhalf, with Canon's Yu Tamura at flyhalf. Timothy Lafaele of Coca-Cola Red Sparks will partner club teammate William Tupou in the centers, while Panasonic's Kenki Fukuoka and the Honda Heat's Lomano Lava Lemeki will start on the left and right wing, respectively.
Sevens representative Jamie Henry of Toyota Verblitz will make his debut for the 15-man national side at fullback.
The reserve forwards are Atsushi Sakate, Koki Yamamoto, Asaeli Ai Valu, Uwe Helu, Masakatsu Nishikawa and Isileli Nakajima.
Former Highlanders scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka will start on the bench along with Panasonic teammate Rikiya Matsuda. Ryota Nakamura and Ryohei Yamanaka round out the reserve backs.
A year ago, Japan played the match just five days after the start of their training camp. This time around, Joseph's side trained in Miyazaki for 10 days before traveling to Osaka two days before the game.
On Oct. 3 at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium, Japan will take on New Zealand, who play Australia on Saturday.
