By Rich Freeman,
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph named his side Friday to take on Argentina at Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday in the final game of Pool D at the Rugby World Cup.
No. 8 Kazuki Himeno leads a side that shows one change from the team that started against Samoa on Sept. 28.
Siosaia Fifita comes in on the left wing with Jone Naikabula dropping to the bench. Other changes among the replacements see Amanaki Saumaki brought in to cover the back row, while Ryohei Yamanaka's ability to cover fly-half and full-back gets him the nod ahead of Lee Seung Sin.
"Saia really has been unlucky," Joseph said of Fifita. "He was our starting winger the last couple of years but then got injured in the (Pacific Nations Series)."
"Jone has been playing really well and it was hard to make a change. Jone has had a big workload, played every game and has been playing very well. I guess we get a fresh winger and a really good player coming off the bench that will contribute to the match."
As for the change among replacements, Joseph said it too was an opportunity to bring in some fresh legs.
"Kanji (Shimokawa) has had a big workload. Saumaki has a slightly different skill set and can also cover lock...and adds to (our) mobility and also the physicality we need against Argentina."
With vice-captain Yutaka Nagare unable to recover from a calf strain, Naoto Saito starts at scrum-half with Kenta Fukuda set to win his second cap off the bench.
In what has been described as a winner-takes-all affair, whichever team triumphs will advance to the quarterfinals where they will play the winners of Pool C, most likely Wales, who take on Georgia in the same stadium Saturday night. The losers fly home.
In the event of a draw, Argentina would likely progress unless Japan can score four tries and prevent the Pumas from doing the same.
The only other scenario would need Samoa to beat England by 29 points or more and score four tries for them to advance, providing neither Japan nor Argentina pick up a bonus point in a draw.
"What we have said to our team and players is if we can get into a position where we've got a grand final, which is Argentina at the weekend, then we are halfway there," Joseph said.
"We need to play for 80 minutes, ensure we play that rugby as best we can and play our style of rugby. It's a big game of footy. For us we've really been preparing for this game for the last three years."
Argentina named their team earlier Friday with Santiago Carreras back at fly-half in place of Nicolas Sanchez.
Julian Montoya leads the team from hooker with the dangerous Emiliano Boffelli on the right wing and Pablo Matera, who plays his club rugby for Mie Heat, at open-side flanker.
"We think it has good balance, not only in the starting XV but also in the eight that finish," said Argentina head coach Michael Cheika, who until recently was also the director of rugby at Green Rockets Tokatsu.
And as for the pressure of the occasion, Cheika simply said, "That is why you play rugby. If you want it easy and for the script to be written, don't worry about coming."
The two teams have met once before at a World Cup, in Cardiff in 1999, when the Pumas beat a Japan side containing both Joseph and scrum coach Shin Hasegawa 33-12.
Starting XV
Keita Inagaki, Shota Horie, Gu Ji Won; Jack Cornelsen, Amato Fakatava, Michael Leitch, Pieter "Lappies" Labuschagne, Kazuki Himeno; Naoto Saito, Rikiya Matsuda; Siosaia Fifita, Ryoto Nakamura, Dylan Riley, Kotaro Matsushima, Lomano Lava Lemeki
Replacements
Atsushi Sakate, Craig Millar, Asaeli Ai Valu; Warner Dearns, Amanaki Saumaki; Kenta Fukuda, Ryohei Yamanaka, Jone Naikabula
Related coverage:
Rugby: Brave Blossoms' "One Team" concept alive and well in France
Rugby: "Genki" Brave Blossoms bid adieu to Toulouse as Pumas await
Rugby: Japan legend Luke Thompson hopeful Brave Blossoms can make last 8
