Coach Jamie Joseph has made just one injury-enforced change to Japan’s starting lineup for Sunday’s quarter-final against the Springboks in Tokyo.
In the back division, Ryohei Yamanaka replaces William Tupou at fullback, after the latter failed to recover from a head knock suffered during the win over Scotland.
Joseph has opted for consistency in selection following last week’s historic 28-21 victory, with captain Michael Leitch set to play his 13th World Cup match. Leitch will again form a loose trio with Lappies Labuschagne and Kazuki Himeno.
Kotaro Matsushima, Shota Horie, Luke Thompson and Leitch were also in the starting side when Japan beat the Boks 34-32 at the 2015 World Cup. Keita Inagaki and Yu Tamura will start on Sunday, having been on the bench in Brighton. Fumiaki Tanaka and Amanaki Mafi are on the bench, as they were four years ago.
Japan – 15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 James Moore, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Subs: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Lomano Lemeki.
World Cup teams (Quarter-finals)
Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
