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Jamie Joseph has named a training squad for June
Japan have the Rugby World Cup squad that just keeps on giving. After their landmark 34-32 win against South Africa in 2015, the Brave Blossoms went on to produce even more incredible victories on home soil by beating Ireland and Scotland in 2019. They went through to the knockouts for the first time in their history.
This time out they face 2019 finalists England, and a feisty Argentina in their pool.
Will they be able to produce more thrilling performances?
Check out who made the cut in the Japan Rugby World Cup squad below – and see the full list of Rugby World Cup fixtures here.
Japan Rugby World Cup squad 2023
Props
Keita Inagaki (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Craig Miller (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Sione Halasili (Yokohama Canon Eagles)
Ji-won Koo (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
Shinnosuke Kakinaga (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Asaeli Ai Valu (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Hookers
Shota Horie (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Atsushi Sakate (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Kosuke Horikoshi (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Locks
James Moore (Urayasu D-Rocks)
Uwe Helu (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay)
Amanaki Saumaki (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
Warner Dearns (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo)
Amato Fakatava (Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo)
Jack Cornelsen (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Flankers
Shota Fukui (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Kazuki Himeno (Toyota Verblitz)
Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo)
No 8
Faulua Makisi (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay)
Scrum-halves
Naoto Saito (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Yutaka Nagare (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Kenta Fukuda (Toyota Verblitz)
Fly-halves
Seungsin Lee (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
Rikiya Matsuda (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Centres
Nicholas McCurran (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo)
Ryodo Nakamura (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Tomoki Osada (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Shogo Nakano (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Dylan Riley (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)
Wings
Siosaia Fifita (Hanazono Kintetsu Liners)
Haruto Kida (Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay)
Semisi Masirewa (Hanazono Kintetsu Liners)
Jone Naikabula (Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo)
Full-backs
Kotaro Matsushima (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
Ryohei Yamanaka (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
Jumpei Ogura (Yokohama Canon Eagles)
Japan Rugby World Cup Pool
Japan have been drawn in Rugby World Cup Pool A alongside England, Samoa, Argentina and Chile.
Sun 10 Sept Japan v Chile (Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse)
Sun 17 Sept Japan v England (Stade de Nice, Nice)
Thu 28 Sept Japan v Samoa (Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse)
Sun 8 Oct Japan v Argentina (Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes)
The knockout stages will follow the same format as previous years, with teams from Pools A and B then Pools C and D meeting in the quarter-finals. So Wales and England could meet in the last eight, for example.
QF1 – Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
QF2 – Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
QF3 – Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
QF4 – Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Then the semi-finals will be the Winner of QF1 v Winner QF2 and the Winner QF3 v Winner QF4.
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