England vs Japan LIVE rugby: Updates as England look to end losing run with ex-boss Eddie Jones in town
Follow all of the latest as former England boss Eddie Jones returns to Twickenham
After a difficult November, England will hope to finish with a flourish as they take on Japan and former coach Eddie Jones.
Defeat to South Africa last weekend was a fifth defeat on the spin for Steve Borthwick’s side, and there is little room for experimentation in what is a first-choice line-up named to end the Autumn Nations Series. Tom Curry returns from concussion in the back row while rookie prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is set to make his debut off the bench.
Borthwick will be wary of a creative visiting side overseen by his former mentor. The current England coach spent eight years as an assistant to Jones with both Japan and England, and will know that the Australian is likely to have a trick or two up his sleeve as he returns to an old haunt.
Follow all of the latest from Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in our live blog below:
England vs Japan
Warm-ups complete and we’re about 10 minutes away from kick-off here in Twickenham. Can England end their autumn on a high?
England vs Japan match officials
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referee 2: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour tipped to shine on debut
Asher Opoku-Fordjour should, at some point today, become England’s ninth debutant of the year. There is considerable excitement about a 20-year-old prop already performing strongly in the Premiership, with the youngster’s ability to play on both sides of the front row only enhancing his chances of a long stint at international level.
“We are all very excited,” Jamie George said on Friday. “I haven’t worked with Asher for that long but I have been impressed with how he has come in, applied himself and been keen to learn. A player that age, able to play both sides at Premiership level and getting his opportunity now at international level is very exciting. So the focus for the rest of us, particularly in the pack is to make sure it is a very special day for him.
“He’s a very, very talented scrummager. He has a very, very strong core, which is probably the reason why he’s so effective on both sides.”
To learn a bit more about Opoku-Fordjour, here’s a chat with him from a little earlier this year:
Asher Opoku-Fordjour: ‘I don’t really know what my ceiling is — I want to do it all’
Interview: The teenage prop tells The Independent about his remarkable breakthrough season and his goals in the game
Jamie George warns England to prepare for unexpected from Eddie Jones
Jamie George has braced England to face the unexpected when Eddie Jones returns to Twickenham in Sunday’s climax to the Autumn Nations Series.
For the first time since he was sacked in 2022, Jones will come up against the side he coached for seven years on their home turf as he plots a famous upset for his Japan team.
England are overwhelming favourites to end their five-Test losing run against opponents ranked 13th in the world, but George insists Jones is capable of ripping up the script.
Jamie George warns England to prepare for unexpected from Eddie Jones
England are overwhelming favourites to end their five-Test losing run.
England vs Japan
Eddie Jones opened his second spell as Japan boss with a 52-17 defeat in Tokyo in June, but captain Naoto Saito insists his Brave Blossoms are now a more dangerous side.
“England are really dominant in the set-piece and under the high ball and I’m sure they will bring those threats against us,” Saito said.
“Of course we have counter measures for that and how we use those will be really important to our game. We’ve been focusing on ourselves.
“We started this campaign playing against England. We’ve gone 10 games deep now and are playing them away from home.
“We are really keen to show how much we have developed our attacking game. Against England’s fast line speed we really want to nail our accuracy in attack. That’s the part of the game that we would like to continue to develop.”
Japan team news
Japan are without hulking lock Warner Dearns, who has been given a four-match ban after his sending off against Uruguay. Eddie Jones shuffles his playmakers in the absence of Harumichi Tatekawa, with Nik McCurran handed an opportunity at fly half and Takuro Matsunaga providing extra distributing hands from full-back. Six forwards are included on the bench.
Japan XV: 1 Takato Okabe, 2 Mamoru Harada, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi; 4 Sanaila Waqa, 5 Epineri Uluiviti; 6 Kanji Shimokawa, 7 Kazuki Himeno, 8 Faulua Makisi; 9 Naoto Saito (captain), 10 Nicholas McCurran; 11 Jone Naikabula, 12 Siosaia Fifita, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Tomoki Osada; 15 Takuro Matsunaga.
Replacements: 16 Seunghyuk Lee, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Daichi Akiyama, 20 Tevita Tatafu, 21 Ben Gunter; 22 Shinobu Fujiwara, 23 Yusuke Kajimura.
England team news
Steve Borthwick names his strongest possible side for the final game of England’s autumn. Tom Curry returns from a second concussion of the season to start in a mobile back row, uniting with Sam Underhill in a partnership that worked so well for Eddie Jones at the 2019 World Cup. George Furbank is recalled in the place of Freddie Steward at full-back, while 20-year-old prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour (who can play on both sides of the scrum but covers tighthead here) is set to make his debut.
England XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin; 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 10 Marcus Smith; 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 12 Henry Slade, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 George Furbank.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South; 21 Harry Randall, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Tom Roebuck.
Complex legacy of Eddie Jones era adds intrigue to England’s must-win clash with Japan
It was with not inconsiderable disappointment that news came through on Friday afternoon that illness had laid Eddie Jones low and the Japan head coach would be unable to conduct a planned press conference. As is often the case with the truculent Australian, it has been impossible to escape his name in the build-up to this weekend’s clash between his employers new and old; talk of the Eddie era seeming to bounce out of the whispering walls and ornate corners of the Pennyhill Park training base he used to patrol.
Complex legacy of Eddie Jones era adds intrigue to England’s clash with Japan
England are likely to win their final fixture of the year by a distance but will be expect the unexpected against their former head coach
Eddie Jones will relish pantomime villain role, claims Ellis Genge
Ellis Genge knows Japan boss Eddie Jones will be happy performing the role of pantomime villain when he plots England’s downfall at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Jones is facing England at Twickenham for the first time since he was sacked in 2022 and the 64-year-old returns under a cloud because of claims made about his management style during his seven years in charge.
Danny Care, former red rose scrum-half, earlier this month described the environment he created as “toxic”, adding that his reign was like “living in a dictatorship”.
Eddie Jones will relish pantomime villain role, claims Ellis Genge
Jones is facing England at Twickenham for the first time since he was sacked in 2022.
England vs Japan talking points: A glimpse of the future
England are hoping to have unearthed a gem when Asher Opoku-Fordjour makes his debut off the bench. A junior World Cup winner with the under-20s during the summer, big things are expected of the Sale prop who has been talked up by front row veterans Dan Cole and Joe Marler. Borthwick has been impressed by his dynamic play in the loose, set-piece expertise and the ability to play on both sides of the scrum, which makes him particularly valuable in a World Cup squad. With England’s depth at prop a problem area, especially at tighthhead, Opoku-Fordjour’s arrival could be well timed.
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