Category: Rugby

• ‘Japan have a distinct way of playing,’ says captain

• Steve Borthwick hails ‘weird and wonderful’ Jones

Maro Itoje has insisted England will be ready for any curveballs Eddie Jones may throw on Saturday, warning his side they cannot “sleepwalk” into battle against Japan.

Jones, England’s longest-serving head coach after his stint between 2015 and 2022, has strongly hinted he will set his side up to unsettle his former charges at Twickenham, warning that they do not like “unorthodox” rugby. The hosts are heavy favourites to back up last week’s record win over Australia with another emphatic victory and have never lost to Japan but Steve Borthwick has made 10 personnel and two positional changes, fielding an inexperienced side against that of his predecessor.

Steve Borthwick has picked a team to excite fans – let’s see them beat the Brave Blossoms at their own game on Saturday

Based on England’s performance last week, there was part of me that thought about writing a piece that would light another fire under the squad. As predicted a week ago, England were galvanised by events leading up to the game against Australia and I cannot remember the last time when I came away from Twickenham so impressed by both the result and the performance.

Pretty much every box was ticked. It was a complete showing. Discipline was on point, the set piece went well and England scored all manner of tries. The question is, how does a much-changed team take a step up, continue to build momentum through the Nations Championship and drive things forward? It can be a challenge against a side like Japan – we only have to look back at England v Japan in 2018, it was like a cemetery for some players’ international careers.

Steve Borthwick is ringing the changes and George Ford, despite his 108 caps, also knows he needs to perform

In Tokyo this week the police have been seeking to help newly arrived visitors from overseas. Several local bar and restaurant managers have been arrested for targeting and ripping off unwary tourists who had walked into their establishments in good faith. Unfortunately for Japan’s rugby players, as they prepare to enter England’s chilly lair, there is no such reciprocal deal to protect them from a collective south-west London mugging on Saturday afternoon.

Instead they will be required to fend for themselves, with the odds heavily stacked in the home team’s favour. England have racked up a half-century of points against the Brave Blossoms in both their two most recent meetings – and that was before rugby’s try-scoring rates began ratcheting upwards. Japan’s arrival also neatly intersects with their hosts’ desire to build on the momentum of last Sunday’s 45-22 win over Australia.

• Just three retained in same positions from Australia game

• ‘We want the very best of every one of these guys,’ says Itoje

England’s World Cup hopefuls have been warned not to go off script when auditioning for a place on the plane next year after Steve Borthwick rang the changes to his side to face Japan on Saturday, handing starts to rookies Will Joseph and Max Ojomoh as well as Henry Pollock.

Borthwick has made 10 personnel and two positional changes to his team to play Eddie Jones’s side with a glut of injuries, a handful of players in need of a rest and the head coach’s determination to give those such as Joseph and Ojomoh, who line up on the right wing and inside centre respectively, the chance to shine. Pollock makes his second start, coming in at No 8, while the Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland is in line for a debut from the bench.

Japan head coach was criticised for discarding players harshly during his Red Rose tenure but that tough love has paid off for some

To listen to Eddie Jones chewing the fat on assorted podcasts this week is to admire the enduring thickness of his coaching skin. The old crocodile smile is still intact too, along with his sense of humour after an interaction in a lift with a fan after his Japan side’s 28-21 weekend defeat in Cardiff. As Jones later confided: “This Welsh bloke came up to me and said: ‘You almost look human with your glasses on.’”

Next up is a reunion with a few former friends – and foes – at Twickenham. While it is now almost four years since Jones was sacked by the Rugby Football Union, there remain mixed emotions on both sides. Those relieved to see him go in late 2022 will certainly not be too brokenhearted if there is a similar outcome to the last time a Jones-coached Japan came to Allianz Stadium two years ago and lost 59-14.