England today return to Twickenham against Japan needing a convincing win to recover from a shock defeat by Argentina.
Eddie Jones’ side made the worst possible start to their four-game Autumn Nations Series campaign last time out as a sluggish, sloppy and ill-disciplined performance in the pouring rain led to a 30-29 upset - the Pumas’ first win of any sort over England since 2009 and first on English soil for some 16 years.
Jones accepted full responsibility for a performance that saw his vaunted attack mostly misfire, admitting after a fifth Test defeat of 2022 that his side let their focus drift early to next year’s World Cup.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ENGLAND VS JAPAN LIVE!
He will hope to get firmly back on track here against the team he coached to arguably rugby’s greatest upset against the Springboks in 2015, though the Brave Blossoms travel to London looking to take advantage of any remaining rustiness.
Japan were competitive against France in the summer after a series win over Uruguay and gave a makeshift All Blacks side a stern test in Tokyo last month, eventually going down 38-31 after a typically spirited showing.
Date, kick-off time and venue
England vs Japan takes place on Saturday November 12, 2022 with a kick-off time of 3:15pm GMT.
Twickenham Stadium in south-west London will play host to the autumn Test.
How to watch England vs Japan
TV channel and live stream: Today’s match will be broadcast live in the UK via Amazon Prime Video.
The Amazon Prime Video app is available across multiple platforms including smart televisions, with a subscription to the service currently costing £8.99 per month.
LIVE coverage: You can follow all the England action live with Standard Sport’s match blog. Rugby correspondent Nick Purewal will be providing expert analysis from Twickenham.
England vs Japan team news
Jones makes five changes to the England side stunned by Argentina, with Alex Coles, Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs and Manu Tuilagi all dropping to the bench, while Joe Cokanasiga is omitted from the matchday squad altogether despite last weekend’s try.
David Ribbans replaces Northampton team-mate Alex Coles in the second row for his Test debut, while Sam Simmonds starts at No8. Jack van Poortvliet gets the nod at scrum-half and Guy Porter comes in at 13, with the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell 10-12 axis remaining intact for now. Jonny May is back on the wing for the first time in 12 months after injury.
Japan coach Jamie Joseph makes just one alteration to the team that gave his native New Zealand a run for their money, with South African-born Gerhard van den Heever replacing Siosaia Fifita on the wing.
England vs Japan lineups
England XV: F Steward, J Nowell, G Porter, O Farrell (capt), J May, M Smith, J Van Poortvliet, E Genge, L Cowan-Dickie, K Sinckler, D Ribbans, J Hill, M Itoje, T Curry, S Simmonds.
Replacements: J George, M Vunipola, J Heyes, A Coles, B Vunipola, B Youngs, H Slade, M Tuilagi.
Japan XV: Yamanaka, Matsushima, Riley, Nakamura, Van den Heever, Yamasawa, Nagare, Tatafu, Himeno, Leitch, Cornelsen, Dearns, Koo, Sakate (capt), Inagaki.
Replacements: Horikoshi, Millar, Kizu, Van der Walt, Labuschagne, Saito, Lee, Fifita.
England vs Japan officials
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
England vs Japan prediction
This is either a great or terrible time to be facing England, depending on your viewpoint.
As poor as they were at times against Argentina, they will surely be itching to rebound in emphatic style back at Twickenham this weekend.
The likes of the sniping Van Poortvliet and wily May will offer a much-needed injection of pace in the backs and Simmonds provides real dynamism from the base of the scrum.
Japan are certainly no pushovers, as they showed against New Zealand, but are set to run into an England team hoping to make a statement before the All Blacks and Springboks come to town on back-to-back weekends.
England to win by 17 points.
England vs Japan odds
England to win: 1/12
Japan to win: 15/2
Draw: 40/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
