October 1, 2015
Rugby World Cup Lineups: Samoa v Japan
Doug Coil
October 3, 2015
Samoa v Japan, Pool B, Stadiummk, Milton Keynes, Kick off 14:30 – 9:30am ET
Referee: Craig Joubert; Assistant Referee: Wayne Barnes, Stuart Berry; TV Match Official: Ben Skeen
The Samoa team will be their most-capped Rugby World Cup team ever with 346 caps.Their previous best was 316 caps. The players average almost 31 years.
Samoa made 5 changes from their loss to South Africa. Johnny Leota, Tusi Pisi, Fafili Levave, Ole Avei, and Kane Thompson and will start. Leota debuts in the starting RWC lineup, while Thompson will be playing in his first RWC match this year as a result of a suspension while playing for the Barbarians against Australia.
Japan will field an even more experienced team with 615 caps. Their players average 29 1/2 years old. Five starting changes have been made since the loss to Scotland.
Kensuke Hatakeyama comes in a Tighthead prop, Hitoshi Ono at Lock, Ryu Koliniasi at 8, Kosei Ono at Flyhalf and Akihito Yamada at Wing.
“Ayumu Goromaru, the tournament’s leading scorer after the first half of the Pool stage, needs only 18 points to reach 700 international points.” (RWC2015)
Samoa Ranked 11th: HC Stephen Betham Starters: 1. Sakaria Taulafo 2. Ole Avei 3. Census Johnston 4. Teofilo Paulo 5. Kane Thompson 6. Ofisa Treviranus (c) 7. TJ Ioane 8. Faifili Levave 9. Kahn Fotuali’i 10. Tusi Pisi 11. Alesana Tuilagi 12. Johnny Leota 13. Paul Perez 14. Ken Pisi 15. Tim Nanai-Williams Replacements: 16. Motu Matu’u 17. Viliamu Afatia 18. Anthony Perenise 19. Jack Lam 20. Vavae Tuilagi 21. Vavao Afemai 22. Mike Stanley 23. Rey Lee-Lo
Japan Ranked 12th: HC Eddie Jones Starters: 1. Keita Inagaki 2. Shota Horie 3. Kensuke Hatakeyama 4. Luke Thompson 5. Hitoshi Ono 6. Michael Leitch (c) 7. Michael Broadhurst 8. Ryu Koliniasi Holani 9. Fumiaki Tanaka 10. Kosei Ono 11. Kotaro Matsushima 12. Harumichi Tatekawa 13. Male Sau 14. Akihito Yamada 15. Ayumu Goromaru Replacements: 16. Takeshi Kizu 17. Masataka Mikami 18. Hiroshi Yamashita 19. Justin Ives 20. Amanaki Lelei Mafi 21. Hendrik Tui 22. Atsushi Hiwasa 23. Karne Hesketh
