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Since the speculation of the Japan Brave Blossoms Test against the Springboks in England surfaced back in July, it was one for the rugby romantics as it will mark a decade since the Japanese toppled the giants of rugby 34-32 in one of the biggest upsets in the sport.
The game won't be played in Brighton but the iconic Wembley Stadium will pit the Japanese against the world champions on Saturday 1st November which also marks a busy month of international Test rugby as the men’s national teams will be vying for the best possible position on World Rugby's rankings before the Rugby World Cup 2027 draw takes place on the 3rd December.
This is the first rugby event to be held at the famous ground since 2016, when the Springboks and the Barbarians played out a 31-31 draw and only the fourth meeting between South Africa and Japan. The Springboks won the last two encounters before and during the RWC 2019 in Japan.
The Japanese have yet to announce their final lineup to take on South Africa, and come into the match after nearly upsetting the Wallabies in Tokyo last weekend. Japan Head Coach Eddie Jones did announce the 38-member Brave Blossoms squad for their four-match Lipovitan D Tour 2025 tour and it is an inexperienced team with an average of just 11 caps per player, and as many as a dozen players yet to make their debut.
11 of the players in the touring squad also featured for the JAPAN XV win over Hong Kong China last weekend.
The Boks Head Coach Rassie Erasmus has stuck to script and announced his team on a Tuesday once again, and sprung a surprise by selecting a debutant in the form of former Junior Springbok captain Zachary Porthen.
The South Africa Rugby Union confirmed he will become the youngest prop to make his Test debut for the Springboks in the professional era.
Erasmus said of Porthen, “He proved at Vodacom United Rugby Championship level and with the Junior Springboks what he can do, and we are looking forward to seeing what he can offer in his first Test match.
Obviously, he has a lot to learn this week, but we have experienced players in the squad who have been helping and guiding him, and we believe this is the right match to give him an opportunity to prove what he can do.
At this level, you have to sink or swim, so although it will be a challenging week for him to learn our structures, it will also be a very exciting week for him.”
Compared to Japan’s relative test inexperience, the Boks' total Test caps in the starting line-up are 781.
The experienced squad is a settled one, barring players unavailable for injury or suspension. As many as 16 of the 23 to run out in London were part of the 29-27 victory against Argentina in their final Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash, which saw them defend the title for the first time in their history.
There is also a welcome return for Kurt-Lee Arendse, Franco Mostert and Lood de Jager in the starting XV, while prop Gerhard Steenekamp and hooker Johan Grobbelaar are on the bench - they were replacements in the 2024 Castle Lager Outgoing Tour. Now famously labelled a hybrid player, André Esterhuizen, is a back-up loose forward but could slot into his usual centre role too.
The tight five is a formidable one. Ox Nche, Porthen and Malcolm Marx are in the front row with RG Snyman and De Jager starting as locks. Springbok captain Siya Kolisi (in his 99th match), Mostert and Jasper Wiese are the back row.
Among the threats in the backs are Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Arendse, Ethan Hooker and Cheslin Kolbe starting at fullback, where he has played several times for his club side Tokyo Sungoliath in Japan
Two other Japan-based players, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel, will again partner as centres. 8 players in the starting 23 ply their trade in the Japan Rugby League One.
Erasmus said, “Six players in the group are currently plying their trade in Japan, and we believe their experience of playing in that league and either with or against some of their players will be a bonus for us, but I’m sure Japan will also tap into their knowledge of those players as they prepare for the match.”
(It's actually 8, but he might mean in the starting XV).
The bench includes Grobbelaar, Steenekamp, Wilco Louw, Ruan Nortje, Esterhuizen covering flanker, and Kwagga Smith as loose forward cover. Grant Williams and Manie Libbok cover the backs.
Of Japan, Erasmus explained, “They are a quality team, and they have a top coach in Eddie Jones, so we have no doubt they’ll throw everything at us. They beat us in 2015, and they showed what a quality outfit they are in the first half of our 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against them, so we are expecting them to come out guns blazing.”
He also said, “When we’re planning a game, we are analysing Japan and how well they played last weekend and how they’re building under Eddie and what they’re trying to do. And we always try to make plans to see how we can win the next match. But none of us can run away from how well they did in 2015.”
He added of the competition ahead and how closely matches the top teams are, “Very little separates the top teams in the world, and if you are not on your game both mentally and physically on the day, anything can happen. So, we will treat them with the utmost respect, and we also know how important this match will be to set the tone for the rest of our tour.”
This same weekend, seventeen South Africans, including Bongi Mbonambi, have been named in the Barbarians squad to face the All Blacks XV. While a few thousand miles away in Tokyo, the JRFU will be celebrating the Brighton victory from 2015 with several events planned, such as a memorial exhibit and a panel discussion.
The Springboks will face France at Stade de France in Paris (8 November), Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin (15 November), Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (22 November), and Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (29 November).
Japan will take on Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 8 November, before Wales at the Principality Stadium, and Georgia at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium on consecutive Saturdays.
