The Rugby World Cup action continues on Thursday when Pool D rivals Japan and Samoa meet in a key game in the race to make the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has made two changes to his starting side that faced off with England in their most recent match, a fixture they lost 34-12.
Dylan Riley starts at outside centre in place of Tomoki Osada and Lomano Lemeki comes in at full-back for the injured Semisi Masiresa for the Toulouse clash.
Lemeki at 15
Lemeki will make his first start since October 23, 2021 against Australia. He played 74 minutes off the bench in their last tournament game, against England.
Four players in this team selected will take on Samoa at the World Cup for the third time – Shota Horie, Keita Inagaki, Michael Leitch and Kotaro Matsushima.
Elsewhere, Seungsin Lee will make his Rugby World Cup debut if he comes off the bench. He scored 17 points against Samoa when they last met in July this year.
Meanwhile, Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua has made four changes to his starting XV for this pool match against the Brave Blossoms at Stadium de Toulouse.
Taleni Seu and Sa Jordan Taufua come into the back-row for Thursday’s game, with Joseph rotating in that area as they look for their second triumph in Pool D.
Taufua replaces Steven Luatua at number eight, earning his first start since November 2022 against Romania, with Luatua moving to bench duty for this match.
D’Angelo Leuila links up with Tumua Manu in the centres for the only the second time, with UJ Seuteni not involved in the matchday squad this time around.
Ed Fidow replaces Nigel Ah-Wong on the right wing while Ben Lam continues at 11, with Jonathan Taumateine and Christian Leali’ifano the half-back pairing.
The teams
Japan: 15 Lomano Lemeki, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Jone Naikabula, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Kazuki Himeno (c), 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Amato Fakatava, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Jiwon Gu, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Warner Dearns, 20 Kanji Shimokawa, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Seungsin Lee, 23 Tomoki Osada
Samoa: 15 Duncan Paia’aua, 14 Ed Fidow, 13 Tumua Manu, 12 D’Angelo Leuila, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Sa Jordan Taufua, 7 Fritz Lee, 6 Taleni Seu, 5 Theo McFarland, 4 Chris Vui (c), 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 James Lay
Replacements: 16 Sama Malolo, 17 Jordan Lay, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Alamanda Motuga, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 Neria Fomai, 23 Danny Toala
Date: Thursday, September 28
Venue: Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
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