RugbyJP has profiled the 15 players Eddie Jones has selected to play the All Blacks at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama on Saturday.
1. Takato Okabe (Yokohama Canon Eagles)
Yokohama prop Okabe, 29, will earn his fifth cap against the All Blacks on Saturday.
The Brave Blossoms newcomer, who has made 48 appearances in League One, was a fanatical baseball fan growing up but decided to try his hand at rugby as one of his Junior High School teachers in Osaka was an advisor to a local club.
A back-rower at Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo, western Japan, he joined Yokohama Canon Eagles in 2018 and moved to player as a hooker before switching to play as a prop during his second season.
2. Atsushi Sakate (Saitama Wild Knights)
Former League One winner Atsushi Sakate, 31, following in the footsteps of his parents by playing volleyball while in high school. Those skills served him well when he made the switch to rugby while studying at Kyoto Seisho High School.
Sakate, who scored five tries for beaten finalists Saitama last season, starred for Teikyo University and quickly progressed through his country’s national ranks.
Junior Japan came calling and the hard-working hooker was then called up to the Japan’s senior side during his second year at university.
The former Teikyo University captain, who has 46 caps for his country, has played of all of his Top League and League One rugby for Saitama Wild Knights who he has captained since 2021.
Sakate also had a short-lived stint in Super Rugby with the Sunwolves.
3. Shuhei Takeuchi (Urayasu D-Rocks)
D-Rocks prop Takeuchi, 26, practiced karate in high school and advised to join Miyazaki Rugby School by a teacher while in sixth grade.
During his second year at Kyūshū Kyōritsu University he switched position to prop and was appointed as captain.
His excellent form put him on the radar of NTT Communications who he joined for the 2020-21 Top League season after a successful try-out.
Takeuchi made his Japan debut against Uruguay in 2022 and has recently been restored to the national team under Eddie Jones.
4. Sanaila Waqa (Kintetsu Liners)
Liners lock Waqa, 29, was born in Suva, Fiji’s capital city and started playing rugby at the age of six.
He was invited to study in New Zealand and following the passing of his father, was able to persuade his uncle to let him take up the opportunity.
Waqa began playing rugby full-time from the age of 17 as a standout winger and was picked to play for the New Zealand High School Sevens team and the U20 Hurricanes side.
After a spell with Hawke's Bay in the NPC, he joined the NEC Green Rockets and made the transition to play in the second row.
Waqa joined Osaka-based Liners in 2022 and, after quaifying on residengcy grounds, made his Japan bow in 2022.
The former Fiji U20 international returned to the Japan fold this year and is the tallest player in the squad at 202cm (6ft 6in).
5. Warner Dearns (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
League One winner Dearns, 22, hails from Wellington, New Zealand and picked up the sport at the age of four in his homeland.
He moved to Japan in 2016 during his second year of junior high school after his father Grant took up a Strength and Conditiong role with NEC Green Rockets.
Dearns, whose mother Tanya played for the Silver Ferns netball team, caught the eye while playing for Abiko Rugby School and was selected for the Chiba Prefecture team.
After graduating from Ryūtsū Keizai University, he joined Toshiba Brave Lupus to play alongside his idol Michael Leitch.
Dearns’ talent was identified early on and he linked up with Japan’s national team as a teenager before playing for Toshiba.
The Japan youngster, who is still only 22, has established himself as a key player for club and country.
6. Amato Fakatava (Black Rams Tokyo)
Rugby World Cup breakout star Fakatava, 29, was born in Tonga’s capital city of Nuku'alofa.
After standing out as an 11-year-old in Tonga, he was invited to join Timaru Boys High School in New Zealand 's South Island alongside his twin brother Talau Fakatava.
He moved to Japan at the age of 20 to study at Daito Bunka University and was instrumental in helping their side to win the Kanto University division one league.
Fakatava joined the Black Rams in 2019 and made his Top League debut in 2020 against Honda Heat.
He made his Japan debut in the 2023 Pacific Nations Cup under Jamie Joseph and scored the opening try just six minutes into his Brave Blossoms career.
Fakatava was a revelation at the World Cup in France as he scoring three tries in four games and is vital to Japan’s fortunes as Jones prepares the team for Australia in 2027.
7. Kazuki Himeno (Toyota Verblitz)
Former Japan captain Himeno, 30, showed his physical attributes from a young age while at school in Ibaraki.
At the end of his third year in high school, he skipped the age group Japan team to play for the Junior Japan team and was called up for the senior squad while in his his first year at Teikyo University.
After graduating, he joined Toyota Verblitz and World Cup-winning head coach Jake White, who led South Africa to glory in 2007, immediately installed the Top League rookie as club captain.
Himeno won the Rookie of The Year Award and was named in the Team of The Year.
The sought after flanker made his Super Rugby debut with the Super Rugby debut with the Sunwolves in 2018 and went on to make 11 appearances.
After playing a key role in Japan’s sensational run at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he signed for New Zealand outfit the Highlanders during the pandemic and picked up the Rookie of the Year award in the Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Himeno, who captained Japan at the World Cup last year, has 32 caps for his country and returns after missing the Pacific Nations Cup.
8. Faulua Makisi (Kubota Spears)
New Kubota Spears captain Makisi, 27, started rugby at the age of seven after being introduced to the sport by his father, Takai Makisi, who played for the Tonga national team.
He was only 11 years old when his father passed away which made him decide to pursue rugby to honour him.
He came to Japan for high school and played for Japan Airlines Ishikawa High School which led to a call-up for the Japan High School national team.
Makisi joined Tenri University and played for his adopted homeland at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
He made his senior Japan debut in 2016 during the Asia Rugby Championship and joined the Sunwolves’ training squad in 2018 while in his final year at Universitry.
Kubota snapped up the imposing number eight in 2019 and he made 16 appearances in their League One-winning campaign in 2022-2023.
Makisi, who made 13 appearances in League One last season and scored three tries, will earn his 13th cap for Japan on Saturday.
9. Shinobu Fujiwara (Kubota Spears)
Kubota livewire Fujiwara, 25, hails from Osaka and played baseball and volleyball before taking up rugby at Kita Junior High School in Ibaraki.
He was a key player at Tenri Unviersity where he formed a popular half-back pairing with Takuro Matsunaga who now plays for Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.
While at University he represented Junior Japan and the U20 Japan national team and moved to Chiba to join Kubota in 2021.
He made 16 appearances in the first League One season in 2022 and struck up a highly-successful half-back partnership with former Wallabies star Bernard Foley as the duo played starring roles in the club’s maiden League One crown in the following season.
Fujiwara’s dynamic style, excellent handling skills and calmness under pressure has endeared him to Jones who handed the League One star his Japan debut in June against England.
With Naoto Saito in France with Top 14 champions Toulouse and Suntory’s Yutaka Nagare being overlooked, he is now Japan’s first-choice scrum-half and epitomises Jones’ for speed.
10. Harumichi Tatekawa (Kubota Spears)
Japan stalwart Tatekawa, 34, started playing rugby at the age of four at Yamanobe Rugby School in Nara in south-central Honshu.
He quickly rose through the local ranks and was playing for the U20 Japan team while still at Tenri High School.
Tatekawa was recruited by Tenri University and, as captain, led them to the National University Championship final where they were pipped to the title by Teikyo University 15-12.
His stock increased dramatically following his University Championship form and he opted to sign for Kubota Spears.
He made his Japan debut in 2012 against Kazakhstan under Jones and is one of only a handful of players to feature for the Australian during his two spells in charge of the Brave Blossoms.
Tatekawa, who has also featured at 12 and 15 for club and country, was a pivotal figure in Kubota’s title-winning season during the second League One season as he started 14 matches and won the League One MVP award.
He is one of Jones’ most trusted and experienced players.
11. Malo Tuitama (Shizuoka Blue Revs)
Free-scoring wing Tuitama, 28, started playing rugby at the age of six in his native Samoa.
He moved to Wellington, New Zealand in 2003 and briefy lived in Auckland before returning to Wellington in 2012.
Tuitama earned a reputation for his incredible try-scoring stats in high school in 2013 which led to him joining the Hurricanes U18 team and a call-up to the the New Zealand U20 team.
He played for Wellington from 2015 to 2018 in the NPC but was unable to force his way into the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby squad.
Tuitama joined Yamaha (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) in 2019 and made an instant impact as he scored 11 tries in six games.
He continued to showcase his searing speed and footwork as he dominated the try scoring charts.
Shizuoka’s wing wizard, who runs the 100m in 11 seconds, scored 15 tries last season to top the try-scoring table once more.
Tuitama was eligible for Samoa and New Zealand and qualified for Japan in August on residency grounds after residing in the country for 60 consecutive months.
Jones thrust the wing, who has scored 255 points for Shizuoka straight into his squad at the first available opportunity and he has clinched a regular starting spot after scoring three tries in four Pacific Nations Cup appearances.
He played against his uncle Alapati Leiuah and second cousin Tuna Tuitama in Japan’s 27–49 semi-final win over Samoa in September.
Tuitama is a close friend of All Blacks star Jordie Barrett who he played with for the Hurricanes’ U18 team.
12. Nicholas McCurran (Toyota Verblitz)
League One winner McCurran, 28, started playing rugby at the age of five in his native New Zealand.
After graduating from Hamilton Boys High School, he joined his older brother Brodi (now playing for Black Rams Tokyo) at Teikyo University in 2017.
He joined Toshiba Brave Lupus in 2021 and made his debut in 2022 against Yokohama Canon Eagles.
McCurran was called up to Japan’s training squad in 2023 after qualifying on residency grounds but was not capped.
The inside-centre helped Toshiba win their first League One title last season as he made eight starts and scored three tries.
McCurran joined Steve Hansen and Ian Foster’s big-spending Toyota Verblitz in July and made his Japan debut in the Pacific Nations Cup against Canada.
13. Dylan Riley (Saitama Wild Knights)
World-class outside-centre Riley, 27, is now one of the faces of Japanese rugby.
Born in Durban, South Africa, he moved to Australia as a child and started playing rugby there at the age of 11. After graduating from high school, he went on to Bond University and played for Brisbane City.
Riley played for Australia’s U20 national team but was not approached to join one of Australia’s Super Rugby sides.
He joined Robbie Deans’ Wild Knights in 2018 and after an injury-hit start he nailed down a starting position in 2020.
In the final Top League season he played in every Saitama match and scored seven tries including one in the final as the Kumagaya-based team beat Suntory in the final.
Riley started life in the first League One campaign in the same rich vein of form as he started in 15 games and scored 11 tries to finsh as the ‘Try King’ and was named in the ‘Best 15’ of the season.
Japan came calling in 2021 when then-head coach Jamie Joseph named him as one of 21 uncapped players in a 52-man training squad ahead of a Test match against the British and Irish Lions.
Riley, who is also an option on the wing for Jones, has been in electric form for his club and his country this year. He crossed for 14 tries in League One and shone in the Pacific Nations Cup as he finished as the joint-top try-scorer (four).
14. Jone Naikabula (Toshiba Brave Lupus)
Speedster Naikabula, 30, was born in Nadroga, a village of 200 people in Fiji. He was raised by his grandmother and started playing rugby at the age of seven.
He grew up idolising former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and moved to New Zealand to study at the age of 18.
Naikabula was picked to represent New Zealand in sevens while at Kelston Boys' High School and recieved a scholarship to study Law at Setsunan University in Osaka.
In 2017, he played for Japan’s sevens team and, after graduating, joined Toshiba Brave Lupus in 2018.
He scored five tries in six games in the final Top League season and became central to Toshiba’s attacking threat in the first League One campaign as he made 15 appearances and crossed nine times.
Naikabula made his Japan debut in 2023 against Samoa and booked a ticket to play in his first World Cup last year in France.
He scored two tries at rugby’s showpiece event and he was in devastating form for his club last season with 12 tries to his name including two in the dramatic 24-20 win in the Grand Final against former champions Saitama.
Naikabula, who has helped to fund his siblings’ through University, has scored eight tries for Japan in 13 games and will arguably be their greatest threat against New Zealand.
15. Yoshitaka Yazaki (Waseda University)
Japan wonderkid Yazaki, 20, will play against the All Blacks for the first time before playing a professional club game.
Yazaki, who lives in a dormitory with 150 fellow students, caught Jones’ eye after scoring two tries for Japan XV against the Fiji Warriors at the World Rugby Pacific Challenge in April.
His speed and footwork has seen him billed as the ‘new Matsushima’, a richly-deserved comparison to Japan’s long-time first-choice full-back Kotaro Matsushima who played in the 2015, 2019 and 2023 World Cup tournaments for Japan.
Yazaki, who like Matsushima is a product of the famous Toin Gakuen High School, made his senior debut against England in June.
The rising star, who is yet to grace League or sign for a top-flight club, has looked mature beyond his years in his outings to date for Japan and has sealed down the 15 jersey for his country.
Yazaki will earn his seventh Brave Blossoms cap against the All Blacks.
Pictures courtesy of Japan Rugby
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