Rugby-Japan have captain Labuschagne back for Scotland test
Team: 15-Ryohei Yamanaka, 14-Kotaro Matsushima, 13-Shogo Nakano, 12-Ryoto Nakamura, 11-Siosaia Fifita, 10-Rikiya Matsuda, 9-Yutaka Nagare, 8-Kazuki Himeno, 7-Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 6-Michael Leitch, 5-James Moore, 4-Jack Cornelsen, 3-Asaeli Ai Valu, 2-Atsushi Sakate, 1-Craig Millar Replacements: 16-Kosuke Horikoshi, 17-Keita Inagaki , 18-Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19-Ben Gunter, 20-Tevita Tatafu, 21-Naoto Saito, 22-Yu Tamura, 23-Dylan Riley.
Japan captain Pieter Labuschagne and lock James Moore both return from injury to strengthen the pack for Saturday's test against Scotland at Murrayfield, coach Jamie Joseph announced on Thursday. They are among five changes to the team that beat Portugal 38-25 in Coimbra last weekend.
Labuschagne's return means Kazuki Himeno moves from open-side flanker to No. 8, while there is also a swap at hooker where Atsushi Sakate replaces Kosuke Horikoshi. Moore replaces Naohiro Kotaki. Among the backs, Yutaka Nagare comes in at scrumhalf in place of Kaito Shigeno while France-based Kotaro Matsushima starts on the wing after playing fullback in the 60-5 loss to Ireland in Dublin a fortnight ago. That means Dylan Riley drops to the replacement's bench.
Shogo Nakano keeps his place at outside centre after his debut in last weekend's win in Portugal. Team: 15-Ryohei Yamanaka, 14-Kotaro Matsushima, 13-Shogo Nakano, 12-Ryoto Nakamura, 11-Siosaia Fifita, 10-Rikiya Matsuda, 9-Yutaka Nagare, 8-Kazuki Himeno, 7-Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 6-Michael Leitch, 5-James Moore, 4-Jack Cornelsen, 3-Asaeli Ai Valu, 2-Atsushi Sakate, 1-Craig Millar
Replacements: 16-Kosuke Horikoshi, 17-Keita Inagaki , 18-Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19-Ben Gunter, 20-Tevita Tatafu, 21-Naoto Saito, 22-Yu Tamura, 23-Dylan Riley.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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