Coach Eddie Jones puts his faith in experience for Brave Blossoms' opening battle with the Springboks on Saturday

ON THE CHARGE: Hendrik Tui switches back from the wing to number eight for the match against South Africa

AMENDED TO REFLECT REPLACEMENT OF ORIGINAL NO 12 CRAIG WING

LONDON, 18 Sept – Japan will field their most capped side in test history when they face South Africa in their Rugby World Cup 2015 opening match on Saturday.

Head coach Eddie Jones makes four changes from the side that beat Georgia 13-10 in Gloucester on 5 September, the side’s last test match. Akihito Yamada replaces Yoshikazu Fujita on the wing and Hendrik Tui moves back from from the wing to number eight.

Harumichi Tatekawa, who started at fly-half against Georgia, plays in the centre and Kosei Ono takes the number 10 jersey. Kensuke Hatakeyama replaces Hiroshi Yamashita, who is named as a replacement. Tui’s return to number eight displaces Koliniashi Holani, who is not named in the match day 23.

Craig Wing, who played against Georgia and was named in the original starting side to face South Africa, is a late withdrawal.

Only seven players in the 23 were in the match day 22 for Japan’s last RWC match, the 23-23 draw against Canada on 27 September 2011.

The starting XV is the most experienced in Japan’s test history with 603 caps. The previous record was the side named for the warm-up victory over Georgia, which had 586 caps. It easily surpasses Japan's RWC caps record, which was 465 caps in Japan’s 21-47 defeat to France on 10 September 2011.

Hitoshi Ono continues to extend his record as Japan’s most capped player, winning his 95th cap.

1. Masataka Mikami

2. Shota Horie

3. Kensuke Hatakeyama

4. Luke Thompson

5. Hitoshi Ono

6. Michael Leitch (captain)

7. Michael Broadhurst

8. Hendrik Tui

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. Keita Inagaki

18. Hiroshi Yamashita

19. Shinya Makabe

20. Amanaki Mafi

21. Atsushi Hiwasa

22. Yu Tamura

23. Karne Hesketh

RNS as/sw