Saffas to face England in ‘cauldron’

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Former Bulls wing Gerhard van den Heever starts as one of three SA-born players in the match-day 23 for Japan in a showdown with England at Twickenham on Saturday.

He will run out on the left wing as the only change by coach Jamie Joseph to a starting XV from the one that suffered a narrow loss to the All Blacks in Tokyo in October.

Van den Heever, who has represented the Bulls, DHL Stormers and Munster, scored a try on his international debut for his adopted country against Uruguay in June.

Lock Wimpie van der Walt and loose forward Lappies Labuschagne, who played for the likes of Western Province, EP Kings, Cheetahs and Bulls earlier in their careers, are set to feature off the bench.

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With Van den Heever at No 11, crowd favourite and World Cup hero Kotaro Matsushima covers the right wing. Atsushi Sakate will once again lead from hooker, while a dynamic back row features Kazuki Himeno, former captain Michael Leith and Tevita Tatafu at No 8.

Meanwhile, Joseph said he was looking forward to seeing Japan tackle the challenge of playing England in the “cauldron” of Twickenham.

The clash sees the Brave Blossoms up against one of their pool opponents at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, with Japan taking on the tournament hosts in Toulouse on 20 November.

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“It’s a big game for us, playing England at Twickenham,” Joseph said. “It’s one of rugby’s biggest challenges for a player.”

“It’s a cauldron at Twickenham and it can be very intimidating if you are not ready for it, but I think our guys are.

“I think they are really excited that they are going to be 23 men representing Japan in front of 80 000 Englishmen.”

Japan – 15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Takuya Yamasawa, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Kazuki Himeno, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Jack Cornelsen, 4 Warner Dearns, 3 Jiwon Gu, 2 Atsushi Sakate (c), 1 Keita Inagaki.
Subs: 16 Kosuke Horikoshi, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Yusuke Kizu, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Lappies Labuschagne, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Seungsin Lee, 23 Siosaia Fifita.

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Photo: Kenta Harada/Getty Images

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Devin Hermanus