Former Shark Tyler Paul among foreign legion to power Japan against Springboks

They will all be wearing the red and white of the Brave Blossoms on Saturday against the Springboks, but as many as nine players in the Japanese squad were born outside of the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Boks will face four Australians, three New Zealanders, and two South Africans, including former Sharks lock/flank Tyler Paul, while former Durbanite Dylan Riley will start at outside centre.

Riley forms a midfield partnership with chunky Kiwi Charlie Lawrence.

The Japan team is captained by New Zealand-born lock Warner Dearns, who combines in the second row with Australian Jack Cornelsen.

The massive 120kg, 1.95m Ben Gunter will be on the flank. While he was born in Thailand, Gunter was raised in Brisbane.

Fellow Australians on the bench are former Australia Under-20 lock Tiennan Costley and former Queensland Reds fullback Sam Greene.

The glue that holds the Japan team together is 37-year-old veteran Michael Leitch. The former Chiefs No 8 captained the Blossoms when they shocked the Boks in 2015, and also scored a try in that game. He will earn his 93rd cap for Japan at Wembley, but he says coach Eddie Jones has told him not to forget his Kiwi roots.

Leitch said, “Eddie helped me realise I am not Japanese... He is the one who reminded me I am from New Zealand and New Zealanders are not nice people... we're rough... That’s probably the biggest piece of advice he has given me to take me from a good player to a better player.”

For the Springboks game, Jones has given the captaincy to the younger Dearns, who is just 23.

Maybe it is the youth talking, but Dearns says his team will not be intimidated by the South Africans.

“As captain, I will play physically. South Africa are known as the most physical team in the world. It is not just about stopping them —we will dominate them,” said the towering 2.03m, 124kg lock.

Jones, meanwhile, has not stopped plugging the Miracle of Brighton theme, a decade on from the famous upset at the World Cup in England.

“In terms of the history of Japanese rugby, 10 years ago was obviously a pretty symbolic game for Japan,” Jones said.

“Now Japan, because of that game, gets the chance to play quality Test matches: Australia last week, South Africa this week, Ireland, Wales, and Georgia.

“It’s up to this team now to make sure that the legacy of what happened in 2015 is enhanced.

“The players understand the responsibility they have. They enjoy the responsibility. So there’s a chance to show how much we can handle that responsibility.”

Jones added: “The opportunity is for this group of players to make their own headlines, and we want this group of players to enjoy the spotlight that’s going to be on them on Saturday and play with the cohesion and a physicality that’s never been seen.”

Japan team to play South Africa

15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Seungsin Lee, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi.

Bench: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tiennan Costley.