JAPAN v FRANCE: Preview, Stats, Facts and Lineups
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Japan host France in Aichi on Saturday in what is just the fourth official meeting between the two sides since 1973.
The sides have met on 10 occasions, although France did not award caps in six of the matches between 1978-85.
France have the upper hand in the head to heads winning three of the four meeting but the last time they faced off, the match finished all square at 23 points apiece in Nanterre.
Saturday's clash is a groundbreaking one as it will be the first official test, for both teams, on Japanese soil with France (twice), Australia and New Zealand having hosted matches previously.
This will be the first of three meetings between the two sides in 2022 with the second fixture taking place next weekend in Tokyo before they clash in Toulouse this November.
Shota Horie and Timothy Lafaele scored Japan’s other tries in the draw with Yu Tamura converting one and kicking two penalties while Rabah Slimani and Gabriel Lacroix scored tries with Francois Trinh-Duc converting both and adding three penalties.
The Brave Blossoms head into the match after back-to-back victories over Uruguay claiming 34-15 and 43-7 wins.
France arrive in Japan on an eight-game winning streak dating back to a 33-30 loss to Australia on 17 July, 2021. Since then they have beaten Argentina, Georgia, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Wins over Japan in both tests will see France equal their longest winning streak, 10 matches) since a set between 1931 and 1937.
TEAM NEWS
Japan coach Jamie Joseph has made seven changes to his starting line-up from last weekend’s win over Uruguay in Kitakyushu, two of them enforced with scrum-half Naoto Saito and full-back Ryuji Noguchi having tested positive for COVID.
Asaeli Ai Valu comes in at tight-head to join Keita Inagaki and captain Atsushi Sakate in the front row. Wimpie van der Walt and Jack Cornelsen are the new second row with number eight Tevita Tatafu joining Michael Leitch and Ben Gunter in the back row.
Kaito Shigeno replaces Saito at scrum-half with Takuya Yamasawa continuing at fly-half. Shogo Nakano will start alongside Dylan Riley in the centres. Siosaia Fifita and Gerhard van den Heever continue on the wings with Ryohei Yamanaka replacing Noguchi at full-back.
There are two uncapped players on the bench in prop Yukio Morikawa and back Taichi Takahashi
France coach Fabien Galthié has only two players in the starting line-up who also started their Six Nations Grand Slam-securing victory over England in March – Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet.
The tight five are Jean-Baptiste Gros, Peato Mauvaka, Demba Bamba, Thibault Flament and the uncapped Thomas Jolmes.
Charles Ollivon returns to captain France, having last played in March 2021, in a back row also featuring Dylan Cretin and debutant Yoan Tanga at number eight.
Bordeaux's Maxime Lucu and Mathieu Jalibert form the half-back pairing with the latter making his first appearance since November’s win over New Zealand. Yoram Moefana and Virimi Vakatawa line up in the centres with Matthis Lebel joining Penaud and Jaminet in the back three.
There are two further uncapped players on the bench in forwards Thomas Lavault, a World Rugby U20 Championship winner with France in 2018, and Selevasio Tolofua.
LINEUPS
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MATCH FACTS
- France are unbeaten in their previous four games against Japan, winning their first three meetings by an average margin of 20 points and scoring exactly six tries in each of those victories, before drawing their most recent encounter (23-23 in November 2017).
- Japan have won three of their last four international matches (L1), including their last two in a row, this after losing five in a row previously; their three victories all came against non-Tier 1 opposition though.
- France have won their last eight test matches, including their first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2010, a win against Japan would see them record their longest ever winning-streak in the post-war era; indeed, just once have France have won more games in a row, a run of 10 victories between 1931 and 1937.
- France are currently on a run of 21 games without trailing at half-time, the last time they were behind on the scoreboard after 40 minutes was in March 2020, against Scotland (7-14 at HT, 17-28 FT); during that that 21-game run, France have picked up 16 wins and five defeats, including two losses during their 2021 Summer Tour of Australia.
- France have won just three of their last 25 away games against non-European teams (L22), with their most recent win being a 28-26 success in Australia last year; however, each of their last three such games finished with margins of three points or fewer between the two sides, after the previous nine had all been decided by double-digit margins.
- France have scored at least one try in each of their last 51 matches, the last time they failed to cross the line was during their 2017 Summer Tour of South Africa; France have averaged 3.3 tries per game under Fabien Galthié’s management, the second-highest ever average for a France head coach, after Jean-Claude Skrela (3.6 between 1995 and 1999).
- France made an average of 10 offloads per game during the 2022 Six Nations, more than any other team; they were also the only team to average more than 1,000 kick metres per game during the tournament (1,085m).
- Damian Penaud had a tackle evasion rate of 81% during the 2022 Six Nations, the best of any player, having evaded 13 of the 16 tackles he faced; Penaud has scored a total of six tries in his last six games with France.
- Melvyn Jaminet made 27 kick return carries during the 2022 Six Nations, more than any other player; Jaminet successfully made 92% of his placed kicks with France in 2021 (34/37) but has scored just 68% of his attempts in 2022 (21/31).
- Siosaia Fifita has been directly involved in four tries in his last four Tests with Japan against Tier 1 opposition (2 tries, 2 try assists); he gained 101 metres from 15 carries in addition to beating seven defenders during his last Test with the Brave Blossoms against a Tier 1 team, against Scotland in November 2021.
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 4* – France leads 3-0 with one draw
Points for: Japan 91 / France 151 (avg. score: 22-37)
Highest score: Japan 29 (29-51 on 18 October, 2003)/ France 51 (51-29 on 18 October, 2003)
Biggest winning margin: France 26 (47-21 on 10 September, 2011)
* Capped matches for both teams
First met: – 27 October, 1973 – France 30-18 Japan – Bordeaux
Last met: 25 November, 2017 – France 23-23 Japan – U Arena, Nanterre
Referee: Frank Murphy
Test debut: 27 February, 2016 - Germany 50-27 Portugal
Tests as referee: 8
