Japan team to face Wales - Eddie Jones makes two changes for 'Must Win' Autumn Series match

Wild Knights battering ram Jack Cornelsen comes into the back row in place of Ben Gunter, who is unavailable due to personal reasons. Keijiro Tamefusa earns a start in the front row, replacing Shuhei Takeuchi after last weekend’s 41–10 defeat to Ireland. Takeuchi shifts to the bench as Japan look to rejuvenate their forward effort.

The squad has also been hit by injuries, with long-serving loose forward Michael Leitch and promising back Tiernan Costley both sidelined for the upcoming clash in Cardiff. The two absences further test the squad’s depth as Japan continue to battle through a demanding autumn schedule.

Jones’ men are searching for a breakthrough performance after a difficult run of results. They narrowly fell to the Wallabies on home soil at the end of October, for a tense 19-15 defeat, before embarking on their European tour. Jones' men have since suffered heavy defeats to the Springboks at Wembley Stadium (61-7) and against Ireland in Dublin (41-10). With one final match to come against Georgia on 22 November, Japan will be keen to build momentum against Steve Tandy's Wales, to finish their tour on a positive note.

15. Yoshitaka Yazaki (Waseda University)

14. Kippei Ishida (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)

13. Dylan Riley (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)

12. Charlie Lawrence (Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars)

11. Tomoki Osada (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)

10. Lee Seung-sin (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)

9. Naoto Saito (Stade Toulousain / France)

1 Kenta Kobayashi (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliaths)

2. Kenji Sato (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)

3. Keijiro Tamefusa (Kubota Spears)

4. Epineri Uluiviti (Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars)

5. Warner Dearns (captain) (Toshiba Brave Lupus)

6. Jack Cornelsen (Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights)

7. Kanji Shimokawa (Tokyo Suntory Sungoliaths)

8. Faulua Makisi (Kubota Spears)