Big blow for Japan as skipper ruled out of Rugby World Cup opener

Captain Kazuki Himeno failed to shake off a calf injury and was replaced by Amanaki Saumaki just before kick off of Japan's World Cup opener. Picture: Hidenori Nagai/Yomiuri/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP

Captain Kazuki Himeno failed to shake off a calf injury and was replaced by Amanaki Saumaki just before kick off of Japan's World Cup opener. Picture: Hidenori Nagai/Yomiuri/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP

Published Sep 10, 2023

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Captain Kazuki Himeno failed to shake off a calf injury and was replaced by Amanaki Saumaki just before kick off of Japan's Rugby World Cup opener against Chile on Sunday.

It provoked a shuffle in the pack with Jack Cornelsen moving from the second row to take Himeno's spot at No.8 for the Group D game in Toulouse.

Saumaki, who was not in the original matchday 23, came in to fill the gap at lock with scrum-half Yutaka Nagare named as captain.

Himeno had missed the 'captain's run', the traditional eve-of-match training session, at Toulouse Stadium on Saturday.

"He has got a bit of a calf problem," assistant coach Tony Brown had said.

Ahead of the game Chile's defensive coach Emiliano Caffera identified the 29-year-old Himeno as one of the "key players" for Japan that needed to be stopped.

Teams (15-1)

Chile: Inaki Ayarza; Santiago Videla, Domingo Saavedra, Matias Garafulic, Franco Velarde;   Rodrigo Fernandez, Marcelo Torrealba; Alfonso Escobar, Raimundo Martinez, Martin Sigren (capt); Javier Eissmann, Clemente Saavedra; Matias Dittus, Diego Escobar, Javier Carrasco

Replacements: Augusto Bohme, Salvador Lues, Inaki Gurruchaga, Pablo Huete, Santiago Pedrero, Ignacio Silva, Lukas Carvallo, Jose Ignacio Larenas

Coach: Pablo Lemoine (URU)

Japan: Semisi Masirewa; Kotaro Matsushima, Dylan Riley, Ryoto Nakamura, Jone Naikabula; Rikiya Matsuda, Yutaka Nagare (capt); Jack Cornelsen, Kanji Shimokawa, Michael Leitch; Amato Fakatava; Amanaki Saumaki, Jiwon Gu, Atsushi Sakate, Keita Inagaki

Replacements: Shota Horie, Craig Millar, Asaeli Ai Valu, Warner Dearns, Shota Fukui, Naoto Saito, Tomoki Osada, Lomano Lemeki

Coach: Jamie Joseph (NZL)

Referee: Nic Berry (AUS)

AFP