Japan will be chasing their first victory on French soil, after three losses and a draw in 2007 when they face Chile in game six of the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Sunday at 13:00 (SA Time).
Japan returns to Toulouse for the second time, after suffering a narrow 35-31 loss against Fiji in 2007. A converted try in the 79th minute was not enough to snatch the win for Japan, as they recorded their closest RWC loss since 1987.
Japan's recent RWC success began in 2015, defeating South Africa 34-32 in Brighton. This was only their second RWC victory after 1991 against Zimbabwe, sparking a run of form which has seen them victorious in seven of their past nine games overall.
They are currently enjoying a six-game winning streak in the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup dating back to Milton Keynes in 2015 against Samoa. Prior to this run of victories, they had won just two of 26 pool matches. However, Japan will be chasing their first victory on French soil, after three losses and a draw in 2007.
Despite recording just one victory across the Pacific Nations Cup 2023 and their warm-up test against Italy, Japan enjoyed plenty of time on attack, averaging 162 passes and eight offloads per game.
Chile becomes the 26th different team to play at the Rugby World Cup. Despite not winning a match so far this season, they have come within two points in three of their four defeats. They are one of only two teams, alongside Australia, to enter RWC 2023 without a win so far this year.
Teams:
Japan: 1 Keita Inagaki, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 3 Jiwon Gu, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Amato Fakatava, 6 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 8 Kazuki Himeno (c), 9 Yutaka Nagare, 10 Rikiya Matsuda, 11 Jone Naikabula, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 15 Semisi Masirewa. Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Warner Dearns, 20 Shota Fukui, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Tomoki Osada, 23 Lomano Lemeki.
Chile: 1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Matias Dittus, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (c), 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernandez, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Matias Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Santiago Videla, 15 Inaki Ayarza. Replacements: 16 Augusto Bohme, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Inaki Gurruchaga, 19 Pablo Huete, 20 Santiago Pedrero, 21 Ignacio Silva, 22 Lukas Carvallo, 23 José Ignacio Larenas.