England v Japan preview | 2026 Nations Championship

November 09, 2026
58
Ultimate Rugby

England Senior Men face Japan in the Nations Championship at Allianz Stadium on Saturday 14 November.

England take on Japan in their second Test of November's Nations Championship fixtures, having beaten Australia 45-22 in their opening game.

Sunday's game saw Steve Borthwick's side register a record points tally against the Wallabies in an impressive show of attacking rugby.

Henry Pollock stole headlines, with the back row scoring twice during his cameo on the wing, but head coach Borthwick was impressed by the entire team's ability to adapt throughout the game.

England are now up to second in the Northern Hemisphere table of the Nations Championship and will look to make it four wins in a row when they face the Brave Blossoms.

Their most recent encounter ended with a convincing 59-14 win for England and the team have never lost to Japan across their six meetings.

Their first capped fixture came in 1987 at the Rugby World Cup, a game that England won 60-7, but Japan have pushed the team close on previous occasions, most notably in an uncapped match in 1971 that ended 3-6 to England during their first tour of Japan.

Japan lost narrowly to Wales in their previous match, but are the reigning Pacific Nations Cup champions after beating Fiji 20-15 in the final.

Team news

36 players have assembled at England’s training base at Pennyhill Park to prepare for the Round 5 Nations Championship Test match.

Fresh from impressing for England A in their 59-24 victory over Argentina XV, Max Hicks of Newcastle Red Bulls, Jack Kenningham of Harlequins, Max Ojomoh of Bath and Saracens duo Noah Caluori and Tobias Elliott are called into the squad.

Uncapped scrum half Archie McParland has recovered from injury and replaces Harry Randall.

Seb Atkinson, Ollie Chessum and George Furbank, all of whom started against Australia, will remain with the squad for rehabilitation, while the injured Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso are not included.

Last time out: England 59-14 Japan

Ben Earl opened the scoring after just eight minutes as Ollie Lawrence burst through a gap to find the back row in support. Sam Underhill powered over a few minutes later, before Jamie George crossed twice in quick succession from the back of a maul.

Naoto Saito responded with a fine try for Japan, but Ollie Sleightholme went over in the corner following some brilliant handling to maintain a commanding lead. Tommy Freeman's excellent offload from Henry Slade's kick allowed George Furbank to score, with Luke Cowan-Dickie burrowing over either side of Kazuki Himeno's try.

Tom Roebuck then capped off the result with a powerfully dynamic finish from Fin Smith's cross-field kick.