Springboks assistant wary of Eddie Jones’s influence
South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick knows that his side face a tough test against an Eddie Jones-coached Japan.
“If you look at Eddie’s record and where he has coached in his career, he is a world-renowned coach,” said Stick.
“He’s also been to South Africa, and he understands how we operate, so he knows the right buttons to press when it comes to motivating his players. He’s already said a win at Wembley will be something special for them, and a lot of those guys play for him.
“Adding to that, he has a good coaching staff behind him with guys like Gary Gold, who has coached some of our players, and Victor Matfield, who has played with some of the guys in our team, and they understand our DNA. So, we need to be at our best on Saturday.”
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:52
Eddie Jones explains challenge of facing Springboks
Japan boss Eddie Jones has laid out the challenge his side face as they confront the Springboks at Wembley this afternoon.
“I don’t think it’s any secret when you’re playing against South Africa, and they don’t make it a secret. They get 30 metres from your line, two forwards come around the same way and you know it’s coming, you’ve just got to be good enough to stop it,” he said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“You’ve got to be able to neutralise the high ball and if you can stop those two parts, you will give yourselves a chance of winning the game.
“When you get possession, you’ve got to be accurate and you’ve got to be sharp.
“They give you opportunities to attack. They play a half blitz defence where the winger can come in from the 15 metres to close at the near post, so you’ve either got to try to play through that, which is one way, or play over it, or like New Zealand traditionally do, try to play around it, which is fraught with high risk and little return.
“We’ll try to find a way to break that down and give it a red-hot go.”
(Getty Images)
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:45
Japan impress in Australia defeat
Japan were in action in Tokyo seven days ago, pushing Australia very, very close but ultimately falling just short.
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:35
Ben Earl, Andre Esterhuizen and what rugby’s hybrid players tell us about the future of the sport
Andre Esterhuizen is covering the back row for South Africa today, the super-sized centre part of a developing trend of players capable in the backs or forwards – as I explore:
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:25
Team news – Japan
Japan make two changes to the side that pushed Australia close in Tokyo last weekend, with Eddie Jones hoping to continue to build continuity and confidence within his squad. Charlie Lawrence replaces Shogo Nakano at inside centre, partnering the experienced and excellent Dylan Riley, while Kenji Sato takes over from Hayate Era at hooker.
Japan XV: 1 Kenta Kobayashi, 2 Kenji Sato, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi; 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Warner Dearns; 6 Ben Gunter, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 8 Michael Leitch (capt.); 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 10 Seung Sin Lee; 11 Tomoki Osada, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Kippei Ishida; 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki.
Replacements: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi; 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tieenan Costley.
Warner Dearns starts in the second row for Japan (Getty Images)
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:15
Team news – South Africa
The Springboks hand a debut to young tighthead Zachary Porthen, considered a prop of real promise after captaining South Africa at U20 level. With Damian Willemse ruled out, Cheslin Kolbe is relocated to full-back with Ethan Hooker and Kurt-Lee Arendse on the wings.
The bench, as ever, is of interest – centre Andre Esterhuizen is named ostensibly as back-row cover, with Kwagga Smith also providing versatility among the replacements.
South Africa XV: 1 Ox Nche, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Zachary Porthen; 4 RG Snyman, 5 Lood de Jager; 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Franco Mostert, 8 Jasper Wiese; 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Ethan Hooker; 15 Cheslin Kolbe.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith; 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.
Cheslin Kolbe starts at full-back for South Africa (Getty Images)
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:10
South Africa vs Japan
Kick off is a little over an hour away at Wembley – let’s take a closer look at the two teams…
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:07
Action on the way across town
It’s a busy afternoon for rugby fans of London, spoiled for choice with three games on. An All Blacks XV and the Barbarians are playing in Brentford, we’ve got this Springboks clash to come and down at Twickenham, the action is not far away at all as England open their Quilter Nations Series campaign against Australia. You can follow that game here:
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 15:00
Henry Pollock, Carter Gordon and 10 other international rugby players to watch in November
A busy November of international rugby action dawns with a hectic Test schedule of Quilter Nations Series action to be consumed over the next five weeks.
While a new Nations Championship is on the way to add extra context to these games next year, the 2025 fixtures take on greater meaning with a Rugby World Cup draw looming in early December.
The action should come fast and furious as cross-hemisphere rivalries are reignited – and it isn’t just the top nations in action, with Hong Kong, the United States and Uruguay among the less-heralded sides touring Europe.
Harry Latham-Coyle1 November 2025 14:50
Springboks bid to avoid repeat of ‘Miracle of Brighton’
Several South Africa players lining up against Japan at Wembley Stadium carry vivid memories of the ‘Miracle of Brighton’, an upset that shook the Rugby World Cup a decade ago and which still sends shivers down Springbok spines today.
Among them is captain Siya Kolisi, who came off the bench as Japan snatched victory with a last-gasp try to beat the Springboks 34-32 in their 2015 tournament opener in Brighton.
South Africa would go on to finish third in the tournament, but it remains a day that left an indelible mark on the game in the country.
The Springboks have won their two clashes with Japan since, including knocking their hosts out of the 2019 World Cup in the quarter-finals on their way to lifting the trophy.
They will be favourites again and while the wounds of 10 years ago have been healed by two World Cup triumphs since, the Springboks are taking nothing for granted.
“We definitely do give them the respect that they deserve. They are a great team,” Kolisi told reporters on Friday. “You saw what they did last week against Australia (a 19-15 loss in Tokyo). That game was very close.
“We have a lot of players in Japan, and they have been able to tell us about the players who are playing tomorrow and the kind of players that they are. We are very prepared for this game.”
Lock Lood de Jager and centre Jesse Kriel started against Japan in Brighton, with flanker Kolisi coming off the bench.
Japan sprung a major surprise with victory over two-time World Champions South Africa in 2015 (PA Archive)
Reuters1 November 2025 14:40
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