England look to end the Autumn Nations Series and 2024 on a high as they host Japan at the Allianz Stadium this afternoon. Steve Borthwick’s side come into this clash on a five-match losing run, with their last win coming against Japan in June.
Since then there have been three defeats to New Zealand, the most recent of those a painful one earlier this month, and that was followed by an agonising loss to Australia, who scored a try in the dying seconds to snatch victory. South Africa then proved too strong last weekend, and it means nothing but a win and a confident-boosting display will do for England here.
Eddie Jones will be desperate to get one over his old side, though he missed the press conference this week due to illness. Japan beat Uruguay a week ago, but that came after heavy defeats to New Zealand and France earlier in the autumn. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog, featuring expert analysis from Simon Collings at the ground!
England vs Japan latest news
England team news
14:00 , Matt Verri
England have welcomed back Tom Curry this week after he suffered his second concussion of the season against Australia and missed the defeat by the Springboks.
He replaced Charlie Ewels in Borthwick’s squad, while the injured Elliot Daly made way for Harlequins wing Cadan Murley, who starred with two tries as England ‘A’ beat their Australian counterparts 38-17 at The Stoop last weekend.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has not been cleared to return from his own concussion sustained against the Wallabies and will miss out again.
Borthwick made four changes against South Africa, with Sam Underhill and Ollie Sleightholme replacing Curry and Feyi-Waboso, and Jack van Poortvliet and Freddie Steward preferred to Ben Spencer and George Furbank at scrum-half and full-back respectively.
This week, Curry and Furbank both return, with Chandler Cunningham-South dropping to the bench as Curry goes to blindside flanker and Steward is omitted entirely. Van Poortvliet and Sleightholme both keep their places.
20-year-old Sale prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is poised to make his Test debut off the bench as veteran Dan Cole drops out, while George Ford is replaced by Fin Smith as fly-half cover.
England XV: Furbank; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; M Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (c), Stuart; Itoje, Martin; T Curry, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Isiekwe, Cunningham-South, Randall, F Smith, Roebuck
How to watch England vs Japan
13:50
TV channel: In the UK, England vs Japan is being broadcast live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 3:45pm GMT ahead of a 4.10pm kick-off.
Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the action live online via the Discovery+ website and app.
Live blog: Follow all the action right here, featuring analysis from Simon Collings at Twickenham.
Good afternoon!
13:41 , Matt Verri
Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of England vs Japan!
Steve Borthwick’s side know nothing but a win will do as they bring an end to the Autumn Nations Series, having lost to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in recent weeks.
Another defeat here and the pressure on Borthwick would be absolutely huge… and particularly painful with Eddie Jones in the opposite corner this afternoon.
We’ll have all the latest updates and build-up ahead of kick-off, which comes at 4:10pm GMT from the Allianz Stadium.
