Japan and France have named their lineups for Saturday's Round 3 Nations Championship matchup as both teams look to strengthen their position in the tournament standings. The Brave Blossoms enter after defeating Italy in Round 1 before falling to Ireland last weekend, while France rebounded from a narrow loss to New Zealand by earning an impressive victory over Australia.
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Les Bleus remain one of the tournament favorites and arrive ranked No. 4 in the latest World Rugby standings. Japan, ranked No. 11, has shown continued improvement under pressure but now faces another major test against a French side that has won four of the last five meetings between the nations.
Watch the match below or watch the match on RugbyPass TV.
France's lineup features an experienced spine led by Romain Ntamack, Maxime Lucu, Emmanuel Meafou and Matthieu Jalibert, while Japan counters with veterans Warner Dearns, Jack Cornelsen, Naoto Saito and Dylan Riley. With valuable Nations Championship points on the line, both teams will look to produce another strong performance heading toward the second half of the tournament.
Japan Rugby Lineup Vs. France
Starting XV
- Sojiro Otsuka
- Hayate Era
- Keijiro Tamefusa
- Harry Hockings
- Warner Dearns
- Esei Haangana
- Ben Gunter
- Jack Cornelsen
- Naoto Saito
- Ryunosuke Ito
- Kippei Ishida
- Samisoni Tua
- Dylan Riley
- Kazuma Ueda
- Takuro Matsunaga
Replacements
- Kenji Sato
- Takato Okabe
- Izi Sword
- Michael Stolberg
- Michael Leitch
- Tiennan Costley
- Taira Main
- Shunsuke Uenobo
France Rugby Lineup Vs. Japan
Starting XV
- Jefferson Poirot
- Maxime Lamothe
- Regis Montagne
- Florian Verhaeghe
- Emmanuel Meafou
- Lenni Nouchi
- Marko Gazzotti
- Alexandre Roumat
- Maxime Lucu
- Romain Ntamack
- Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang
- Yoram Moefana
- Fabien Brau-Boirie
- Theo Attissogbe
- Matthieu Jalibert
Replacements
- Peato Mauvaka
- Reda Wardi
- Sipili Falatea
- Hugo Auradou
- Tom Staniforth
- Killian Tixeront
- Paul Graou
- Kalvin Gourgues
Watch Japan vs France Rugby Live
Fans in the United States can watch Japan vs. France live for free on RugbyPass TV and the World Rugby YouTube page.
The match kicks off at 4:40 a.m. ET on Saturday, July 18.
Nations Championship Round 3 Fixtures & Schedule
Saturday, July 18 (ET)
- 3:10 a.m. ET — New Zealand vs. Ireland
- 4:40 a.m. ET — Japan vs. France
- 6:10 a.m. ET — Australia vs. Italy
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Fiji vs. Scotland
- 11:40 a.m. ET — South Africa vs. Wales
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Argentina vs. England
Nations Championship Standings
Northern Hemisphere
- Ireland — 10 points
- France — 7 points
- Scotland — 6 points
- England — 5 points
- Wales — 5 points
- Italy — 0 points
Southern Hemisphere
- South Africa — 10 points
- New Zealand — 10 points
- Argentina — 6 points
- Japan — 4 points
- Australia — 3 points
- Fiji — 0 points
Remaining Nations Championship Schedule
Here's what happens in November.
Nations Championship Round 4
Friday, Nov. 6
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Ireland vs. Argentina
Saturday, Nov. 7
- 6:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. South Africa
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. New Zealand
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Wales vs. Japan
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. Fiji
Sunday, Nov. 8
- 10:10 a.m. ET — England vs. Australia
Nations Championship Round 5
Friday, Nov. 13
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. South Africa
Saturday, Nov. 14
- 6:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. Argentina
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Wales vs. New Zealand
- 11:40 a.m. ET — England vs. Japan
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Ireland vs. Fiji
Sunday, Nov. 15
- 10:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. Australia
Nations Championship Round 6
Saturday, Nov. 21
- 9:10 a.m. ET — England vs. New Zealand
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. Japan
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Ireland vs. South Africa
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. Fiji
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. Argentina
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Wales vs. Australia
Nations Championship Final
The inaugural Nations Championship Final will be played during the weekend of Nov. 27, with the top Northern Hemisphere team meeting the top Southern Hemisphere team to determine the tournament champion.
Here's How Fans Can Watch The Nations Championship
Fans in the United States can stream every Nations Championship match for free on RugbyPass TV and the World Rugby YouTube page.
World Rugby Nations Cup Round 3 Fixtures & Schedule
Saturday, July 18 (ET)
- 10:30 a.m. ET — Samoa vs. Romania
- 1:00 p.m. ET — Uruguay vs. Hong Kong China
- 3:00 p.m. ET — Chile vs. Georgia
- 4:45 p.m. ET — Tonga vs. Portugal
- 7:30 p.m. ET — USA vs. Spain
- 8:00 p.m. ET — Canada vs. Zimbabwe
World Rugby Nations Cup Standings
Pool A
- Chile — 10 points
- USA — 9 points
- Samoa — 5 points
- Tonga — 5 points
- Uruguay — 5 points
- Canada — 3 points
Pool B
- Georgia — 9 points
- Spain — 8 points
- Portugal — 7 points
- Romania — 4 points
- Zimbabwe — 1 point
- Hong Kong China — 0 points
Here's How Fans Can Watch The World Rugby Nations Cup
Fans in the United States can stream every World Rugby Nations Cup match, including all USA Rugby Eagles fixtures, live on Paramount+.
Current World Rugby Men's Rankings
- South Africa — 93.96
- New Zealand — 91.04
- Ireland — 89.32
- France — 87.43
- England — 84.75
- Scotland — 84.09
- Argentina — 84.06
- Australia — 80.60
- Fiji — 78.69
- Italy — 77.31
- Japan — 76.42
- Wales — 76.38
- Georgia — 73.30
- USA — 69.40
- Portugal — 68.67
- Spain — 67.66
- Uruguay — 67.62
- Chile — 67.59
- Samoa — 66.27
- Tonga — 65.85
- Belgium — 61.03
- Romania — 60.92
- Canada — 59.46
- Hong Kong China — 58.86
- Zimbabwe — 58.59
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