Date: Sunday, November 24, 2024
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 16:10 PM
Form Guide
England will head into this game after a series of tough, narrow losses in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. Close defeats against New Zealand and South Africa bookend a desperately disappointing defeat by Australia, a game England started as heavy favourites.
Borthwick’s England side have now lost their last five Test matches for the first time since 2018. After the recent defeat to South Africa, Borthwick described the result as “terribly frustrating”. One real positive from the Autumn internationals though is the form of Marcus Smith. Borthwick has resisted the temptation to give George Ford a start and has kept Marcus Smith at flyhalf for the game. Smith will relish the opportunity to come up against a team that should provide him with space to cause chaos in. There is also a return at fullback for George Furbank who replaces Freddie Steward in an attacking change. Another exciting change sees Sale’s 20-year-old prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour set for his England debut from the bench, with experienced tight-head Dan Cole left out of the 23.
Japan, led by captain Naoto Saito, approach this Test on the back of a 36-20 win over Uruguay, although ill-discipline nearly cost Jones’s side. They have won just one of their last four matches, with heavy defeats in the other three, as each opposing team scored more than 40 points against the Brave Blossoms. A fortnight ago, France beat Japan 52-12, but Jones’s men will be determined to make a statement against England on his return to Twickenham following tales of a “toxic” atmosphere when he was in charge.
Predictions
Although on a bad run of form, England have looked exceptional across parts of games this Autumn. They will be looking to put together a full 80-minute performance against a Japan side looking to implement Eddie Jones’ vision of “chosoku” (super-fast) rugby. Japan view this fixture as an opportunity to cause an upset but England will be out to avoid all the headlines being written for the wrong reasons. England have named a strong team and have plenty of fire power out wide with Ollie Sleightholme and Tommy Freeman on the wings. England should win this comfortably and backing Sleightholme to score two or more tries could pay dividends. England will be looking to make a statement so expect tries galore.
Ollie Sleightholme 2+ Tries at the Boosted price of 10/3.