Japan change fullback for South Africa quarter-final

SHOWS: TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAPAN COACH, JAMIE JOSEPH, SAYING:

"So just for the changes, firstly, Tupou had HIA (head injury assessment) at the last game against Scotland, and he failed the medical protocols, so he was ruled out of the selection, and what we did was to promote Yamanaka to starting fifteen and Lemeki onto the bench."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPAN CAPTAIN, MICHAEL LEITCH, SAYING:

"Well this team is not satisfied, that is the first (reason of winning). This is not the end. Now we are the best eight and have a chance to show our match (appear in the match) to many people. To raise more chances (to appear in matches), each and every player is doing hard work."

STORY: Japan on Friday (October 18) have made one injury-enforced change to the starting line-up for Sunday's (October 20) Rugby World Cup quarter-final against South Africa, bringing Ryohei Yamanaka in at fullback in place of William Tupou.

Tupou suffered a concussion in Japan's win over Scotland at Yokohama last weekend and drops out of the matchday 23 altogether, with livewire winger Lomano Lava Lemeki named among the replacements as cover for the back three.

Coach Jamie Joseph also made two changes to the forwards on the bench with Wimpie van der Walt and Amanaki Lelei Mafi replacing fellow big men Uwe Helu and Hendrik Tui for what is likely to be a physical battle against the Springboks.

Meanwhile Japan's captain Michael Leitch said that the team was not satisfield with reaching the quarters and that the players were working hard in their bid to secure a semi-final berth.