The beautiful World in Union will echo around London this evening with the opening ceremony ahead of the opening match between host England and the physical Samoa.

The English have opted to go with an near full strength team into to the opener…while the Fijians will be starting the massive 130kg 6 ft 4 tall winger Nemani Nadolo, who could have played for the All Blacks.

Meanwhile, Japan has named their side for their match against the Springboks tomorrow in what they consider to be a real David versus Goliath test.

Coach, Eddie Jones who previously assisted the Springboks with Jake White when they won the 2007 World Cup in Paris didn’t hold back when it came to his views on the match.

The former Wallabies mentor is of the view the Springboks will be nervous ahead of match in Brighton, he backed this up by saying the men in green-and-gold at tackling the minnows with hugely experienced team.

"We know South Africa are going to be nervy. We see them playing a guy like Matfield in this game when we normally expect him to rest.

"They are nervous because of their previous results and that is natural. You guys know the pressure South Africa are under to perform. So when they pick big names to play and if we can at the beginning of the game inch up that pressure a bit, then who knows what can happen?"

Jones added that they have worked for this match for the past years and they need to use their strengths when tackling on the rugby giants.

"It’s the first game of the World Cup, something we’ve worked very hard for for the last four years. We’re playing against a very respectful opponent like South Africa, but really its David versus Goliath.”

The mentor also added that he hopes that Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis just plays the game and he may have also let cat out of the bag with regards to coaching the Stormers next year.

"They’re playing against the Sharks front row. Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis, we hope that Jannie du Plessis plays the game and doesn’t ref the game as well. I know we’ve got a French ref and I hope he refs the game, and not Jannie.

"I know he's got a doctors degree, but that doesn't mean he is a doctor in scrummaging."
 
While the Brave Blossoms coach was laying into the Springboks and using his Aussie mind-games to his advantage, the Boks went about their busy.

Pat Lambie, who will be marshalling the backline tomorrow conceded that it hasn’t been their best year by a long shot, but feels the win over Argentina in Buenos Aires in August has given them some much needed momentum.

This evenings’ much anticipated opening ceremony takes place at 20:00, with kick-off between England and Fiji at Twickers at 21:00.
The Boks game against Japan at the Brighton Community Stadium on Saturday kicks off at 17:30.

Other fixtures this weekend sees Tonga facing Georgia, Ireland tackling Canada, France taking on Italy, Samoa are up against the USA, it’s Wales versus Uruguay and the All Blacks will be facing Argentina in what is set to be another thriller.

Japan – 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Male Sa'u, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kotaro Matsushima, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Michael Leitch (captain), 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami. 

Replacements - 16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Harumichi Tatekawa, 23 Karne Hesketh.

Springboks - 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements -  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen.

Morgan Piek / OFM News