Overview
- Eddie Jones assembled a 38-player Japan training group that includes 20 who faced Wales in July and 13 uncapped players.
- Regular captain Michael Leitch is unavailable for personal reasons, Naoto Saito has returned to Toulouse, and Kazuki Himeno is out as he builds back from a hamstring injury.
- Former USA Eagles head coach Gary Gold has joined Jones’s staff, with leadership options for Japan including Mamoru Harada, Jack Cornelsen and Dylan Riley.
- Canada’s 28-man traveling squad excludes France-based forwards Tyler Ardron and Evan Olmstead and flyhalf Cooper Coats, with call-ups for Austin Creighton, Callum Botchar, Brock Gallagher and Shane O’Leary.
- Japan host Canada in Sendai on Saturday before visiting the USA in Sacramento on September 6, with Pacific Nations Cup knockout rounds beginning September 14 in Denver.