But fresh in Jones’s mind is the memory of how, in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, he outsmarted the giants of the global game to engineer one of the finest results in the country’s history. “The guys who played in that game – Owen, Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje – are going to be important in reinforcing the message that it’s not mission impossible. If we go after them, they’re there for the taking. And we’re going to go after them.” Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has brought in three veterans of their 2019 campaign - hooker Shota Horie, flanker Pieter Labuschagne and captain and number eight Kazuki Himeno - with centre Tomoki Osada the other change to the starting line-up. A change in roles again from Sam and Billy. Sam has good pace and, particularly against Japan, we feel he'll be suited to the start of the game."

mins:TRY - England 24-6 Japan! Van den Heever is isolated on his own line and a raft of England defenders steal possession. It's thrown wide to Simmonds with a long cut-out pass, and he offloads to Porter who dots down right on half-time! Farrell adds the two, and England have a commanding lead going into half-time!

England vs. Japan odds

After scoring 27 points without crossing the tryline against Argentina, it was England's highest score without a try in a Test since 2000 against South Africa in Bloemfontein. I saw a great advancement in the consistency of his game in the Six Nations. What I see of him now is physically a guy who is in great shape. Eddie Jones reacts to our defeat to Argentina. #ENGvARG— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 6, 2022 England's loss to Argentina did illustrate a couple of things – one, that all is still not as one would hope less than a year out from the World Cup for England, and two, in mitigation, that no-one should take the Pumas likely.

mins: Japan finally win good ball off their own scrum and move the ball right. Riley makes a half-break and the Brave Blossoms recycle it to Tatafu. He also pokes his nose through the line, before Japan switch it left, but Leitch is barrelled into touch to bring the chance to a close. Samoa lead the standings after their bonus-point victory over Chile, with Japan second and England in third.We’ve got another seven days together which is important. That felt more like a team that was going places. We’ll see how far we can go in them seven days.” mins:Japan win a penalty and from the line-out, Riley hits a great line to make a half-break. England do eventually turn it over though, and Smith's clearance from his own line is a belter, travelling well into the Japanese 22 and giving the hosts some breathing space. Replacements: Atsushi Sakate, Craig Millar, Asaeli Ai Valu, Warner Dearns, Kanji Shimokawa, Naoto Saito, Dylan Riley, Lomano Lemeki BetMGM in the US has a touch more faith in Japan, having chances of an England victory slightly shorter at 1/14, while Japan's odds are also shortened to 13/2. Martin Burlin: “The scrum is not dominating, the line out is questionable to say the least. Our try came from a Japanese mistake. There is no pace to our game.”

Joe Cokanasiga is dropped entirely from the squad with Jonny May, whose last Test for England came a year ago, replacing the Bath wing. Billy Vunipola, Alex Coles, Ben Youngs and Manu Tuilagi all drop to the bench. A change in roles again from Sam and Billy. Sam has good pace and, particularly against Japan, we feel he'll be suited to the start of the game. Not at all," said Ford. "The amount of games I have played with Owen at this level - I have loved every single second of it. He's exceptionally strong and he's moving really well. I sense the hunger in him and a desire in him to want to do exceptionally well for England in this World Cup." View from Japan's camp Japan: Masirewa; Matsushima, Osada, Nakamura, Naikabula; Matsuda, Nagare; Inagaki, Horie, Gu, Cornelsen, Fakatava, Leitch, Labuschagne, Himeno (capt)Replacements: Theo Dan, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Martin, Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence Manu is 100 per cent on board with his plan. Whenever you have a powerful player with soft-tissue injuries, you have to experiment a little bit. There's no textbook for managing players [who are injury prone]. Its a matter of cohesion between us and Sale on the medical staff. He's in a really good position now. He trained with us yesterday and looks in a really good spot. Australia:All matches in the Autumn Nations Series, as well as this Test, will be streamed via Stan Sport in Australia. Jones, naturally, relishes his shot at defying the odds. “England have only won 22 per cent of Tests against New Zealand,” he said, with a knowing grin. In fact, their success rate is even worse than this, at 19 per cent.