Preview: Japan v Australia A
Wallaby in Japan: Mark Gerrard
Australia A have included four World Cup Wallabies in their team to play Japan in Fukuoka in the opening round of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup on Sunday.
Mark Gerrard, Morgan Turinui, Guy Shepherdson and Sean Hardman will all take their place in the run-on XV, while NSW Waratah Timana Tahu will make his first start since Round 3 of Super 14 at inside centre. Turinui has also been named as captain.
Brumbies scrumhalf Josh Holmes and fly-half Ben Lucas will form the fulcrum of Phil Mooney's first game in charge of Australia A.
Peter Kimlin and Van Humphries have both been rewarded for strong Super 14 seasons with starting berths at lock, while Brumbies duo Julian Salvi and Mitch Chapman will play in the backrow with the Force's Matt Hodgson.
Sean Hardman will be joined in the front row by Pek Cowan and Salesi Ma'afu.
Phil Mooney also has named a strong bench with Wallabies Al Campbell, Tai McIsaac, and Sam Norton-Knight all set to make an impact against the Japanese.
Super 14 Rookie of the Year Tyrone Smith will also start from the bench after playing a three match series with the Barbarians in Europe.
Coach Mooney said the tournament will provide his team with high level opposition and it is up to the players to show how well they can adapt and perform on the international stage.
"We've got a good mix of Test veterans and talented young players in this squad and they have a terrific opportunity to show their abilities over the next five weeks," said Mooney.
"Japan have greatly improved over the past few years and we'll need to ensure we dominate the breakdown and build our attack from there."
Meanwhile, Japan coach John Kirwan made just two changes to the side that narrowly lost to the Classic All Blacks last week.
Lock Hitoshi Ono returns from injury to take his place in the engine room alongside Toshizumi Kitagawa, while Shaun Webb is preferred to Go Aruga at full-back.
"Experience is what we are expecting from him," Kirwan said of Ono, who will be winning his 27th cap for Japan.
"It's pretty tough on [Tomoaki] Taniguchi, who I thought played well last week but we need Ono from an experience point of view."
Kirwan said that his team is now at the stage where everyone is challenging for a spot in the starting XV and admitted that Webb would be suited to the type of game he expected the Australians to play.
"Webb cab kick us back into the game with interest," he said.
Takuro Miuchi - who was brought up close to Fukuoka in Kita-Kyushu - once again skippers the side as the IRB-funded tournament gets underway.
"We need to go as we did last week and really have a go," said Kirwan.
Taniguchi's relegation to the bench means there is no spot in matchday 22 for Koji Shinozuka.
Aruga is also missing from the matchday squad, with Christian Loamanu returning from injury to wear the national jersey for the first time since the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Japan follows up the game with Australia A with two more home games, against Tonga in Sendai and Fiji in Tokyo, before hitting the road to play New Zealand Maori and Samoa.
The teams:
Japan: 15 Shaun Webb, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Yuta Imarua, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Takuro Miuchi, 7 Hare Makiri, 6 Ryu Koliniaisi Holani, 5 Toshizuma Kitagawa, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Tomokazu Soma, 2 Yusuke Aoki, 1 Tatsukichi Nishiura.
Replacements: 16 Taku Inokuchi, 17 Yuta Inose, 18 Tomoaki Taniguchi, 19 Takashi Kikutani, 20 Tomoki Yoshida, 21 Bryce Robins, 22 Christian Loamanu
Australia A: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Morgan Turinui (c), 12 Timana Tahu, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Ben Lucas, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Mitch Chapman, 5 Peter Kimlin, 4 Van Humphries, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Al Campbell, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Tyrone Smith, 22 Sam Norton-Knight.
Date: Sunday, 8 June 2008
Venue: Fukuoka, Japan
Kick-off: 14:05 (05:05 GMT)
Referee: Willie Roos (South Africa