England host Japan this weekend as Eddie Jones makes another return to Twickenham in rugby's Nations Championship. Steve Borthwick's side will be heavy favourites to make it back-to-back strong wins against the Brave Blossoms, having eased the pressure on their head coach with a record thrashing of Australia last time out to kick off the autumn portion of the inaugural competition.
Following a week of headlines that included explosive reports of a summer rift in camp, England brushed aside the woeful Wallabies, scoring seven tries - including two for Henry Pollock playing as an emergency wing - in a 45-22 demolition that moved them above Ireland and into second in the Northern Hemisphere table, behind only France.
England's recent form and Japan's record
England's senior players vowed to come out fighting for Borthwick and did just that, making it three wins in succession after bouncing back from a worst-ever Six Nations campaign and heavy loss in South Africa with consecutive victories over Fiji and Argentina back in July.
With only the All Blacks to come before finals weekend at Twickenham, the hosts will have their eyes on another handsome victory against a Japan team who have never previously beaten England in six attempts. With former long-time England coach Jones at the helm, they have won only one of their four matches in this tournament so far - defeating Italy 27-10 in Tokyo over the summer either side of heavy losses to France and Ireland, with the latter match taking place in Australia.
Japan - placed in the Southern Hemisphere bracket for the Nations Championship - lost a two-Test series to Australia after that, before thrashing the United States and overcoming Fiji to win the Pacific Nations Cup for the first time since 2019 on home soil. They began the autumn with a hard-fought 28-21 loss to Wales in Cardiff, during which they made things very nervy for the hosts and picked up a losing bonus point.
Date, kick-off time, venue and how to watch
England vs Japan in the 2026 Nations Championship takes place on Saturday November 14, 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 4:40pm GMT. The game is being held at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in south-west London.
In the UK, England vs Japan is being broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV. Coverage begins at 4:30pm GMT on ITV1, after the conclusion of Wales vs New Zealand in Cardiff. The fixture is also available to watch live online via the ITVX website and app, which is free with a registration.
Team news and lineups
England's thumping win over the Wallabies came at a cost, with star wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso - by far their best player in the first half - taken off at the break having seen his right ankle injured during a 'hip-drop' tackle by prop Angus Bell that resulted in a yellow card, prompting Pollock's surprise cameo out wide. He has been ruled out for the remainder of the autumn and is consulting with surgeons after scans, having been seen in a protective boot during the post-match celebrations last weekend.
Centre Seb Atkinson is also unavailable after limping off against Australia with a hip injury, while George Furbank's long-awaited international comeback has now been halted again by a hamstring problem. Ollie Chessum - one of England's vice-captains - has a shoulder issue and will also not face Japan, while Tom Curry will not play at all this month after exacerbating a long-term hip problem in training.
Borthwick named his team on Thursday to meet Japan and made 10 changes from the win over Australia, with only captain Maro Itoje, man of the match Henry Slade, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, Alex Coles and Ben Earl retaining their places. Pollock starts at number eight in a back row alongside Earl and Coles, who shifts to blindside flanker as Itoje is joined at lock by George Martin. Ben Curry drops to the bench.
There's an entirely new front row, with Ellis Genge and Asher Opoku-Fordjour replacing Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes as the starting props. Jamie George makes way for Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker. George Ford is at fly-half with Marcus Smith still on the bench and Fin Smith not involved at all, with Slade joined at centre by Max Ojomoh in the absence of Atkinson.
Will Joseph will earn only his second cap on the right wing after the injury to Feyi-Waboso, opposite Cadan Murley. Freddie Steward is at full-back with Furbank out, while there is no Tommy Freeman. Fit-again Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland will make his senior England debut off the bench, where there will be second caps for all of Greg Fisilau, Emmanuel Iyogun and Arthur Clark. Theo Dan provides cover at hooker.
Japan have travelled to Europe without highly-rated young fly-half Ryunosuke Ito, who is unavailable as he is playing for Meiji University in the Kanto University Intercollegiate Championship instead.
England: Steward; Joseph, Slade, Ojomoh, Murley; Ford, Van Poortvliet; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour; Itoje (c), Martin; Coles, Earl, Pollock
Replacements: Dan, Iyogun, Heyes, Clark, B Curry, Fisilau, McParland, M Smith
Japan: TBC
Replacements: TBC
Head-to-head history, prediction and odds
England have won all six of their previous capped meetings with Japan, including a 59-14 thrashing at Twickenham in the autumn of 2024, as Jones endured a miserable first return to Twickenham following his sacking by the RFU in 2022. England had gone to Tokyo earlier that same year and won 52-17, ahead of their summer tour to New Zealand. The two sides also met in a scrappy contest during the pool stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which England won 34-12.
Jones has predictably ramped up the mind games ahead of his latest reunion with England, insisting that Japan are out to make the "sky fall in" at Twickenham after another tumultuous period for successor Borthwick. Though his side are enormous underdogs who have never previously beaten England, he says they will take inspiration from Italy, who recorded their first-ever win over them in the Six Nations earlier this year. Fiji did likewise in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup.
Japan are a talented team with a number of dangerous threats and they made life trickier than it needed to be for a flat Wales side last weekend. However, England delivered the best possible riposte to the suggestions of disharmony in camp by running riot against Australia in a sign that they are clearly still behind Borthwick and expanding their oft-criticised attacking game with the World Cup on the horizon. We expect them to be even more ruthless here as they warm up for a huge showdown with the All Blacks ahead of finals weekend. England to win, by 25 points.
England to win: 1/80
Japan to win: 40/1
Draw: 50/1
Odds via UK betting sites (subject to change).
