Japan squad for Romania and Ireland tests

Michael Leitch returns to Japan duty as coach Jamie Joseph revealed his 33-man squad for the upcoming June Test matches against Romania and Ireland.

The Brave Blossoms play Romania in Kumamoto on June 10 before facing on Ireland on June 17 and 24 in Shizuoka and Tokyo.

The coach told Japan Times, “Leitch is one of the best players in his position currently playing and eligible for Japan. The criteria for selection was I wanted the best players available to represent Japan. We have a strong squad and now have two weeks to prepare in the heat in Kyushu before the first test.”

Forwards: Shintaro Ishihara, Keita Inagaki, Koki Yamamoto, Takuma Asahara, Heiichiro Ito, Yu Chinen, Yusuke Niwai*, Takeshi Hino, Shota Horie, Kyosuke Kajikawa, Uwe Helu, Shinya Makebe, Kotaro Yatabe, Hendrik Tui, Yoshitaka Tokunaga, Shuhei Matasuhashi, Amanaki Lelei Mafi, Michael Leitch

Backs: Keisuke Uchida, Fumiaki Tanaka, Yutaka Nagare, Jumpei Ogura, Yu Tamura, Rikiya Matsuda, Derek Carpenter*, Harumichi Tatekawa, William Tupou*, Timothy Lafaele, Shota Emi*, Kenki Fukuoka, Akihito Yamada, Ryuji Noguchi, Kotaro Matsushima

* = uncapped