England vs Japan LIVE, Latest Score, Tries and Nations Championship Updates

Kick-off at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham is confirmed for 16:40 GMT under the Saturday floodlights (17:40 CET across Europe, 11:40 a.m. ET on the US East Coast, 8:40 a.m. PT on the West Coast and 1:40 a.m. Sunday in Tokyo). Live television coverage in the United Kingdom and Ireland airs on TNT Sports.

Cardiff's clash between Wales and New Zealand wraps up right before kick-off in West London, with Ireland vs Fiji following at 20:10 GMT in Dublin.

Stay locked on VAVEL for pre-match updates from Twickenham, national anthems and live play-by-play of every try, scrum and conversion.

Argentine Test official Damian Schneider referees today's Round 5 encounter at Allianz Stadium. New Zealand's Ben O'Keeffe runs the touchline as Assistant Referee 1 alongside Welsh official Craig Evans as Assistant Referee 2.

Marius van der Westhuizen sits in the TMO booth, with Aled Griffiths appointed as Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO) to assess any head-contact yellow-card bunker reviews within the eight-minute window.

Starting 108-cap George Ford at fly-half and 44-cap Freddie Steward at full-back signals clear aerial intent against rookie Japanese left wing Riku Tokito (0 caps) and 11-cap full-back Kazuma Ueda. Ford's spiral bombs and touch-finders pinned Australia deep inside their own 22 repeatedly during last Sunday's 45-22 win.

Bench depth tilts heavily toward England in the final 25 minutes.

Bringing 55-cap playmaker Marcus Smith off the replacements bench in shirt 23 alongside 20-cap hooker Theo Dan, 25-cap tighthead Joe Heyes and 15-cap openside Ben Curry gives Borthwick fresh pace once the game breaks up, while uncapped scrum-half Archie McParland waits for his first senior cap.

Despite England holding more than double Japan's starting caps (660 to 322), the second-row and back-row battle features genuine height on the visiting side. Locks Warner Dearns (39 caps) and Harry Hockings (11 caps) give Naoto Saito primary lineout targets capable of contesting Maro Itoje (112 caps), George Martin (26 caps) and blindside jumper Alex Coles (23 caps).

Ball speed at the ruck separates the two game plans.

Eddie Jones's trademark multi-phase attack relies on sub-three-second ruck recycling through Jack Cornelsen and Kanji Shimokawa to keep England's heavier pack moving laterally. Conversely, Ben Earl (57 caps) and 14-cap number eight Henry Pollock specialize in turnover penalties and broken-field carries whenever isolated runners get chopped behind the gain-line.

Japan's solitary victory in the 2026 Nations Championship arrived on opening weekend in Tokyo on 4 July, when the Brave Blossoms defeated Italy 27-10 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium. Subsequent July Tests brought heavier resistance against Six Nations opposition: Ireland beat Japan 36-20 on 11 July, and France won 42-15 at Tokyo's National Olympic Stadium on 18 July.

Last Saturday in Cardiff showed sharp defensive progress.

Visiting the Principality Stadium on 7 November, Jones's squad pushed Wales into the final minutes before falling 28-21, securing a 1-point losing bonus that lifted them to 5 points in the Southern Hemisphere standings ahead of Fiji. Japan wrap up Round 6 next Saturday, 21 November, away to Scotland at Murrayfield.

Since losing their tournament opener 45-21 against South Africa at Ellis Park on 4 July, England have piled up 149 points across three consecutive victories. One week after Johannesburg, Borthwick's side ran riot in a 73-8 demolition of Fiji in Liverpool on 11 July before grinding out a 31-24 road win over Argentina in Santiago del Estero on 18 July.

Autumn rugby at Allianz Stadium picked up at the exact same clip.

Last Sunday, 8 November, England put 45 points past Australia in a 45-22 triumph in London, matching France's pre-weekend mark of 170 points scored across the opening four rounds. Today is the middle leg of three consecutive Twickenham dates before New Zealand arrive in SW1 on Saturday, 21 November.

Eddie Jones blends seasoned Test forwards with two rookie starters at 10 and 11 as Japan total 322 caps in their starting fifteen. Scrum-half Naoto Saito (37 caps) takes responsibility for tempo alongside 1-cap fly-half Riku Kitahara, while uncapped wing Riku Tokito makes his Test debut in jersey 11.

Outside centre Dylan Riley leads the entire Japanese matchday squad with 47 Test caps.

Riley combines with inside centre Samisoni Tua (10 caps), right wing Kippei Ishida (12 caps) and full-back Kazuma Ueda (11 caps). In the pack, loosehead Yota Kamimori (4 caps), hooker Mamoru Harada (21 caps) and tighthead Shuhei Takeuchi (32 caps) scrum ahead of tall second-row pairing Harry Hockings (11 caps) and 39-cap lock Warner Dearns, with flankers Ben Gunter (27 caps), Kanji Shimokawa (31 caps) and 39-cap number eight Jack Cornelsen forming an experienced back row.

Japan's replacements are Kenji Sato (14 caps), Sojiro Otsuka (10 caps), Opeti Helu (3 caps), Michael Stolberg (8 caps), Tiennan Costley (20 caps), scrum-half Shinobu Fujiwara (22 caps), Shinya Komura (4 caps) and Jisu Lee (2 caps).

Steve Borthwick retains core forward power while handing opportunities to young outside backs in a starting XV carrying 660 Test caps. Loosehead Ellis Genge (87 caps) and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie (65 caps) pack down alongside 8-cap tighthead Asher Opoku-Fordjour, with 112-cap second-row talisman Maro Itoje partnering Leicester lock George Martin (26 caps).

Breakout number eight Henry Pollock (14 caps) starts again after shining in the 45-22 win over the Wallabies, flanked by Alex Coles (23 caps) at blindside and 57-cap openside Ben Earl.

At half-back, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet (28 caps) links up with 108-cap fly-half George Ford, outside whom two-cap Bath centre Max Ojomoh partners 78-cap Henry Slade in the 12-13 channel. Full-back Freddie Steward (44 caps) anchors a back three featuring left wing Cadan Murley (7 caps) and 1-cap right wing Will Joseph.

Marcus Smith (55 caps) covers from jersey 23 on a bench completed by Theo Dan (20 caps), Emmanuel Iyogun (1 cap), Joe Heyes (25 caps), Arthur Clark (1 cap), Ben Curry (15 caps), Greg Fisilau (1 cap) and uncapped scrum-half Archie McParland (0 caps).

France's 21-19 victory over South Africa in Paris on Friday night, 13 November, raised the stakes across the Northern Hemisphere table. Les Bleus moved onto 21 points from 5 matches, leaving England in 2nd place on 15 points with this game in hand (3 wins, 1 defeat, 170 points scored, 99 conceded, 3 bonus points).

Five points today put England on 20 points heading into Round 6.

Level with England on 15 points entering Saturday sit Ireland (132 points for, 103 against), while Scotland hold 4th on 11 points, Wales 5th on 10 and Italy 6th on 0. Over in the Southern Hemisphere conference, Japan occupy 5th place on 5 points (1 win, 3 defeats, 83 points for, 116 against, 1 bonus point), sandwiched between 4th-placed Argentina (7 points) and 6th-placed Fiji (0 points) ahead of Finals Weekend on 27-29 November.

Good afternoon and welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of England vs Japan from Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, South West London. Kick-off in Round 5 of the 2026 Nations Championship is scheduled for 16:40 GMT (17:40 CET, 11:40 a.m. ET and 1:40 a.m. Sunday JST).

Twickenham's 82,000-seat bowl greets a familiar figure in the visiting coaching box.

Steve Borthwick's England enter the penultimate pool round riding three straight tournament wins, highlighted by last Sunday's 45-22 victory over Australia at Twickenham on 8 November. Standing opposite them are Japan under former England head coach Eddie Jones, fresh from pushing Wales to a 28-21 finish in Cardiff seven days ago.

Follow every try, conversion, penalty kick, scrum battle and replacement call right here throughout the evening.