Rugby-Japan have captain Labuschagne back for Scotland test

FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2019 - Pool A - Japan v Ireland - Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka, Japan - September 28, 2019 Japan's Pieter Labuschagne in action with Ireland's Joey Carbery REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Japan captain Pieter Labuschagne and lock James Moore both return from injury to strengthen the pack for Saturday's test against Scotland at Murrayfield, coach Jamie Joseph announced on Thursday.

They are among five changes to the team that beat Portugal 38-25 in Coimbra last weekend.

Labuschagne's return means Kazuki Himeno moves from open-side flanker to No. 8, while there is also a swap at hooker where Atsushi Sakate replaces Kosuke Horikoshi. Moore replaces Naohiro Kotaki.

Among the backs, Yutaka Nagare comes in at scrumhalf in place of Kaito Shigeno while France-based Kotaro Matsushima starts on the wing after playing fullback in the 60-5 loss to Ireland in Dublin a fortnight ago. That means Dylan Riley drops to the replacement's bench.

Shogo Nakano keeps his place at outside centre after his debut in last weekend's win in Portugal.

Team: 15-Ryohei Yamanaka, 14-Kotaro Matsushima, 13-Shogo Nakano, 12-Ryoto Nakamura, 11-Siosaia Fifita, 10-Rikiya Matsuda, 9-Yutaka Nagare, 8-Kazuki Himeno, 7-Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 6-Michael Leitch, 5-James Moore, 4-Jack Cornelsen, 3-Asaeli Ai Valu, 2-Atsushi Sakate, 1-Craig Millar

Replacements: 16-Kosuke Horikoshi, 17-Keita Inagaki , 18-Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19-Ben Gunter, 20-Tevita Tatafu, 21-Naoto Saito, 22-Yu Tamura, 23-Dylan Riley.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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