Despite England's defeat to Argentina, and Japan pushing New Zealand close, the home side are still heavy favourites to end this game victorious. Japan's chances of victory are long to say the least, with both Sky Bet and Ladbrokes offering the same lengthy odds. Saracens hooker Jamie George is named on the bench, having recovered from a foot injury suffered at the start of October sooner than expected given he was initially ruled out until December. A change in roles again from Sam and Billy. Sam has good pace and, particularly against Japan, we feel he'll be suited to the start of the game.

England continued their dominance in the second-half with Ellis Genge getting on the scoreboard and Guy Porter scoring his second try.Not at all," said Ford. "The amount of games I have played with Owen at this level - I have loved every single second of it. Replacements: Theo Dan, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Martin, Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence

Jones, naturally, relishes his shot at defying the odds. “England have only won 22 per cent of Tests against New Zealand,” he said, with a knowing grin. In fact, their success rate is even worse than this, at 19 per cent. The second half began in much the same vein as England piled on the pressure early. A series of penalties, line-out mauls and big carries from the forwards culminated in Ellis Genge crashing over for the first try of the second period, before Porter latched onto a clever grubber from Owen Farrell to score his second. Japan rallied, and replacement scrum-half Saito raced onto Warner Dearns' offload to dot down under the posts. mins:Japan win a penalty and from the line-out, Riley hits a great line to make a half-break. England do eventually turn it over though, and Smith's clearance from his own line is a belter, travelling well into the Japanese 22 and giving the hosts some breathing space. Lewis Ludlam has been rewarded for his energetic cameo in England's win over Argentina with a starting spot at number eight. Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of England’s second Pool D match, against Japan in Nice.Ford and Farrell were England's first-choice fly-half and inside centre combination for the last Rugby World Cup campaign, but their partnership was disbanded after the 2021 Six Nations as then-coach Eddie Jones brought in Harlequins' Marcus Smith at 10. Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has brought in three veterans of their 2019 campaign - hooker Shota Horie, flanker Pieter Labuschagne and captain and number eight Kazuki Himeno - with centre Tomoki Osada the other change to the starting line-up. But fresh in Jones’s mind is the memory of how, in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, he outsmarted the giants of the global game to engineer one of the finest results in the country’s history. “The guys who played in that game – Owen, Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje – are going to be important in reinforcing the message that it’s not mission impossible. If we go after them, they’re there for the taking. And we’re going to go after them.” There is more to come, that was the niggling thought after that game," Ford told Rugby Union Daily.

The way the game is at the moment, you need to have three line-out jumpers. [Moving Curry to six] might come into vogue [like in 2019], but at the moment we need three line-out jumpers." mins:PENALTY - England 17-6 Japan. Yamasawa steps up following that penalty, and slots over three more points to help Japan slowly plug this gap. There is also a sooner-than-anticipated return for Jamie George, who occupies the hooker bench spot, after breaking his foot on club duty. mins: Japan finally win good ball off their own scrum and move the ball right. Riley makes a half-break and the Brave Blossoms recycle it to Tatafu. He also pokes his nose through the line, before Japan switch it left, but Leitch is barrelled into touch to bring the chance to a close.MORE: Autumn series is time for England to experiment ahead of 2023 World Cup How to watch England vs. Japan Alan George: “England, best in the business at punishing schoolboy errors. Works a treat until they play France, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, New Zealand, or dare I say it - Fiji.” Japan, who are top of Pool D after a 42-12 win over Chile, could blow the pool wide open if they win.