England vs Japan LIVE rugby: Build-up and updates as England look to end losing run with ex-boss Eddie Jones in town

Japan scrum-half Naoto Saito and his long-range attempt has the distance but drift wide of the left upright. Let-off for England

Scrum reset before Japan awarded the fre-kick and they go quickly. Penalty coming now, an England player not rolling away and early disciplinary problems for the hosts again.

Japan will go for the posts from just inside the England half…

England playing in their changed, dark red strip today with Japan in their classic red and white stripes.

Big tackle early from England drives the visitors back but they give up a penalty in the process. However, Nik McCurran misses touch before England try to find space in the backfield witha kick over the top but the ball runs dead, so a scrum back on halfway

And we’re underway at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. What does today hold for Steve Borthwick’s men?

Out the players come with a bit of rain falling at Twickenham, the wind whipping the precipitation around the Allianz Stadium. It’s warm, though – 15 degrees even in the evening gloom.

Warm-ups complete and we’re about 10 minutes away from kick-off here in Twickenham. Can England end their autumn on a high?

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Assistant Referee 2: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)

TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

FPRO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Asher Opoku-Fordjour should, at some point today, become England’s ninth debutant of the year. There is considerable excitement about a 20-year-old prop already performing strongly in the Premiership, with the youngster’s ability to play on both sides of the front row only enhancing his chances of a long stint at international level.

“We are all very excited,” Jamie George said on Friday. “I haven’t worked with Asher for that long but I have been impressed with how he has come in, applied himself and been keen to learn. A player that age, able to play both sides at Premiership level and getting his opportunity now at international level is very exciting. So the focus for the rest of us, particularly in the pack is to make sure it is a very special day for him.

“He’s a very, very talented scrummager. He has a very, very strong core, which is probably the reason why he’s so effective on both sides.”

To learn a bit more about Opoku-Fordjour, here’s a chat with him from a little earlier this year:

For the first time since he was sacked in 2022, Jones will come up against the side he coached for seven years on their home turf as he plots a famous upset for his Japan team.

England are overwhelming favourites to end their five-Test losing run against opponents ranked 13th in the world, but George insists Jones is capable of ripping up the script.

Eddie Jones opened his second spell as Japan boss with a 52-17 defeat in Tokyo in June, but captain Naoto Saito insists his Brave Blossoms are now a more dangerous side.

“England are really dominant in the set-piece and under the high ball and I’m sure they will bring those threats against us,” Saito said.

“Of course we have counter measures for that and how we use those will be really important to our game. We’ve been focusing on ourselves.

“We started this campaign playing against England. We’ve gone 10 games deep now and are playing them away from home.

“We are really keen to show how much we have developed our attacking game. Against England’s fast line speed we really want to nail our accuracy in attack. That’s the part of the game that we would like to continue to develop.”