Eddie Jones is back at Twickenham, as his Brave Blossoms players try to get one over England
Watch England v Japan as a much changed home team look to build on a record victory over Australia (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Watch England v Japan as Eddie Jones brings his current charges back to Twickenham to face his former side in the Nations Championship.
England were impressive in a record 45-22 victory over Australia last Sunday, but injuries and squad rotation have prompted Steve Borthwick to pick a very different starting XV for today. Japan, meanwhile, managed to keep things close in a 28-21 defeat to Wales, though Jones will know that facing his old employers will be a step up for this Brave Blossoms side.
The match kicks off at 4.40pm GMT on Saturday afternoon, and you can watch England v Japan live streams for free in the UK, Ireland, France and the US. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to tune in below – including details of how you can use a VPN to watch the match from anywhere.
Key information
– England v Japan date: Saturday 14 November 2026
– England v Japan kick-off time: 4.40pm GMT / 5.40pm CET / 6.40pm SAST / 3.40am AEDT (Sunday) / 5.40am NZDT (Sunday) / 11.40am ET / 8.40am PT
– England v Japan venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, England
– England v Japan free streams: ITVX (UK), Virgin Media Play (Ireland), TF1+ (France), RugbyPass TV (US)
Free streams for England v Japan in the UK
England v Japan is available for free on both streaming service ITVX and terrestrial channel ITV1 in the UK. Coverage starts at 4.30pm GMT, kick-off is at 4.40pm.
ITVX is free to use, but you do need to complete a simple sign-up process to access the service. You also need an up-to-date TV Licence to stream live TV in the UK.
Watch England v Japan from anywhere
Overseas right now? That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on any of today’s packed Nations Championship fifth round fixture list. By using a (Virtual Private Network) to change your IP address, you can avoid geo-blocking restrictions and stream England v Japan as if you were back home.
The tech experts at TechRadar and Tom’s Guide both rate NordVPN as world number one, thanks to its top-notch ability to unblock streaming services and security features.
England v Japan free streams in Ireland
Viewers in Ireland can watch England v Japan for free on the Virgin Media Play streaming service or terrestrial channel Virgin Media One.
Pre-match build-up gets underway at 4.15pm GMT, ahead of the 4.40pm kick-off.
Japan boss Eddie Jones will be eager to get one over his old employers at the RFU (Paul Harding-Nations Championship via Getty Images)
Stream England v Japan for FREE in France
If you’re on the other side of the Channel you can watch England v Japan live streams for on both TFX and the TF1+ streaming service.
England v Brave Blossoms coverage starts at 5.30pm CET, with the action getting underway at 5.40pm.
French fans who are away from home but want to tune in with their usual French language commentary can still access their TFX coverage from overseas by using a VPN, such as NordVPN.
Other ways to watch England v Japan around the world
In the US you can watch England v Japan, along with all the Nations Championship games, on World Rugby’s RugbyPass TV. It’s free to use, though you do need to register before you can start streaming the action. Kick-off is at 11.40am ET/ 8.40am PT this morning.
If you’re in South Africa you need to head to to watch England v Japan. Tune in to the match from 6.40pm this evening.
In New Zealand you need to find Sky Sport on your EPG. It costs $59.99 per month for a streaming subscription ($29.99 day options are also available) and kick-off is at 5.40am NZDT on Sunday morning.
Rugby fans on the other side of the Tasman Sea need to head to for England v Japan live streams. A Stan Sport subscription costs $20 per month on top of a standard Stan plan (for which prices start at $9.99, though you can currently get 50% off your first two months). Kick-off is a rather antisocial 3.10am AEDT on Sunday morning.
England v Japan match preview
Steve Borthwick and his England squad needed last weekend’s comprehensive victory over Australia. After those four Six Nations defeats and a big loss to South Africa in July, wins over Fiji and Argentina weren’t quite enough to restore faith that the side is progressing in the right direction. That record seven-try triumph, however, belatedly gave the Twickenham crowd something to celebrate.
Borthwick has made 10 changes to his starting line-up for the visit of Japan, some of them enforced by injury, others a chance to give additional players a run out. Freddie Steward, Will Joseph and Cadan Murley form an all new back three, with Max Ojomoh partnering Henry Slade in the centres. George Ford wins his 109th cap at fly-half.
It‘s all change in the front row, where Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour start, while George Martin joins captain Maro Itoje in the second row. Alex Coles moves back to the blindside, Ben Earl moves across to the openside, and Henry Pollock – who scored a couple of tries from the wing against the Wallabies – returns to his more familiar position of number 8.
Former England boss Eddie Jones will need no additional motivation on his return for Twickenham, and has largely kept faith with the XV that lost to Wales in Cardiff. With the pack unchanged, the only change is on the wing where Riku Tokito gets the nod over Burua Inoke.
England v Japan line-ups and officials
15. Freddie Steward
14. Will Joseph
13. Henry Slade
12. Max Ojomoh
11. Cadan Murley
10. George Ford
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie
3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour
4. Maro Itoje (captain)
5. George Martin
6. Alex Coles
7. Ben Earl
8. Henry Pollock
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan
17. Emmanuel Iyogun
18. Joe Heyes
19. Arthur Clark
20. Ben Curry
21. Greg Fisilau
22. Archie McParland
23. Marcus Smith
15. Kazuma Ueda
14. Kippei Ishida
13. Dylan Riley
12. Samisoni Tua
11. Riku Tokito
10. Riku Kitahara
9. Naito Saito (co-captain)
1. Yota Kamimori
2. Mamoru Harada
3. Shuhei Takeuchi
4. Harry Hockings
5. Warner Dearns (co-captain)
6. Ben Gunter
7. Kanji Shimokawa
8. Jack Cornelsen
16. Kenji Sato
17. Sojiro Otsuka
18. Opeti Helu
19. Michael Stolberg
20. Tiennan Costley
21. Shinobu Fujiwara
22. Shinya Komura
23. Jisu Lee
The referee for England v Japan is Damián Schneider (Argentina). He’s assisted by Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and Craig Evans (Wales), with Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa) keeping an eye on things from the TMO booth.
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