What time is Scotland v Japan kick-off? TV channel and team news

Scotland host Japan at Murrayfield on Saturday, looking to make it three wins from four this autumn.

Gregor Townsend’s men have beaten Tonga and Australia, only going down to world champions South Africa last weekend.

Japan suffered a heavy to defeat to Ireland two weeks ago before defeating Portugal last weekend.

Here’s everything you need to know about the match.

What time is Scotland v Japan kick-off?

Scotland v Japan kicks off at 1pm local time on Saturday November 20 at BT Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

What TV channel is Scotland v Japan on?

Live coverage of the match is being shown exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

The streaming site is behind a paywall, you can watch it for free if you sign up for a free trial here now.

Coverage will also be available to live stream online or via Amazon Prime Video's app.

What’s the Scotland v Japan team news?

Scotland have made seven changes to the side that lost 15-30 to South Africa last weekend. In the pack Jamie Bhatti and George Turner come into the front row to join Zander Fagerson. Scott Cummings comes into the second row to partner Grant Gilchrist, while Hamish Watson returns to the back row alongside Josh Bayliss to join vice-captain Jamie Ritchie.

There are only two changes in the back line as Sam Johnson and Darcy Graham come in for Matt Scott and Rufus McClean.

There are two debutants on the Scottish bench, in Scarlets prop Javan Sebastian and Cell C Sharks back row Dylan Richardson.

Japan have made five changes to their team that beat Portugal 38-25 last week. Pieter Labuschagne returns to the back row to captain the side, with hooker Atsushi Sakate and second row James Moore returning to the pack.

In the back line, scrum-half Yutaka Nagare and wing Kotaro Matsushima both come into the starting side.

Full Teams:

Scotland

15. Stuart Hogg (capt); 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Sam Johnson, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ali Price; 1. Jamie Bhatti, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Scott Cummings, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Josh Bayliss,

Replacements: 16. Stuart McInally, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. Javan Sebastian, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Dylan Richardson, 21. Matt Fagerson, 22. George Horne, 23. Blair Kinghorn.

Japan

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

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

Who is the Scotland v Japan referee?

Referee: Brendan Pickerill (NZR)

Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (NZR), Andrea Piradi (FIR)

TMO: Stuart Berry (SARU)

What have the coaches said?

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: “We have had a positive week as a squad and want to close out our Autumn Nations Series campaign with an improved performance against a Japan side we expect to challenge us from the outset on Saturday.

“This group of players have another opportunity to represent their country this weekend and show the progress we have made as a group over the past four weeks.

“The Autumn Series has been a great opportunity for us to test the depth of our squad and also build on the performances of our Six Nations campaign.

“Last Saturday’s defeat was a valuable – if painful – learning experience for us, and we’ve been encouraged by how well the squad has trained this week in response to the loss against South Africa.

“We know how much a winning performance can lift our nation and we will be giving everything for our supporters at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.”

Japan head coach Jamie Joseph: “The team is really looking forward to the test match on Saturday. We’ve had a good week in terms of our preparation and have enjoyed being back in Edinburgh. Scotland have really improved since we last played them at the World Cup. They’ve played a lot of test matches, with two six nations and some very strong performance in the lead up to this weekend.

“Their players who were quite young during the World Cup are now senior members of their team and they have changed their game a lot. They’re quite keen to run the ball, which is the way forward.

“We’re expecting a big contest in the loose forwards, where Scotland have shown a lot of improvement. Their backrow are strong in defence and at the breakdown and are very good at jackaling and slowing the ball down. We’ll have to be very accurate at the breakdown, but we have an experienced backrow in Leitch, Lappies and Himeno, so it’s going to be a big part of the match.”

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