WHEN Japan lined up against France yesterday, those born in the Land of the Rising Sun found themselves far outnumbered by those from faraway shores.
There were nine in total: A South African on the right wing (Gerhard van den Heever), an Australian (Dylan Riley) at outside centre, a Tongan left wing (Siosaia Fifita), a Tongan tighthead (Asaeli Ai Valu), one lock from Australia (Jack Cornelsen), the other from South Africa (Wimpie van der Walt), a flanker from Thailand (Ben Gunter), a No.8 from Tonga (Tevita Tatafu) and a captain from New Zealand (Michael Leitch).