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London - England are readying themselves to face a Japan side with a point to prove when they face the 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts at Twickenham on Saturday.
The last edition of the global showpiece in 2015 saw Japan produce the great rugby union shock of all-time when they beat South Africa 34-32 in Brighton.
"I think they'll be ready to play unbelievably hard to prove a point to World Rugby and that is that they're ready to compete in tier one," said England assistant coach Neal Hatley, with Japan looking to secure a place among rugby's elite.
"They've put in some really good performances and this is the next step in their journey, so we're expecting a tough game."
England head coach Eddie Jones was in charge of the Brave Blossoms when they stunned the Springboks.
Hatley added: "We're expecting lots of endeavour and effort from Japan.
"Eddie said in the week they've improved massively and believes that since the World Cup they have got better again. There's obviously a very healthy respect for the Japanese players."
Teams:
England
15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jack Nowell, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 George Ford (captain), 9 Danny Care, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jamie George, 1 Alec Hepburn
Substitutes: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Henry Slade
Japan
15 William Tupou, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Masakatsu Nishikawa, 6 Michael Leitch (captain), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Substitutes: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Samuela Anise, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 22 Yutaka Nagare, 23 Rikiya Matsuda
