Japan makes changes for game with France

Lock Luke Thompson, flanker Takashi Kikutani, winger Hirotoki Onozawa and center Ryan Nicholas kept their places after playing in the 20-14 warmup win over the United States last month.  “I believe the team is about 30,” said Kirwan, referring to his entire squad. “If you want to be successful at the World Cup you need a strong side. These guys are the guys in form at the moment, so they’ve got the start.”  Kirwan, one of the finest wingers to have played for New Zealand, clearly is not scared to shake up his team.  Besides, he is more worried about impressing one particular spectator at North Harbor Stadium than the feelings of the players he left out.  “I’m under added pressure on Saturday night because my mum’s coming,” Kirwan said. “She’s 82 and she knows the game.”  Thompson and winger Kosuke Endo are the only two players remaining from the team that started Japan’s last World Cup match against Canada in 2007.  Veteran winger Hirotoki Onozawa, playing in his third World Cup, will match the World Cup appearance record for a Japanese player in his ninth match - equaling Masahiro Kunda (1991-1999) and Yukio Motoki (1995-2003).  Japan has played France only twice before, in 1973 and at the 2003 World Cup, when France won 51-29.  “It’s difficult to compare because the teams are so different,” Onozawa said.