South Africa vs Japan live: Score and updates as Springboks bid to avoid repeat of World Cup shock at Wembley

It’s a busy afternoon for rugby fans of London, spoiled for choice with three games on. An All Blacks XV and the Barbarians are playing in Brentford, we’ve got this Springboks clash to come and down at Twickenham, the action is not far away at all as England open their Quilter Nations Series campaign against Australia. You can follow that game here:

A busy November of international rugby action dawns with a hectic Test schedule of Quilter Nations Series action to be consumed over the next five weeks.

While a new Nations Championship is on the way to add extra context to these games next year, the 2025 fixtures take on greater meaning with a Rugby World Cup draw looming in early December.

The action should come fast and furious as cross-hemisphere rivalries are reignited – and it isn’t just the top nations in action, with Hong Kong, the United States and Uruguay among the less-heralded sides touring Europe.

Several South Africa players lining up against Japan at Wembley Stadium carry vivid memories of the ‘Miracle of Brighton’, an upset that shook the Rugby World Cup a decade ago and which still sends shivers down Springbok spines today.

Among them is captain Siya Kolisi, who came off the bench as Japan snatched victory with a last-gasp try to beat the Springboks 34-32 in their 2015 tournament opener in Brighton.

South Africa would go on to finish third in the tournament, but it remains a day that left an indelible mark on the game in the country.

The Springboks have won their two clashes with Japan since, including knocking their hosts out of the 2019 World Cup in the quarter-finals on their way to lifting the trophy.

They will be favourites again and while the wounds of 10 years ago have been healed by two World Cup triumphs since, the Springboks are taking nothing for granted.

“We definitely do give them the respect that they deserve. They are a great team,” Kolisi told reporters on Friday. “You saw what they did last week against Australia (a 19-15 loss in Tokyo). That game was very close.

“We have a lot of players in Japan, and they have been able to tell us about the players who are playing tomorrow and the kind of players that they are. We are very prepared for this game.”

Lock Lood de Jager and centre Jesse Kriel started against Japan in Brighton, with flanker Kolisi coming off the bench.

The Rugby Championship is due to return in 2027, but Rassie Erasmus has called for a bigger change to its scheduling, advocating for the competition to move to earlier in the year in line with the Six Nations – which would help the Springboks better balance their club and country calendars.

There will be no Rugby Championship next year, of course, with South Africa hosting New Zealand in a new series tagged as “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” – an exciting development in many ways, even if Australia and Argentina are slightly sidelined.

The Springboks are back in London for the second time in a month, having taken over Twickenham for their clash with Argentina in October. I watched the diaspora come out in force as back-to-back Rugby Championships were secured.

South Africa have given a debut to prop Zachary Porthen in their starting XV for the Autumn International series test against Japan and switched Cheslin Kolbe from wing to full-back for the clash at Wembley Stadium.

Porthen, 21, is a former Junior Springboks captain who has played a handful of games in the United Rugby Championship for the Cape Town-based Stormers, but has impressed coach Rassie Erasmus enough to start.

“Obviously, he has a lot to learn this week, but we have experienced players in the squad who have been helping and guiding him, and we believe this is the right match to give him an opportunity to prove what he can do,” Erasmus said.

“At this level, you have to sink or swim, so although it will be a challenging week for him to learn our structures, it will also be a very exciting week for him.”

A decade on from one of the great World Cup upsets, South Africa and Japan clash again on English soil with the Springboks hoping to avoid a repeat of the “Miracle of Brighton”. The two sides tangle at Wembley as a busy Quilter Nations Series kicks off, with Eddie Jones looking to mastermind another underdog triumph.

Kick off is at 4.10pm GMT.