The team is led by Bristol centre Luke Eves while Leicester Tigers wing Jack Cobden wins his first cap with Sale Sharks No 8 Carl Fearns making his first start.

Tom Homer (London Irish) and Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) are also back in the side after Guinness Premiership duty ruled them out of most of the RBS Under-20 Six Nations.

The Red Rose brigade go into the tournament as second seeds but looking to go one better than the runners up spot they managed last year.

“We’ve trained hard, experienced the culture here in Tokyo and now we’re raring to go for the game on Friday,” said Eves.

“It’s always a great honour to play for your country at any level and to captain the side is an even bigger one. It’s a great privilege and I know the lads will be behind me all the way so we can get a first victory of the tournament behind us.

“We’re playing the home side and they’ll come out with all guns blazing. They’ll throw everything at us in the first 20 minutes so it’s important we don’t let the occasion get to us and keep things simple. We have to do the basics well.

“The climate here is a factor. But we’ve been here a fair few days now and we’ve been doing a lot of fitness work. I’m sure they’ll feel they’re more suited to the conditions than us but I’m confident we can overcome those factors and play the way we want to.”

England go on to play Pool B opponents Scotland on June 9 and Samoa on June 13 before the knock out stages take place on June 17 and 21.

They go into the tournament on the back of a third-place finish in the Six Nations but will be among the tournament favourites now they have their full Premiership complement back on board.

Coach Mark Mapletoft said: “It’s a big challenge and this is a must-win game at the start of the tournament but we’ve selected a team we believe can win the game.

“Tom Homer and Ben Youngs come into the backline and we’ve got plenty of experience with which to take on Japan.

“When Calum Clark wasn’t selected for this game Luke was the obvious choice to lead the side. He’s the squad’s vice-captain and did a very good job in the Six Nations against France and Scotland.

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