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Japan Rugby Team Names Squad for Canada Match

man playing football on the field
Photo by Stefan Lehner on Unsplash
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Listen to the story

Japan's rugby team will play Canada on the 5th.

The coach is Eddie Jones. He picked the players for the match.

Two players are Naoto Saito and Ryunosuke Ito. Saito plays scrum-half. Ito plays fly-half.

These two players will start the game together again. This is the sixth game in a row for them together.

Coach Jones talked about the two players. He wants them to become a world-class pair.

He said they should feel each other with their eyes and bodies.

Another player, Shimokawa, also talked about the match. He said players must be strong at the contact points in the game.

Vocabulary9 words

scrum-half
a player position in rugby; passes the ball from the ground
fly-half
a player position in rugby; often controls how the team attacks
start
to play from the beginning of a game
world-class
very, very good; one of the best in the world
contact
when players touch or hit each other in a game
squad
a group of players chosen for a team
coach
a person who trains a sports team
pair
two people who work together
national team
a team that plays for a whole country

Quiz

1. Who will Japan play?
2. How many games in a row will Saito and Ito start together?
3. What does the coach want the two players to become?

Fill-in-the-blank listening

Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.

Japan's rugby team will play _____ on the 5th.

The coach is _____ Jones. He picked the players for the match.

Two players are Naoto Saito and Ryunosuke _____. Saito plays scrum-half. Ito plays fly-half.

These two players will _____ the game together again. This is the sixth game in a row for them together.

Coach Jones talked about the two players. He wants them to become a _____ pair.

He said they should feel each other with their eyes and _____.

Another player, Shimokawa, also talked about the match. He said players must be strong at the _____ points in the game.

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