Mike Henson
BBC Sport in Nice

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What better test for false dawns than the Land of the Rising Sun?

England hope that tonight's match confirms a turning point. They hope that a team that has over-promised and under-delivered for much of the past two years, will now walk its talk.

They hope, but, more importantly, they are beginning to believe.

The mood music in England's camp this week has been upbeat - a stark change to the tournament build-up.

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England: Steward; May, Marchant, Tuilagi, Daly; Ford, Mitchell; Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Chessum, Lawes (capt), Earl, Ludlam.

Replacements: Dan, Genge, Stuart, Martin, Vunipola, Youngs, Smith, Lawrence.

Japan: Masirewa; Matsushima, Osada, Nakamura, Naikabula; Matsuda, Nagare; Inagaki, Horie, Gu, Cornelsen, Fakatava, Leitch, Labuschagne, Himeno (capt)

Replacements: Sakate, Millar, Ai Valu, Dearns, Shimokawa, Saito, Riley, Lemeki.

After a build-up fraught with issues on and off the pitch, England's World Cup could not have got off to a worse start last week than with a red card inside the first few minutes.

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The sporting gods can move in mysterious ways though. Shorn of Tom Curry but perhaps free of pressure, Steve Borthwick's side turned in arguably their best performance in an age to beat Argentina in comfort.

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The pendulum of World Cup expectation now has England as firm favourites to dispose of Japan in Nice. Can they keep 15 on the field? And can they edge closer to the knockout stages?

Frankly, who knows. But let's find out shall we...

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