With four players in the match 22, Quins have the highest number of representatives from any Premiership club, a clear testament to the youthful talent coming through the London side's academy, and the hard work put in by players and playing staff alike.

Elsewhere in the side 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.

Second seeds England have plenty of firepower on the bench, too, with Premiership starters in the shape of Graham Kitchener (Worcester), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Dave Lewis (Gloucester), Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons) and Henry Trinder (Gloucester) waiting to be unleashed.

"We've trained hard, experienced the culture here in Tokyo and now we're raring to go for the game on Friday," said the U20's captain, Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby).

"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 9th and Samoa on June 13th before the knock out stages take place on June 17th and 21st.

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."

You can watch England U20 v Japan U20 live online at www.irb.com and on Eurosport2 from 11am on June 5th in the UK

England Under 20 team to face Japan

15 Tom Homer (London Irish)
14 George Lowe (Harlequins)
13 Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby)
12 Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers)
11 Jack Cobden (Leicester Tigers)
10 Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2 Jamie George (Saracens)
3 Bob Baker (London Wasps)
4 Dan Williams (Gloucester Rugby)
5 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks)
6 Chris York (Harlequins)
7 Josh Ovens (Bath Rugby)
8 Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks)

Replacements
16 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs)
17 James Clark (London Irish)
18 Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors)
19 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
20 Dave Lewis (Gloucester Rugby)
21 Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons)
23 Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby)