Standoff Hiroaki Ito, who recently moved to Italian first division club L'Aquila, will join up with the Japan squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Australia, Japan coach Shogo Mukai said Wednesday.

Mukai also said that Ricoh scrumhalf Shinichi Tsukida and Toshiba hooker Hiroki Matsuo would fly out as backup in case any of the players in the original 30-man squad picked up an injury.

Japan faces Scotland in its opening game in Group B on Oct. 12 before matches against France, Fiji and the United States.