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Cockerill's Georgia beat Eddie Jones' Japan for second time in history
For only the second time ever, Georgia was able to bring Japan’s Brave Blossom down, a first on Japanese soil for the Lelos. The Lelos put on a brutal physical exhibition and only took the lead in the dying minutes of an intense affair, winning by 25-23 in a game that Japan started brightly.
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Eddie Jones’ side scored an early try through speedster Jone Naikabula – the Fijian-born winger crashing through the line and dotting down for the 5-points of the game. The Georgians slowly found their footing however, snipping a couple of breakdown and scrum penalties that saw Luka Matkava convert six points with the boot.
With Lee Seung Sin adding another three points for Japan, the game saw a monumental shift when Kanji Shimokawa was red-carded for an illegal and dangerous clean-out at a ruck. The TMO called referee Andrea Piardi to review the offence and the Italian duly ejected the loose forward from the game.
The Georgians quickly pounced and within twenty minutes had scored two tries, with hooker Vano Karkadze finishing off an unstoppable maul, before halfback Mikheil Alania found space out wide after an impressive clean break from Giorgi Kveseladze.
Fly-half Lee Seung Sin converted another kick from the tee for the hosts, but the Georgians would go to the locker rooms in the lead.
Even playing only with 14, the home team tried to shift the momentum back in their favour, a goal they achieved for a long period of time in the second half, scoring ten more points, five (a penalty and conversion) from Lee Seung Sin’s boot, and a try from Tomoki Osada.
The Japanese were finding their groove in the set piece and tried to hinder the Lelos’ fast-paced attacking strategy until a late yellow card allowed the visitors a breather.
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Now playing against 13 players, the Georgians set up camp in the opposition’s 22. After a number of attempts, towering lock Giorgi Javakhia barged his way over the whitewash to put his team into the lead.
Japan were unable to find a way out of their own half, being consistently pinned down by a relentless Georgian defence, before Piardi blew full-time on a first-ever win for the Lelos in Japan.
The last time both nations had met, the Brave Blossoms had successfully defeated the Lelos by 28-00, and it was their first victory against their Asian counterparts since 2014.
