A late try from Giorgi Javakhia cemented a famous 25-23 away victory for Georgia over Eddie Jones’ Japan, condemning the former England boss to his third defeat as Japan coach.
The Brave Blossoms got off to the perfect start, as Jone Naikabula crossed in the third minute of the game, but things quickly turned sour.
In the 18th minute of the game, Kanji Shimokawa was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, which was later upgraded to a red card. The Lelos quickly rubbed salt into the wound too, as Vano Karkadze and Mikheil Alania crossed twice in the space of 10 minutes to give them the lead heading into half-time.
14-man Japan rallied though at the start of the second-half, with Seung Sin Lee’s boot and Tomoki Osada’s try combining to give Japan a 23-18 advantage going into the final minutes of the game.
Not going down without a fight though, Georgia ensured they had the last laugh as Javakhia crossed in the 75th minute, and allowing Luka Matkava to cement a famous victory for his nation with the conversion.
Japan look to Italy clash to end mini-slump
Speaking after the game, Japan captain Michael Leitch said: “We played the way Japan are known for and I’m proud of the team, but we’re not satisfied with the result. We’re looking ahead to the Italy game and we want to prepare well for that.”
“We tried to stay positive (after the red-card),” Leitch continued. “Just because you’re playing with a man less, it doesn’t mean you’re going to lose.”
Since Jones returned to the role of Japan head coach, he has won just once in his first four matches, including the heavy 52-17 defeat to England last month.
That defeat was compounded by another loss to the Maori All Blacks, but he secured his first win last weekend against the same opposition.
Jones and his Japan team now prepare for a tough test with Italy next weekend, with the Azzurri also coming into the game off the back of a solid 36-14 win over Tonga on Friday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment