It wasn't always pretty, but the Brave Blossoms pipped Georgia after the hooter to win a close game 25-23 - with flyhalf Lee Seungsin kicking the winning points and collecting a victory 20-point haul in the win (six penalties and a conversion).
Tapladze (67'), Kakhoidze (76')
Tries
Riley (9')
Abzhandadze (69', 77')
Conversions
Lee (10')
Abzhandadze (4', 28', 44')
Penalties
Lee (7', 25', 31', 42', 72', 80')
It wasn't always pretty, but the Brave Blossoms pipped Georgia after the hooter to win a close game 25-23 - with flyhalf Lee Seungsin kicking the winning points and collecting a victory 20-point haul in the win (six penalties and a conversion).
The final match win of the Lipovitan D Tour 2025 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium was a massive one for Japan as it ended a 5-match winless run, but more importantly secured them #12 ranking to go ahead of Georgia, so Japan will be in the second band of teams for the RWC 2027 draw set to take place on 3rd December.
Head Coach Eddie Jones said after the win, “The final stages of the game were similar to our last match against Wales, but this time we responded well in the final three minutes and took the win, so I'm very pleased and I can see the team's growth.
I thought Warner's captaincy in the final minutes was truly outstanding. Ultimately, I think the difference lies in how well you can perform under pressure. Today we were able to execute well in the lineout, kickoff, and scoring after receiving a penalty, and Lee Seung-sin also made a great kick under pressure."
The Head Coach had said pre-game he was expecting the best performance from his side in this final match, and he had hoped they would dominate the hosts early. The former might be true, but it was still a scrappy arm wrestle, and the dominance he hoped for did not materialise
Discipline was poor from both sides, with each conceding ten penalties, which is something we had warned about in our match preview, although the Japanese did not have a man sent to the bin for the first time this November, and the Georgians did in the opening half.
Co-captain Dylan Riley scored a fantastic try (his 12th for Japan) in the first period as the Japanese led 16-6 at halftime thanks to 11 points at the break by their fly-half. Riley also made the most meters for his side (36). But throughout the game, both sides would give up easy points as soon as they had scored themselves. The restarts were a mess for the Brave Blossoms, and both teams exchanged silly silly penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Japan’s captain, who was immense, said, "It was a win in a very tough match. We were lucky to get the final penalty. Georgia was a very physically strong team. I think we were evenly matched physically, but I don't think we won because of a particular difference in strength. We did win the lineout ball in the scrum, but I think Japan simply played well and played Japanese rugby and won."
One of the key positives this season has been the development of the Japanese set piece. They won two scrum penalties either side of the break, and throughout the match secured 16/17 lineouts.
Tyler Paul (19), Lee and Kanji Shimokawa each with 8, made the most carries, while the pack won all their scrums. Paul also made the second most meters in a great performance.
The aimless kicking in the second period did not help, and Georgia clawed their way back to take the lead for the first time in the match in the 77th minute and looked to have stolen a win, but another reckless penalty in the 80th minute allowed Lee to slot the kick, as calm as ever. It extends the head-to-head advantage to Japan 6-2 over the Lelos.
The half was punctuated by mistakes across the board by both sides, and there was little to no flow to the match.
South African-born Tyler Paul, who was playing just his 4th international, commented, "Looking at past matches, we knew that Georgia's strength lies in using their physical forwards, so we were prepared for a physical battle in terms of the forwards. As a team, we were well prepared. Losing the close match against Wales took a toll on us both physically and mentally, but as a team we had a strong desire to end this tour on a high note, and we wanted to do our best as we were playing for the Japanese national team, so I think this victory was the result of everyone giving their best."
The matchwinner, flyhalf Lee Seungshin, who has been in excellent kicking form all season for the Brave Blossoms, added, “In terms of attack, we didn't really manage to execute the plan we had in mind. I think there were many areas we needed to improve on in attack, but Naoto (Saito Naoto) and Kazuma (Ueda Kazuma), who started for the first time, all did a great job, controlling the tempo and forcing the game into a kicking game.”
He added, “This was an important match for the team and for Japanese rugby, so we have worked really hard as a team over the past seven weeks. Even though there were games where we didn't get results and games where we let victory slip away, we tried to move forward as a team every week, and it was us who were hurting the most mentally and physically, but we prepared to win despite those circumstances, so I'm really glad we were able to win in the end."
