Wales lose for 18th Test match in a row; New Zealand edge past France in thriller
Wales
wilted in the Kitakyushu heat to lose 24-19 to Japan and suffer an 18th successive Test defeat.
First-half tries from Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers, as well as a penalty try and a Sam Costelow conversion, gave Wales a 19-7 interval lead and hopes of a first victory since beating Georgia at the 2023 World Cup 21 months ago.
But Japan dominated the second half and tries from Takuro Matsunaga, Ichigo Nakakusu and Halatoa Vailea, plus nine points from the boot of Seungsin Lee, piled on more misery for Wales.
Brave Blossoms boss Eddie Jones said he had hoped for a hot day to 'run Wales off their feet' and the oppressive conditions – with the temperature above 30 degrees as well as high humidity – meant water breaks in each half and an extended interval.
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A slippery ball produced countless handling errors and there was often little rhythm to a disrupted contest that took over two hours to complete.
Taulupe Faletau, Nicky Smith, Ben Thomas and Blair Murray survived from the 68-14 thrashing to England in the Six Nations as interim head coach Matt Sherratt made 11 changes.
Number eight Faletau – the fifth-most capped Welshman – made his 109th appearance but it was largely an inexperienced line-up with six starters having fewer than 10 caps.
Wales' fall from grace had left them in 12th place on World Rugby's rankings table, one spot above Japan, and it was very much a meeting between two teams in transition.
There was a worrying start to the contest as Ben Carter took a hit to the side of the head inside 30 seconds.
Carter slumped to the ground after attempting to make a tackle and there was a lengthy stoppage before the second row forward was taken away on a stretcher.
Wales immediately shrugged off that blow as Faletau exploited space profited from a lineout ploy to send Thomas over with a well-timed pass and Costelow converted.
Japan were on the back foot and struggling to get out of their own half, but scored from their first attack after 16 minutes as winger Kippei Ishida sliced through midfield to set up Matsunaga and Lee's kick restored parity.
Wales hit the front again with a penalty try after Nakakusu, who had replaced the injured Matsunaga moments earlier, deliberately slapped the ball away as Josh Adams closed on Kieran Hardy's chip by the try line.
Nakakusu suffered further punishment with a yellow card, and Wales took advantage of their extra man after Japan had found touch from the kick-off.
Faletau broke away from a scrum going backwards and Hardy, Costelow and Johnny Williams moved the ball on for Rogers to scamper into the corner.
The tide turned in the second half as Amato Fakatava saw his effort ruled out for a Shinobu Fujiwara knock-on, but Japan were not to be denied after going through the phases.
Rogers slipped off a tackle and Nakakusu dived over with Lee adding the extras and soon reducing the deficit to two points with a penalty.
Japan got their noses in front for the first time as replacement Vailea barged over and Lee's sparked celebrations that continued until the final whistle.
The two-match series will conclude in Kobe next Saturday.
New Zealand 31 France 27
Will Jordan scored a try in each half and Beauden Barrett kicked to perfection as the
All Blacks
overcame three cancelled tries to claim a nervous 31-27 win over
France
in the series-opener in Dunedin on Saturday.
Fielding only three players from the Six Nations title-deciding win over Scotland, the depleted French gave Scott Robertson's team a huge scare in an entertaining match at sold-out Forsyth-Barr stadium.
But a late Barrett penalty proved enough for the All Blacks to hold on, snapping a three-match losing streak against Les Bleus.
'Just a typical test match against the French for us,' said Jordan, who was denied a hat-trick try by the television match official (TMO).
'A couple of errors cost us ... But we showed good composure to finish it off in the end there.'
Will Jordan of New Zealand passes during the International Test match between New Zealand All Blacks and France. Photograph: Joe Allison/Getty
The All Blacks lost Sevu Reece to a head-knock less than a minute in when the winger clattered into a French hip, forcing Robertson into a backline rejig and Damian McKenzie to play at fullback off the bench.
The French had a better start, with debutant outhalf Joris Segonds booting a penalty in the seventh minute after winger Gabin Villiere won a turnover penalty.
France charged out to a 10-0 lead as fullback Theo Attissogbe made a break down the left wing, centre-captain Gael Fickou drove the ball to the line and number eight Mickael Guillard crossed by the right post.
Chastened, the All Blacks hit back hard.
A Jordie Barrett try was denied by a knock-on the build-up but minutes later his brothers combined for their first legal try.
Scott Barrett charged down a French clearing kick behind the 22-metre line before Beauden put Jordan over at the right corner with a superb, loop pass.
McKenzie kept the momentum for the hosts, shrugging off four would-be tacklers with a jinking run to the posts before Tupou Vaa'i barged over to put the All Blacks four points up.
The Barrett brothers struck again on the cusp of half-time, this time with centre Jordie touching down at the right corner after quick hands from Beauden and Jordan.
The All Blacks' 21-13 halftime lead all but disappeared within minutes of the restart, though, as Rieko Ioane spilled the kick-off ball forward to gift France a scrum deep in attack.
Battering away for 16 phases, Segonds spread the ball wide to Villiere who jogged through a gaping hole in the All Blacks' line on the right side.
The try-fest continued as Jordan burst through two defenders to cross for his second, with Beauden Barrett again setting up the chance.
Fresh off the bench, France lock Cameron Woki then crossed under the posts to peg back the All Blacks again.
The pendulum swung back to the hosts with Villiere shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
A minute later, All Blacks centre Billy Proctor stretched an arm over the line - only for the try to be cancelled as replays showed an illegal grounding of the ball.
The undermanned French soon buckled again, with Jordan crossing for his hat-trick try in the 63rd minute.
But it was erased by the TMO who spotted prop Pasilio Tosi obstructing a French defender in the build-up.
France will have reinforcements for the second and third tests in Wellington and Hamilton.
France's debutant lock Tyler Duguid said his team performed well after being widely written off.
'It feels good. There was a lot of outside noise that we'd come out, we'd take 50 [points],' he said. 'But I thought we showed a lot of spirit.'
Maori All Blacks 26 Scotland 29
Gregor Townsend was pleased to see Scotland's summer tour 'start on a positive' after his side held on to claim a 29-26 win against Maori All Blacks in New Zealand.
Having got off to a shaky start when Sam Nock crossed for the hosts, Scotland were able to clinch victory in the non-cap international with tries from Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and two either side of the break from George Horne.
A late scare saw the Maori reduce Scotland's lead to three points with 10 minutes to play, but head coach Townsend was pleased to see his less experienced side prevail in Whangarei.
He said: 'The Maori are a quality side and I suppose we decided to put a team out tonight that wasn't as experienced knowing that it'll be a great development and learning experience for them.
'But we also wanted to win this game and we're so pleased that we did win the game and how we set that win up in the first half – how clinical we were. And then the pressure around set-piece and our defensive effort at the end saw us through. So, we're really pleased that the tour starts on a positive.
'The players who haven't played that much for Scotland and players that were coming back from injury were able to be part of a winning side tonight.'
Hong Kong qualify for Rugby World Cup
Elsewhere, Hong Kong beat South Korea 70-22 in Incheon on Saturday to win the Asia Rugby Championship and qualify for the World Cup for the first time.
The Hong Kong side has got to the last stage of qualifying for the last two World Cups only to fall short but will now take their place at the expanded 24-team showpiece tournament in Australia in 2027.
The United Arab Emirates beat Sri Lanka 29-21 in Colombo on Friday to finish second in the championship and will play off against an African nation in July for a spot at the final World Cup qualification tournament.
Hong Kong are only the second team from Asia to get to the World Cup after Japan, who have already qualified after finishing third in their pool at the 2023 tournament in France.
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International Test Match, Mikheil Meshki Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia 5/7/2025 Georgia vs Ireland Ireland's Sam Prendergast kicks Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady Ireland started the second half as they did the first, the industrious Coombes offloading to Nash, who raced clear of the defence. He linked with Baird, who showed great composure and timing with a slick offload to the supporting Casey; the scrumhalf raced over for the try. Prendergast converted and then tagged on a penalty, when Georgia captain Beka Saghinadze kicked a ball out of a ruck in front of the referee. The home side almost mustered an immediate response when Ireland's indiscipline saw them concede another penalty and the visitors were fortunate to have a try for Vano Karkadze chalked off by the TMO, correctly as the hooker lost control and knocked on before the line. The Georgians were getting great joy from their front-peel lineout manoeuvres. Prendergast kicked two penalties and then added another stunning touchline conversion to a try for Nick Timoney, the outhalf having provided the assist with a torpedo cross-kick: six from six off the tee and some lovely touches, highlighting his quality on the ball. Four debutants were summoned from the bench – Michael Milne, Jack Aungier, Tom Ahern and Ben Murphy – but perhaps the most admirable aspect of Ireland's second-half performance was the focused aggression and improved accuracy that enabled them to control proceedings with a degree of comfort. There were even a couple of scrum penalties that went their way too. Ireland go to Portugal with a spring in their step. SCORING SEQUENCE – 1 min: T O'Brien try, Prendergast con 0-7; 7: T O'Brien try, Prendergast con 0-14; 40(+3): Jalagonia try 5-14. Half-time: 5-14 ; 40: Casey try, Prendergast con 5-21; 44: Prendergast pen 5-24; 60: Prendergast pen 5-27; 67: Timoney try, Prendergast con 5-34. GEORGIA: D Niniashvili; A Tabutsadze, D Tapladze, G Kveseladze, S Todua; L Matkava, V Lobzhanidze; G Akhaladze, V Karkadze, I Aptsiauri; M Babunashvili, L Chachanidze, L Ivanishvili, B Saghinadze (capt), T Jalagonia. Replacements: I Kvatadze for Karkadze, G Tetrashvili for Akhaladze, B Gigashvili for Aptsiauri, I Spanderashvili for Jalagonia (all 53 mins); Tornike Kakhoidze for Tapladze (59); G Ganiashvili for Ivanashvili (74). IRELAND: J O'Brien; T O'Brien; J Osborne, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; S Prendergast, C Casey (capt); J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; C Izuchukwu, D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G Coombes. Replacements: C Nash for Stockdale (36 mins); T Stewart for McCarthy (58), M Milne for Boyle (both 58); T Ahern for Izuchukwu (60); M Deegan for Coombes (63); J Aungier for Clarkson (66); B Murphy for Casey, J Crowley for Prendergast (both 69). Yellow card: S McCloskey (75 mins). Referee: A Piardi (Italy).
