Georgia put five past Japan

Editor

Georgia bounced back from last week’s heavy defeat to Ireland as they cruised past Japan, winning 35-24 at Mikheil Meshki Stadium.

Georgia bounced back from last week’s heavy defeat to Ireland as they cruised past Japan, winning 35-24 in Tbilisi.

The hosts went in at the break 17-10 up after tries from hooker Shalva Mamukashvili and full-back Merab Kvirikashvili either side of a penalty try.

Japan’s response came from right wing Kotaro Matsushima, with Ayumu Goromaru adding the extras and a penalty three minutes before the try.

But after the break Georgia took full control with further tries from fly-half Lasha Khmaladze and replacement Beka Tsiklauri meaning that a late score from Japan served only as a consolation.

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Mamukashvili, Penalty try, Kvirikashvili, Khmaladze, Tsiklauri
Con: Kvirikashvili 2
Pen: Kvirikashvili 2

For Japan:
Tries: Matsushima, Tatekawa
Con: Goromaru 3
Pen: Goromaru

Georgia: 15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 13 David Kacharava (C), 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vazha Khutsishvili, 8 Lasha Lomidze, 7 Vito Kolelishvili, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Levan Datunashvili, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 David Kubriashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements: 16 Simon Maisuradze, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Kote Mikautadze, 20 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Beka Tsiklauri, 23 Giorgi Aptsiauri

Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Male Sau, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Karne Hesketh, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Atsushi Hiwasa, 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 7 Hayden Hopgood, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Shoji Ito, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Takeshi Kizu, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Keita Inagaki, 17 Hiroki Yuhara, 18 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19 Hitoshi Ono, 20 Shinya Makabe, 21 Yuki Yatomi, 22 Kosei Ono, 23 Toshiaki Hirose.

Venue: Mikheil Meshki Stadium, Tbilisi
Referee: Romain Poite (France)