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World XV outclass Japan

The Brave Blossoms battled hard against the high class but their inexperience, compared to their opponents, proved to be their undoing as they coughed the ball up on a number of occasions at the breakdowns.

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World XV outclass JapanBerrick Barnes slotted two early penalties to hand the World XV the lead but Japan got the first try of the match in the 13th minute when Karne Hesketh dotted down for the opening try of the match. Ayumu Goromaru converted to make it 7-6 but that was the only time Japan led.

Naiyaravoro grabbed the first of his three tries in the 20th minute when he shrugged off a would be Japanese tackle to canter over the line after receiving a pass from Springbok Pierre Spies. Barnes added the extra points before adding a further two penalties to hand the World XV a 19-7 lead at the halftime break.

All Black Andy Ellis grabbed two quick tries in response to two Goromaru penalties after the restart and both were converted by Barnes and Mike Harris respectively as the lead stretched to 33-13.

The Brave Blossoms managed to briefly stop the World XV's momentum in the 66th minute when they executed a textbook driving maul down the right side of the field before being awarded a penalty try which brought the home crowd to its feet. Harumichi Tatekawa slotted the conversion to get Japan to the 20-point mark.

Naiyaravoro had the final say in the match when he scored two further tries after he benefited from two turnovers and counter-attacks to give the final scoreline a more emphatic slant in the visitors' favour.

The scorers:

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World XV outclass JapanFor Japan:

Tries: Hesketh, Penalty try

Cons: Goromaru, Tatekawa

Pens: Goromaru 2

For World XV:

Tries: Naiyaravoro 3, Ellis 2

Cons: Barnes 3, Harris

Pens: Barnes 4

Yellow card: Ali Williams (World XV, 73)

Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Karne Hesketh, 13 Kotaro Matsushima, 12 Male Sau, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani, 7 Michael Leitch (captain), 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Justin Ives, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.

Replacements: 16 Hisateru Hirashima, 17 Takeshi Kizu, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Kazuhiko Usami, 20 Hayden Hopgood, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Craig Wing, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita.

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World XV: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Bakkies Botha (captain), 4 Ali Williams, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Benn Robinson.

Replacements: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Luke Jones, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Dom Shipperley.

Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)

Assistant referees: Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

TMO: Takashi Harada (Japan)

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