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Sam Davies saved Wales’ blushes at the Principality Stadium with an 80th-minute drop goal
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It was a rare moment of clarity in a Welsh performance punctuated by errors
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Leigh Halfpenny scored 15 points with the boot and Japan number eight Amanaki Mafi was named man-of-the-match
A last-minute drop-goal from replacement fly-half Sam Davies helped save Welsh blushes on Saturday as they edged Japan 33-30 in Cardiff.
It looked like the Brave Blossoms had snatched a draw when Yu Tamura converted Amanaki Lotoahea’s 74th-minute try but Wales went down the other end of the field, with Davies showing good composure to slot the three points.
Wales had led by 11 points in the second half after tries by Dan Lydiate, Jamie Roberts and Sam Warburton.
Wings Akihito Yamada and Kenki Fukuoka were Japan’s other try-scorers.
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Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 James King, 7 Sam Warburton(c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Keelan Giles
Japan: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Yuhimaru Mimura, 22 Keisuke Uchida, 23 Amanaki Lotoahea
