Wale's Evans denies Japan historic victory with last-gasp penalty

Jarrod Evans's penalty with the last kick of the match gave Wales a 24-23 victory in their Autumn Nations Series Test over Japan on Saturday, denying the valiant visitors their first ever win in Cardiff.

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For Wales, it ended a run of IO successive home defeats stretching back to 2023 and ensured that they stay above Japan in the world rankings, which means they remain in the second pot of seeds for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Whilst Evans professed himself to be 'a bit overwhelmed', Wales head coach Steve Tandy was more relieved than happy with the outcome.

"Credit to Japan, I thought the way they played was really impressive, but I was disappointed with some of our performance," he told Welsh TV channel S4C.

The manner in which the Welsh celebrated at the final whistle reflected how much the victory meant to them.

The Japanese were left kicking themselves as they had the better of the match -- even outplaying the Welsh when the hosts had a two-man advantage in the first-half -- but poor handling and decision-making cost them dearly.