Jarrod Evans ends Wales losing home run with last-kick penalty to beat Japan

Wales ended a record run of 10 successive home Test defeats and gave new head coach Steve Tandy his first win by claiming a dramatic 24-23 victory over Japan in Cardiff.

The win, secured by a Jarrod Evans penalty with the game’s final kick, secured a top-12 seeding – and Wales avoiding two heavyweight nations in their group – when the 2027 Rugby World Cup pool draw is made on December 3.

Wales had not won a Test on home soil since defeating World Cup warm-up opponents England in August 2023, and Japan went agonisingly close to extending that sorry sequence.

But Tandy’s team overcame a 20-minute red card for wing Josh Adams just before the interval as fly-half Dan Edwards, wing Louis Rees-Zammit and centre Nick Tompkins scored tries, all converted by Edwards, before Evans stepped up off the bench to break Japanese hearts.

Wing Kippei Ishida and number eight Faulua Makisi claimed Japan’s touchdowns, yet it was fly-half Seungsin Lee’s 13-point haul – three penalties and two conversions – that threatened to make a significant difference.

Rees-Zammit’s score came on his first Wales start since returning to rugby following a stint in American football, and he was a consistent attacking threat amid the frequent gloom of another sub-standard team display.

It was only Wales’ second win in the last 21 Tests, and they remain miles off the pace ahead of welcoming New Zealand and world champions to South Africa in the next fortnight.

Eddie Jones’ Japan scented their biggest triumph since they stunned South Africa during the 2015 World Cup in Brighton, yet they were ultimately denied as Evans held his nerve.

Wales were off and running after just six minutes courtesy of Edwards’ impressive finish that saw him beat three players inside