Tonga 10-17 Georgia
Georgia squeezed past Tonga 17-10 in a bruising encounter at Kingsholm in Pool C in the Rugby World Cup.
The match started tentatively and Kurt Morath and Merab Kvirikashvili traded penalties as both sides' discipline and handling let them down in the opening quarter.
Mamuka Gorgodze powered through the middle of a ruck and stretched over the line after some good forward play to give the Georgians the lead. Kvirikashvili converted before poor Tonga hands ruined two promising counter attacks which would have got them back in the game.
Tonga turned down the chance to go for three points and opted to kick for the corner, but a tough forward pass call ruined the chance for Viliami Ma'afu to cross to bring the scores level.
The strong Georgian defence held firm after the break and missed the chance to extend the lead with a Kvirikashvili missed penalty. Kvirikashvili made amends though after his break was recycled and flanker Giorgi Tkhilaishvili picked up the loose ball to flop over the line.
Kvirikashvili converted before Tonga fought their way back in to the game and they had another try disallowed for a poor grounding. The Tongans were not to be denied a third time though after Fetu'u Vainikolo crossed in the corner with Morath adding the conversion.
Georgian fullback Kvirikashvili received a yellow card for giving away a penalty in the run-up to Vainikolo's try, but Tonga could not find away through the 14 men in black shirts as the game ended in favour of the Europeans
Ireland 50-7 Canada
Ireland secured a bonus-point victory over Canada at the Millenium Stadium this afternoon thanks to tries from Sean O'Brien, Iain Henderson, Johnny Sexton, Dave Kearney, Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney and Jared Payne.
Johnny Sexton put Ireland 3-0 up early on from just under the posts, Canada's scrum-half Gordon McRorie missed a penalty for Canada moments earlier.
Sean O'Brien drove towards the Canadian line at the back of the Irish maul to touch down after 17 minutes, Sexton putting over the resulting conversion, before Iain Henderson made it 15-0 to Ireland minutes later with Sexton again adding the extra two points from the boot.
It was Sexton who then turned try scorer, racing down the left and touching down in the corner, but the out-half failed to put his own conversion over.
Dave Kearney secured the bonus point for Ireland, finding a hole in Canada's defence to score the team's fourth try from a Sexton pass, the fly-half making no mistake from his conversion to give his side a 29-0 lead at half-time.
Canada thought they had their first points of the half just before the whistle when DTH Van der Merwe went over the line, only for the try to be ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass in the build-up.
Ireland lost Paul O'Connell to the sin-bin straight away in the second-half, but Kieran Crowley's men were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
Hooker Sean Cronin scored Ireland's first points of the second half, touching down under the posts after good work from substitue fly-half Ian Madigan, who converted to make it 36-0 to the Irish.
Canada eventually got on the board after 68 minutes, DTH Van der Merwe racing over after a failed grubber kick from Payne gifted the winger possession.
Another substitute fly-half in the form of Nathan Hirayama converted Canada's try, before Ireland made it six different try scorers when Rob Kearney was released by Keith Earls to make it 41-7.
Madigan converted again, before the out-half set up centre Payne and converted once more to give Ireland a 50-7 win.
South Africa 32-34 Japan
A late try from Karne Hesketh has given Japan a shock 34-32 victory over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup this evening.
Japan struck the first blow in the tie, with Ayumu Goromaru stroking over after being fouled by Zane Kirchner.
South Africa responded with an 18th-minute try from Francois Louw, Patrick Lambie converting the flanker's score to give the Springboks a four point lead.
Japan went back in front after 30 minutes, a driving maul towards the South Africa line resulting in captain Michael Leitch touching down, Goromaru converting again to make it 10-7 to Eddie Jones's side.
The Springboks responded almost straight away as hooker Bismarck du Plessis replicated Leitch's efforts by using the maul to good effect before jumping over the line for his side's second try, the 10th of his career.
Lambie failed to add the extra two points from the boot, meaning Heyneke Meyer's men took a 12-10 lead into the half.
Japan struck first in the second period, Goromaru making up for his first-half penalty miss by splitting the posts after Tendai Mtawarira was caught offside.
South Africa once again responded immediately, lock Lodewyk de Jager sprinting away from the Japanese defence to touch down and hand Lambie a relatively easy conversion attempt, the fly-half making no mistake.
Goromaru kept Japan in touch with another penalty to make it a three-point game after 48 minutes, before the same man levelled the scores moments later with another penalty kick.
The favourites restored their lead with a Lambie penalty after Mtawrira was tackled late, before Japan responded through Goromaru with another penalty.
South Africa looked to be pulling away on 63 minutes though, as Adriaan Strauss sidestepped Kotaro Matsushima before scoring a try, which Handre Pollard converted to give the Springboks a nine point lead.
Japan pegged their opponents back on 69 minutes though, as Goromaru ran to the corner to score his side's second try, before converting to level the scores.
The Springboks moved into the lead again moments later, as Pollard was brought down illegally. The substitute took the penalty and scored, to give South Africa a three-point lead.
With one minute remaining Coenraad Oosthuizen received a yellow card for an illegal tackle on Takeshi Kizu, and with their one-man advantage Japan thought they had scored a try as their maul crossed the line, but the television match official ruled against it.
Five minutes after regulation time Japan snatched victory from 14-man South Africa, as Hesketh scored a try at the left corner for a 34-32 victory.
France 32-10 Italy
Frederic Michalak has put on an accurate kicking performance, helping the French overcome the Italians in their Rugby World Cup pool encounter against Italy at Twickenham this evening.
Tries from Nicolas Mas and Rabah Slimani also capped off a dominant performance by the French, as they walk away convincing winners.
The victory was soured by the injury of winger Yoann Huget, who struggled to hold back the tears as he was brought off with a suspected anterior cruciate ligaments injury.
The French controlled the first half, relying on Michalak's kicking to build their lead, as the number 10 scored 12 of his side's 15 points.
The second half started as the first ended, with Michalak adding another three points to his side's tally.
Shortly after, France scored their first try of the game as Michalak kicked through for Slimani to gather and cross over.
The Italians responded with a try of their own, as Giovanbattista Venditti raced over to the far right touchline after evading Leonardo Sarto's tackle, reducing the gap to 15 points.
Huget then failed to return to his feet on the hour-mark after injuring his anterior cruciate ligaments, which will rule the French winger out for the rest of the tournament.
France powered on and scored their second try of the match through Mas, who converted the try by touching the base of the goalposts, stretching the lead to 20 points.
The converted Michalak penalty gave France a 32-10 win over the Italians, putting France second in Pool B behind Ireland with four points.
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