Wallabies squeeze past Japan to give Kiss a winning start

Australia got new coach Les Kiss off to a winning start on Saturday with a nail-biting 35-32 victory over Japan in sweltering Osaka.

Harry Potter, Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Fraser McReight and Taniela Tupou all scored tries for the Wallabies, who lost Miles Amatosero to a red card upgraded from yellow in the first half.

Japan were looking for their first win over Australia and they set up a tense finale when captain Warner Dearns reduced the deficit to three points with two minutes left.

Kiss was leading the team for the first time after taking over from Joe Schmidt with just 14 months to go until they host the Rugby World Cup.

He said Australia "probably offered a few too many opportunities" to Japan, who they will meet again in Townsville next week.

"Some kicking went astray, overplayed a couple of times," Kiss, 61, told Stan Sport.

"You want to be ambitious but at the same time temper that.

"We'll have a look at it but overall, it's a Test win."

The evening game was played in 30C heat and high humidity at Hanazono Rugby Stadium.

It was announced earlier in the day that Fijian rugby player Saimoni Vunilagi had died in Japan after being taken to hospital on Monday with "symptoms consistent with severe heatstroke".

Kiss said the conditions were tough but also praised the quality of a team coached by one of his predecessors as Wallabies boss, Eddie Jones.

"They're a good team," he said.

"They play fast and hard at home... They're a tough team to play against."

Japan's Ryunosuke Ito, a 21-year-old university student winning only his fourth cap at fly-half, scored a try for the home team, who also got scores from Dearns, Faulua Makisi and Kazuma Ueda.

Ito gave Japan the lead with just over 10 minutes on the clock when he broke free and jinked past two defenders.

The Wallabies hit back three minutes later through Potter and then took the lead when Wright cantered across.

The Wallabies were left temporarily short-handed when Amatosero, making his first start for Australia, was yellow-carded for charging Dearns' head with his shoulder.

Japan immediately made their advantage count when Makisi crossed for a try.

Amatosero's yellow was upgraded to a 20-minute red card seconds before half-time.

"Once we had the red we knew we were under the pump there, but we got a little bit lucky knowing there was half-time in the middle," said Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson.

"The coaches gave us a really good plan how to play with the red card for the next 11 minutes of the second half, and that put us in a pretty good position there."

Australia restored their lead two minutes into the second half when Jorgensen crossed for a try.

But Japan hit back again when Ueda finished off a quick passing move in the 45th minute.

Tries from McReight and Tupou kept Australia in front but Dearns's late score brought Japan tantalisingly close to a first win over the Wallabies.

"Fundamental errors let us down when we were gaining some momentum," said Jones.

"I thought we played quite well, but obviously not well enough to win the game."