Substitute Yutaka Nagare engineered a strong second half that allowed short-handed Tokyo Sungoliath to walk off 32-23 winners over Yokohama Eagles on Saturday in Japanese rugby's League One first division.
Sungoliath took a 13-8 half-time lead despite having former All Black Aaron Cruden sent off in the 18th minute, just after he converted his own try to give the hosts a 7-5 lead.
Cruden was shown red at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium for dangerous play after head-butting South Africa scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, apparently by accident, and Yu Tamura's penalty gave the Eagles the lead.
Two penalty goals by Naoto Saito made it 13-8 Sungoliath, while de Klerk opened the second half in the sin bin for unsportsmanlike play moments after he displayed his frustration with referee Katsuki Furuse's decisions against his side.
Nagare came on to open the second half, and his ability to spot holes in the Eagles' defense and spread the ball energized Sungoliath's attack and prevented the visitors from exploiting their man advantage.
He set up the first of Seiya Ozaki's two tries by carrying the ball from a ruck. Ozaki, who set up Hendrick Tui's 54th-minute try, scored on a long kick pass in the final minutes before Keisuke Moriya's conversion denied the Eagles a bonus point.
Elsewhere, league leaders Saitama Wild Knights remained undefeated with a 40-5 bonus-point win over Sagamihara Dynaboars, while Brave Lupus Tokyo beat Shizuoka Blue Revs 29-16.
