Farrell's Ireland finish strong to see off Japan in Dublin

Murray Kinsella Reports from the Aviva Stadium

Ireland 41

Japan 10

WHEN THE CROWD at the Aviva Stadium were trying to entertain themselves by starting a Mexican Wave as early as the 16th minute, you worried that this might not be the most memorable occasion.

Andy Farrell’s Ireland were struggling to catch fire at that stage, but they ended up steamrolling Japan in the closing quarter.

Eddie Jones’ Brave Blossoms had been in the fight up until then but they had no answer as Ireland turned up the power, pace, and accuracy to close the game out with a six-try tally. The Irish bench made a telling impact.

Still, the first half was concerning for Irish supporters as the Irish pack started with another string of lineout botches and also conceded a maul try to Japan, who are not known for their prowess in that area. Although the Irish set-piece improved thereafter, with sub hooker Gus McCarthy scoring off a maul, those were worrying sights for forwards coach Paul O’Connell.

Ireland clearly had plenty of intent to attack, but handling errors stunted their efforts to open up the Japanese defence even more frequently. The good stuff was slick, particularly Jack Crowley’s first-half score, but Farrell will have been frustrated that Eddie Jones’ Japan looked comfortable defending the Irish attack on other occasions.

Openside flanker Nick Timoney, loosehead prop Andrew Porter, and his replacement Paddy McCarthy, who was making just his second Ireland appearance, and Tommy O’Brien notched the other Irish scores.

While Japan, currently ranked 13th in the world, deserve credit for coming to Dublin with the confidence to play their distinctive high-tempo brand of rugby, this wasn’t quite the dominant showing that Ireland wanted after the disappointment of losing to the All Blacks in Chicago last weekend.

As has been the trend for a while now, it was an inconsistent display. Ireland have been honest in admitting as much about their own form and they haven’t managed to find all the answers just yet.

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Farrell had given a handful of players chances to impress as he made eight changes to his starting XV, but this wasn’t a game where many individuals emerged as major winners.

Right wing O’Brien was the standout player for Ireland, winning defensive turnovers twice, running relentlessly, and grabbing a late try off a Sam Prendergast inside pass. 

While Ireland managed to come through this encounter with a comfortable win in the end, this showing might not fill the home fans with confidence that big things are coming in those closing two autumn Tests.

Ireland had led 17-10 at half time but Japan went into the break with momentum on their side, having marched the Irish pack over their own tryline for a maul try in the 37th minute, then added another three points off the tee after Jacob Stockdale was yellow-carded for a high tackle.

The sense of deflation was palpable around the Aviva because the moments of quality from Ireland were only flickering. Jack Crowley had a 10-point haul in the opening quarter, including a sweeping try in which he, Andrew Porter, and Caelan Doris handled smoothly against 14-man Japan while centre Charlie Lawrence in the sin bin for a dangerous tackle.

Yet there was much stuttering from Ireland as the lineout had more woes from early on and there were handling errors aplenty. Nick Timoney nabbed their second try, showing his acceleration to arc home off a James Ryan offload, but even the build-up to that was scrappy.

Crowley had landed an early penalty, so Ireland had some breathing room, but prop Kenta Kobayashi’s maul try was deserved reward for how Japan had stretched the Irish defence on several occasions with their high-tempo brand of attack.

With Stockdale in the sin bin, Ireland managed the opening minutes of the second half better and scored a snappy try through Andrew Porter just before the left wing returned.

Stockdale soon had a possible blockdown try chalked off because Ireland were offside, while right wing O’Brien must have thought he was in only for replacement out-half Sam Prendergast’s cross-kick to him to fall short.  

A period of frustrating near misses ensued for Ireland but they eventually broke the Japanese resistance as Porter, Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy, and Tommy O’Brien all dotted down in the closing quarter.

That sent Irish fans out the gates with a pep in their step but they will still want to see more in the next two weekends as Australia and South Africa come to town.

Ireland scorers:

Tries: Jack Crowley, Nick Timoney, Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy, Tommy O’Brien

Conversions: Jack Crowley [2 from 3], Sam Prendergast [2 from 3]

Penalties: Jack Crowley [1 from 1]

Japan scorers:

Tries: Kenta Kobayashi

Conversions: Seungsin Lee [1 from 1]

Penalties: Seungsin Lee [1 from 1]

IRELAND: Jamie Osborne (Jimmy O’Brien ’66); Tommy O’Brien, Tom Farrell, Robbie Henshaw, Jacob Stockdale (yellow card ’41); Jack Crowley (Sam Prendergast ’52), Craig Casey (Caolin Blade ’62); Andrew Porter (Paddy McCarthy ’68), Rónan Kelleher (Gus McCarthy ’58), Thomas Clarkson (Finlay Bealham ’58); James Ryan (Cian Prendergast ’52), Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney (Jack Conan ’52), Caelan Doris (captain).

JAPAN: Yoshitaka Yazaki; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Charlie Lawrence (yellow card ’17) (Yuya Hirose ’68), Tomoki Osada; Seungsin Lee (Shinya Komura ’58), Naoto Saitō (Shinobu Fujiwara ’58); Kenta Kobayashi (Ryosuke Iwaihara ’52), Kenji Sato (Shodai Hirao ’68), Shūhei Takeuchi (Keijiro Tamefusa ’58); Epineri Uluiviti (Jack Cornelsen ’54), Warner Dearns (captain); Ben Gunter (HIA – Michael Leitch ’48 to ’58), Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi (Michael Leitch ’58).

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi [FIR].