Ireland lose second Test to Japan in Tokyo as series finishes level

Japan 29 Ireland 10

Japan deserved their triumph, worthy winners. If anything, the final scoreline flatters Ireland. The home side dominated for large swathes, particularly in the second half, played the more cohesive rugby in terms of pace, creativity and flair and could easily have added to a five-try haul had they been a little more patient and composed.

Ireland offered a pale imitation of their first Test victory, lacking energy, accuracy, and intensity, undermined further by a lack of discipline and in making too many mistakes. There is no doubt that the heat, humidity, exertions of the first Test and injuries to a couple of key players in Sam Monaghan and Dorothy Wall had an adverse effect on the Irish performance.

Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams will be disappointed with the performance and the result but parsed against the backdrop of the tour, understandably chose to put the defeat in context. Travelling without a sizeable contingent of first choice players, he gave nine players an Irish debut and the squad an insight into the daily regimen and demands of being full-time professionals.

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He said: “The players were tired during the week. It’s not an excuse but it’s a really good learning for us. We must separate the emotion and the process and realise that there’s lots of very good things. If you had told me beforehand that we’d go 1-1 in this summer tour against a side prepping for the World Cup, I probably would have taken it.

“More importantly, we’ve had an opportunity to develop as a group and get to really know these players. I’m excited about where this programme is going.” McWilliams acknowledged that his side were ill-disciplined — they conceded 11 penalties in the first half alone — and that, along with a malfunctioning lineout stifled momentum when Ireland sporadically managed to put a few phases together.

He admitted that “we didn’t fire any shots,” and “couldn’t get a foothold in the game.” There were some brave performances in adversity, Hannah O’Connor, captain Nichola Fryday, Edel McMahon and Ailsa Hughes all standout contributors.

Ireland got off to the perfect start with a first international try for right wing Natasja Behan, the genesis of which was a superb 50/22 kick from outhalf Dannah O’Brien. From the ensuing lineout Fryday claimed possession, Ireland shaped to set up a driving maul but scrumhalf Ailsa Hughes appreciated that Japan were light on defenders on the short side. Her break and pass allowed Behan to power over in the corner.

The home side should have had a penalty try on seven minutes when Hughes illegally collapsed a close-range lineout maul, but New Zealand referee Lauren Jenner awarded a penalty instead, when a card and a seven-point censure seemed the more appropriate action.

The home side deservedly drew level from a scrum inside the Irish 22. Ireland got their spacing all wrong in defence allowing Japanese outhalf Ayasa Otsuka to waltz through a huge gap and dot down close to the posts, although she missed the straightforward conversion.

The visitors were linear in attack, relying on one-out runners which Japan’s aggressive defence and breakdown work easily negated; there wasn’t much subtlety or width. Japan led 12-5 at the interval thanks to a try from fullback Rinka Matsuda, who shrugged off a couple of tackles to score a try which Otsuka converted.

A superb break from Otsuka on 48 minutes was a precursor to a try for right wing Hinano Nagura and fullback Matsuda claimed her second soon after, facilitated by a coupled of missed tackles. Ireland rallied briefly with a try for replacement prop Katie O’Dwyer but it proved a temporary respite as Japan replacement hooker Sachiko Kato powered over from close range.

At 29-10 ahead Japan continued to play with a greater freedom and tempo against a tiring Ireland team, but the visitors dug in resolutely not to concede any further points.

McWilliams pushed to one side the disappointment and instead referenced the bigger picture when weighing up the impact of a historic tour in the context of Irish women’s rugby. “As the head coach of a group of management and players, I am so proud.”

“I’ve been very lucky to have coached at schools’ level, at provincial level, (at) international men’s, and the professional game and I can genuinely say that this group are a special group that are only going to get better. To see how much they’ve grown in the last four or five weeks, it gives you real hope for where they’re going to go to as a group.

“They should be very proud, and their families should be proud. We’ve got to get better, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Scoring sequence — 2 mins: Behan try, 0-5; 16: Otsuka try, 5-5; 34: Matsuda try, Otsuka conversion, 12-5. Half-time: 12-5. 48: Nagura try, 17-5; 54: Matsuda try, 22-5; 59: O’Dwyer try, 22-10; 64: Kato try, Otsuka conversion, 29-10.

JAPAN: R Matsuda; H Nagura, M Furuta, S Nakayama, K Imakugi; A Otsuka, M Abe; S Minami (capt), N Nagata, Y Sadaka; Y Sato, M Takano; S Saito, I Nagata, A Nagai. Replacements: S Kato for Minami 50 mins; Y Sadaka for Lavemai 50 mins; K Tamai for Takano 50 mins; K Hosokawa for Nagai 55 mins; M Lavemai for Nagata 58 mins; K Taniguchi for N Nagata 60 mins; O Yoshimura for Sato 63 mins; M Tsukui for Abe 63 mins; M Yamamoto for Nakayama 78 mins.

IRELAND: M Deely (Connacht); N Behan (Leinster), A Dalton (Leinster), E Breen (Munster), A Doyle (Munster); D O’Brien (Leinster), A Hughes (Leinster); L Feely (Connacht), N Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), L Djougang (Leinster); H O’Connor (Leinster), N Fryday (Exeter Chiefs, capt); J Brown (Worcester Warriors), E McMahon (Exeter Chiefs), G Moore (Saracens). Replacements: K O’Dwyer (Leinster) for Feely 45 mins; M Scuffil-McCabe (Leinster) for Hughes 55 mins; E Hooban (Leinster) for Jones 68 mins; C Pearse (Munster) for Djougang 68 mins; T Schutzler (Saracens) for O’Connor 74 mins; J Keating (Life University) for Brown 74 mins; E Tilly (Leinster) for Behan 74 mins; L Tarpey (Leinster) for Dalton 76 mins.

Referee: Lauren Jenner (New Zealand).