Ireland 41 Japan 10 (FT)
News from the Ireland presser: Andy Farrell appears to have suggested that Jamie Osborne dislocated his shoulder. Jacob Stockdale at 15 next week?
Player ratings are also in. How did your favourite/least favourite player fare? Disagree with our ratings? Make sure you let John O’Sullivan know...
[ Ireland vs Japan: Player ratings as O'Brien stars and bench makes big impactOpens in new window ]
Gerry Thornley’s match report is in from the Aviva. The verdict? Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out...
This was far from perfect and not the kind of performance that will have Joe Schmidt and the Wallabies quaking in their boots, much less the all-conquering Springboks. But at least Ireland problem-solved at the break, when only leading 17-10, to pull clear with four unanswered tries in the second half.
— Gerry Thornley
[ Strong second half sees Ireland pull away from Japan after patchy startOpens in new window ]
Speaking of Mr O’Brien, he was speaking to the RTÉ broadcast as player of the match.
There’s a lot of caveats to applied to any positives from this display, given the rapid nature of Japan’s decline after half-time.
BUT
If you wanted one takeaway to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it was Tommy O’Brien’s try, Ireland’s sixth. Ireland want to become a better counter-attacking team, able to score tries quickly through pace and good decision making. Making this change is their next attacking frontier. Enter Mr O’Brien.
Full time: Ireland 41 Japan 10
80 mins: Sam Prendergast tries one last chip and chase into the 22. Japan regather and, with the clock in the red, decide to put themselves out of their misery.
Japan fall away in the second half as Ireland fix their lineout woes and find a clinical edge to the tune of four tries after the break. It leaves the crowd in a better mood than they were at half-time - Ireland only up seven at that stage - but there were still plenty of cracks on display heading into Australia next weekend.
78 mins: CLOSE! Paddy McCarthy’s counter-ruck wins a turnover and Ireland are off again. Tommy O’Brien chips ahead and after Japan make a meal of it, Jimmy O’Brien can scoop and score from close range.
BUT
He spills it forward.
Ireland asked for more counter-attack scores prior to this November window. This is a flagging Japan side, but Ireland look a lot more comfortable in that part of the game all of a sudden.
Try Ireland: Tommy O’Brien
74 mins: Ireland are enjoying themselves now. A counter-ruck forces a loose ball, which Sam Prendergast scoops up.
He looked like he held onto the ball for just a second too long but, with a nice offload, he sends Tommy O’Brien into space. The fastest Irishman on the pitch, O’Brien sprints into the corner to score.
Prendergast adds the extras from out wide.
Ireland 41 Japan 10
Try Ireland: Paddy McCarthy
72 mins: Ireland, again, hold onto the lineout and then score. Conan and Doris carry hard towards the line. Blade is caught with the ball but Ireland recycle and their young loosehead spots a gap to burrow over for his first international try.
Prendergast converts.
Ireland 34 Japan 10
69 mins: Ireland’s first phase strike is good, the backline working space and forcing a penalty. Prendergast kicks well into the corner once again.
67 mins: Japan’s restart doesn’t go 10 metres. Ireland have a big chance here with an attacking scrum in midfield.
Blade’s pass off the scrum, though, is forward. Japan give it right back to Ireland by kicking the ball out on the full off their own scrum.
Paddy McCarthy comes on at loosehead.
Try Ireland: Gus McCarthy
66 mins: Funny that. Hold onto the lineout ball and your forwards might be able to rumble over.
Gus McCarthy is the man to benefit from a rolling maul deep inside the 22. It was an excellent line kick from Sam Prendergast, using a penalty to kick his forwards into that position.
Prendergast misses the conversion.
Ireland 27 Japan 10
Worrying sign here for Ireland as Jamie Osborne is forced off nursing an arm injury. Jimmy O’Brien replaces him.
65 mins: Oh what a score that would have been! This time Japan waste a golden opportunity, fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki breaking from deep with a beautiful piece of running.
Sam Prendergast - of all people - manages to get to him in the backfield. Leitch then spills as Japan look to follow up inside the 22.
Ireland counter and win a penalty, bringing play rapidly back up towards the Japan 22. End to end stuff at the minute.
63 mins: Close! O’Brien shows his pace to beat one defender inside the 22. He has a choice between keep going or feed Stockdale for the score. He tries the latter but the misplaced pass goes into touch. Stockdale must be wondering what he has to do to get a score.
62 mins: Ireland have slow ball so Prendergast goes to the air. It’s too long for the chase but Japan’s clearance isn’t great. Ireland lineout close to the 22.
Blade replaces Casey at scrumhalf.
59 mins: Big defensive moment for Japan. Gunter puts in a big hit on a static Porter, stopping his momentum and holding up in the tackle. Japan swarm in and win a relieving scrum close to their own line.
57 mins: Oh that would have been a sensational try. With quick ball, Sam Prendergast spots that Japan are narrow in defence. His cross-field kick is close to being in the perfect position for the chasing O’Brien. As it happens, a dive forward from the wing cannot secure possession. If that stuck, Ireland were in for a screamer.
As it happens, there was advantage from a scrum penalty.
Changes in the frontrow as Gus McCarthy and Finlay Bealham come in.
NO TRY
Cian Prendergast was the one who blocked down the kick. However, when chasing an Ireland kick into the 22, Prendergast was offside. He never made an attempt to retreat, meaning when he then blocked Japan’s clearance, he was in an illegal position.
Stockdale must be raging.
Try Ireland: Jacob Stockdale
54 mins: Stockdale blocks a Japan kick inside the 22 and wins the race to the ball. He slides in underneath the sticks.
It is being checked for a potential offside in the build-up.
Changes for Ireland: Sam Prendergast is on for Jack Crowley. Cian Prendergast is also on, meaning the two brothers appear for Ireland together for the first time.
Try Ireland: Andrew Porter
47 mins: *Ireland finally win a lineout klaxon*
Low and behold, by winning a lineout, Ireland get to attack close to the 22. O’Brien and Crowley are heavily involved, deception and nice handling allowing Porter to barge over. It was a beautiful flat, wide pass which sent the prop into space.
Crowley misses for the first time today.
Ireland 22 Japan 10
44 mins: That’s fantastic build-up from Ireland. A Henshaw offload unlocks the entire Japanese defence, opening up space for the ball to be spun wide to O’Brien. He canters into the 22 but, a handful of phases later, Ireland spill.
Shame. That backline play deserved a score.
43 mins: Now the scrum is having problems. Ireland had the upper hand there in the first half but this time Clarkson loses his bind and brings the whole thing down. Kobayashi did a job on him there. Penalty Japan.
41 mins: Right then, we’re back underway for the second half, Jack Crowley doing the honours. Ireland need some ball - a functioning lineout would be a good place to start.
The news from the break is that Jacob Stockdale’s yellow will stay just that - mitigation is involved with both players dipping and a late step. He’ll be back around the 50-minute mark.
Uimhir a trí on the day was Japan’s first, a straightforward rumbling maul doing the damage.
Sloppy handling somehow opened up Japan for the second, James Ryan’s final offload proving enough to send Nick Timoney away in the corner. Strange build-up, good finish.
Here are the three tries so far. First, Crowley for Ireland via some nice interplay in midfield, then a handy last pass from Caelan Doris.
Pinch of salts with live stats - they’re more accurate after a recount 24 hours on - but Ireland’s current lineout success rate is at 57 per cent. It’s been a horror show.
When you consider that Nick Timoney’s try came from Japan switching off to a bouncing ball, Ireland are lucky to be in front at the break. They’ve allowed Japan to dominate possession, no great surprise given the way both teams play, but the threat the visitors have offered is the real concern. It’s not wasted, empty possession.
Ireland have actually been reasonably clinical with the limited ball they have had, but the lineout continues to be a significant worry. It’s just killed attack after attack, gifting the ball back to this dangerous Japanese outfit. Penny for Paul O’Connell’s thoughts?
Yellow card: Jacob Stockdale
Osada is giving up a lot of height to Stockdale, and he’s dipping to take a pass. Stockdale is bent as he tries to tackle, but the height difference means he makes head on head contact. Yellow card and off-field review. Again, I think it will stay yellow. There was a late step in there as well which could be mitigation.
Meanwhile, a separate penalty should give Japan a chance to narrow the gap with the last play of the half.
A straightforward kick from straight in front. That’s the end of the first half.
Ireland 17 Japan 10
Jacob Stockdale could be in trouble here. A head-on-head collision is being looked at by the officials.
Try Japan: Kenta Kobayashi
37 mins: It’s not clear who has the ball but Japan are over via a rumbling maul! They take Ireland on up front and win that particular battle. Kobayashi is the man who dots down.
Lee converts to narrow the gap.
Ireland 17 Japan 7
35 mins: Back-to-back penalties sees Japan with a lineout 5m out from the Irish line. The second one was for playing the man in the air at a lineout. Problems here for Ireland.
31 mins: Japan win the ball in contact - again - as Doris loses it. Transition ball against this Japanese side? No thanks. They look dangerous running from flank to flank only for Uluiviti‘s one-handed offload to drift forward. Ireland survive.
Try Ireland: Nick Timoney
30 mins: It’s laboured. It’s stodgy. It’s tough to watch. But it leads to a score.
Osborne doesn’t want the ball but Casey finds him. So he shifts an ugly ball to Crowley, who also didn’t want it. He then passes quickly to Beirne who spills, not expecting the ball to be anywhere near him.
Ryan scoops, Japan switch off with the ball on the floor, allowing an offload which sends Timoney away into space. Good finish from the Ulsterman who shows a clean pair of heels to score in the corner. Bizarre all round. Crowley converts well.
Ireland 17 Japan 0
28 mins: This time Baird takes the lineout cleanly. Ireland maul and then go wide and some quick hands almost open up a gap, only for Stockdale to spill a tricky pass from Farrell with a defender in his face. He would have been through a gap and under the sticks.
27 mins: Wow. Japan think they’re in but the referee’s whistle saves Ireland. Tighthead Takeuchi burts up the middle from the ruck but Gnecchi says he was involved in the breakdown and picked from an offside position.
The relief is temporary for Ireland. A penalty, followed by a kick up the line, means another lineout...
26 mins: Is it worth telling you about another botched lineout? Maybe not. But Ireland make a mess of another one.
24 mins: For once, Japan’s handling lets them down. A spill allows Casey to chip over the top, Osborne is on the same page on kick chase and he gathers.
Ireland kick again immediately, Crowley sending up a cross-field bomb for Stockdale to chace. He doesn’t take it cleanly but on the second bounce he gathers. Wide the ball goes for O’Brien who could speed into the distance but cuts inside.
Japan do ultimately recover, win the ball back and clear. But that was a nice passage of attacking via the boot from Ireland.
A quick decision from the TMO bunker. The yellow card will remain a yellow card. Low degree of danger in the lift in the tackle. Common sense prevails.
Try Ireland: Jack Crowley
20 mins: That’s sensational build-up from Ireland. A lineout throw goes to the front with no lift - quick and easy. No bad thing given the issues there.
Then they unpick a Japanese midfield down a man. Beirne is involved with a pull back as Henshaw and Osborne stand up as initial playmakers. A gap opens up and Ireland are away into the 22. Two passes later, Doris is feeding Crowley who runs under the sticks. Lovely.
Crowley converts.
Ireland 10 Japan 0
18 mins: Oh dear lord. At this stage the lineout is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Inevitable. Kelleher goes to throw, no jumper appears, so he inadvertently dummies. You can’t do that. Free-kick Japan.
Ireland do get the ball back quickly though as Stockdale gathers and runs into contact.
Yellow card Japan: Charlie Lawrence
Lawrence definitely lifted Farrell above the horizontal and he did land on his shoulder/neck. Yellow card and off-field review. Will it stay yellow? I think so, but who knows after the Beirne incident last week.
17 mins: Ireland get two penalties. One at the scrum (again) and one for Farrell being lifted dangerously in the tackle.
The latter is being checked by the TMO.
15 mins: Another messy lineout from Ireland. Japan get a hand on it and knock the ball on, keeping possession in Ireland’s hands. But that set-piece looks shambolic at the moment.
13 mins: Beirne loses it in contact and Japan are away again down the left! It’s Osada threatening with his footwork again as a missed tackle allows play to get up towards the 22. Ireland just about survive as hooker Sato carries, O’Brien getting in over the ball to win the turnover.
Japan’s footwork and speed is, unsurprisingly, very dangerous.
11 mins: Japan continue to dominate possession. There’s more space down the left hand side, Osada throwing a loopy pass to just get over the head of Osborne. There is a chance for a break but play is called back, referee Gianlucha Gnecchi saying the pass went forward.
9 mins: Almost a problem for Ireland as Japan work an overlap down the left hand side. They could go through the hands and cause Ireland a big issue but they opt to put boot to ball. There are chasers haring after Riley’s kick, but it rolls into touch inside the Irish 22.
Ireland’s lineout this time is secure and they clear safely.
Penalty Ireland: Jack Crowley
7 mins: Straightforward first kick of the day for territory. An Irish scrum once again gets the upper hand, this time the penalty going their way. Crowley slots his kick from about 40m out just to the right of the sticks.
Ireland 3 Japan 0
4 mins: Right then Ireland, how’s your lineout? After last week’s woes... the first one is overthrown by Kelleher. No bueno.
3 mins: Ireland deal well with the first Japan attack. It started from a scrum where Tom Clarkson got the upper hand, the referee allowing Japan to play the ball away before a penalty could be awarded. Nick Timoney is prominently involved as the Irish forwards bash back Japanese runners.
Eventually, with Tommy O’Brien threatening a turnover, Japan enter in the side.
1 min: Japan get us underway at an Aviva which is not full. Caelan Doris came off the bench with a big first carry last week. This time, his first effort leads to a monster tackle on the Ireland captain. That will test out the previously injured shoulder!
Mercifully, the anthems are much cleaner than last week’s shambles in Soldier Field - the All Blacks were stood waiting on age for theirs!
No such issues, pleasantries done. Kick-off is seconds out.
Always something wholesome about seeing the number ‘1′ next to a new cap’s name.
The next offering is for the analysis buffs. You’ve seen plenty of coverage of Ireland’s kicking game changing, but how? Why doesn’t James Lowe kick as much anymore? Are Ireland copying England? Find out more below.
Perhaps this flies under the radar because he doesn’t have an England crest on his tracksuit anymore, but Eddie Jones is in town with the Brave Blossoms.
Jones himself joked during the week that the Irish journos are ’nicer‘ to him now he’s no longer England boss. Are we nicer, or has he mellowed away from the bright lights of Twickenham?
Either way, Malachy Clerkin has written about Jones’ annoying yet enduring appeal as a character. Fun fact, he holds the record for the most matches coached in international rugby. He’s been around a long time…
Newsletter
The Counter Ruck
Next up, Conor Murray continues as an IT columnist during this international window. He has some strong thoughts on Tadhg Beirne’s red card last week.
Of course, that decision was overturned on appeal, leaving Beirne free to play today.
Let’s start with our preview pieces. First up is Gerry Thornley with a deep dive into the Irish depth chart. How deep is the depth?
With the senior side playing Japan and the second string lining out against Spain all in one day, will we see a better opportunity to test the strength of Ireland’s player development system?
Eddie Jones has made three changes to the Japan side which lost 61-7 to South Africa in London last week.
Naoto Saito is in at scrumhalf, Shinobu Fujiwara dropping to the bench, while Epineri Uluiviti replaces Jack Cornelsen at lock.
Somehow, Michael Leitch is still going having first played for Japan in 2008. He’s on the bench this week, Faulua Makisi replacing him at number eight.
Here’s how Ireland line out. Farrell has made eight changes in all to the starting XV which lost last weekend.
Tom Farrell makes his international debut at 13 at the age of 32, making him the oldest back to earn a maiden Irish cap. Robbie Henshaw joins him in the centre, replacing the injured Stuart McCloskey who was one of the few players to impress against New Zealand.
It’s an all-Munster halfback partnership as Craig Casey joins Jack Crowley, while Rónan Kelleher and Thomas Clarkson replace Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong in the frontrow. Tadhg Beirne continues at lock after his red card from Chicago was rescinded during a hearing, James Ryan once again partnering him.
Nick Timoney and Caelan Doris come into the backrow alongside Ryan Baird.
Gus McCarthy, Caolan Blade and Jimmy O’Brien are the new faces who didn’t feature last week among the replacements.
Good morning all and welcome to live coverage of Ireland’s first home international of the season.
After defeat to the All Blacks in Chicago last week, Andy Farrell and co welcome Eddie Jones and Japan to the Aviva Stadium. Kick-off is at 12.40pm and our build-up starts now.
