Japan v Ireland - Teams and Prediction
PREVIEW: Ireland coach Andy Farrell says Japan are “bang in form” and pose a threat, but Eddie Jones’ side will need something special to topple a team on a five-match win streak when they meet on Saturday.
The two sides clash on neutral territory at the beachside town of Newcastle, north of Sydney, in round two of the Nations Championship with both of them on a high.
Japan are brimming with confidence after toppling Italy 27-10 in Tokyo last weekend, while Ireland pulled off a stunning last-gasp 33-31 victory over Australia in Sydney, rallying from behind four times.
Farrell has swung the axe with his eye on protecting key players ahead of a blockbuster clash with New Zealand at Eden Park on July 18, with nine changes to the starting side.
But he is not taking Japan lightly, despite the teams being separated by nine places in the world rankings. Ireland is ranked third and Japan 12th.
“For anyone who’s seen their games, they are a team that’s bang in form,” said the Englishman.
Farrell pointed to not just the Italy match but also Japan’s 31-38 loss to the Maori All Blacks late last month.
“I mention the Maori [All Blacks] game of how they played against them, and obviously the confidence that they took from that is what they took into the Italian game,” he said.
“And we all know how difficult Italy are these days to play against.
“I thought Japan dominated the game from start to finish last week, so the confidence that they’re going to bring over to Newcastle here is going to be the test that we’re after.”
Continues below…
Only six players remain from Ireland’s win over the Wallabies. Backs Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne and Jimmy O’Brien and forwards Tom O’Toole, James Ryan and Jack Conan.
Tadhg Beirne will lead them out as captain for the first time, with Dan Sheehan rested.
Different threat
Despite fielding an under-strength side, Ireland are heavy favourites, having won five Tests on the trot, beating Australia, Scotland, Wales, England, and Italy.
They have a dominant record against Japan, claiming victory in 10 of their 11 meetings with the Brave Blossoms’ sole win during the 2019 Rugby World Cup when they caused a 19-12 upset.
But Japan will take heart from their performance against Italy, where they were strong at the scrum and maintained 100 percent line-out success, a crucial set-piece edge.
Jones, who is back at the helm after a four-match ban for abusing match officials on a tour of Australia this year, said he was encouraged by what he saw.
“I think everyone was pleased with the first week of the Nations Championship; it produced some great rugby,” said the Australian.
“We were lucky enough to be part of it, and this week we play a very strong team in Ireland, who we know have got a massive work ethic.
“Ireland is a different opposition; they present different threats. They’re a much more possession-based team than Italy were, so we’ve worked a lot on our defensive quality.”
He has kept faith with university student flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito after he impressed on his debut against Italy, retained to start alongside scrumhalf Naoto Saito.
“He’s a young No.10, he’s going to have his ups and downs, but we’ve got a team that’s going to support him,” said Jones.
Taira Main replaces Kippei Ishida on the left wing in Japan’s only other change.
Players to watch:
For Japan: The entire Ireland backline has been on form for their respective United Rugby Championship teams but it comes down to the halfback combination of Craig Casey and Ciaran Frawley to get them firing. No.8 Sean Jansen had an incredible season with Connacht and will be tested in his debut Test season. James Ryan and Tadgh Beirne will be out to target Japan’s firing line-out.
For Japan: Centre Dylan Riley’s defensive work and organisation will be crucial to nullify Ireland’s dangerous attacking game, whilst rookie flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito will face the biggest test of his career coming up against Ciaran Frawley. Warner Dearns will look to keep up his red-hot form and ensure Japan win their line-out ball and keep his team calm as skipper.
*See the teams and predictions below!
Prediction:
Rugby365: Ireland by 12 points
Teams:
Japan: 15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Kazuma Ueda, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Yuya Hirose, 11 Taira Main; 10 Ryunosuke Ito, 9 Naoto Saito; 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter; 5 Warner Dearns (captain), 4 Harry Hockings; 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Takato Okabe.
Replacements: 16 Hayate Era, 17 Sojiro Otuska, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Tiennan Costley, 22 Itsuki Kamimura, 23 Sam Greene
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ciaran Frawley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Tom O’Toole.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Bundee Aki.
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Kick-off: 20.10 (19.10 JST; 11.10 IST; 10.10 GMT)
Expected weather: Mostly cloudy with a high of 21 and a low of 14 degrees Celsius with winds of 15 kilometres an hour.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
