Sloppy Ireland's late surge sinks plucky Japan

MATCH REPORT: Ireland’s four second-half tries sealed the deal to defeat Japan 41-10 at the AVIVA Stadium in the Nations Series after leading by just seven points at the break.

The scoreline might flatter the Irish as Japan held their own during the first half before Ireland tightened the screws in the second stanza.

Ireland weren’t at their attacking best and struggled in the line-out during the first half, but managed to do enough to secure the win.

The visitors played positively and tried their best to physically impose themselves in general play, and gave the ball plenty of air.

Japan had a couple of opportunities throughout the match but failed to convert a few of them into points, be it through their own errors or Ireland’s scrambling defensive work.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

Flyhalf Jack Crowley opened the scoring for Ireland with a penalty in the sixth minute after a dominant scrum by the hosts.

The Brave Blossoms found themselves a man down when Charlie Lawrence was sent to the sin-bin for a tip tackle on Tom Farrell in the 16th minute.

Ireland finally bashed the door down in the 19th minute when Jack Crowley scored their opening try after a sequence of beautiful ball handling by backs and forwards in the build-up. Crowley converted his own try.

In the 29th minute, when it seemed that nothing was on, Ryan Baird got a pass away at a messy breakdown to Nick Timoney to run in for Ireland’s second try of the afternoon, which Crowley converted.

Japan won a kickable penalty in the 34th minute and opted for the five-metre line-out.

They won another penalty moments later for a line-out infringement by Ireland and rolled the dice once more.

Japan formed a strong maul and got their reward, scoring their opening try through Kenji Sato in the 37th minute, which Seung-sin Lee converted.

The Sato try rejuvenated Japan as they broke out from their own half, forcing the hosts to scramble defensively once more and won a penalty as Ireland found themselves offside.

Referee Gianluca Gnecci went up to TMO Matteo Liperini for a dangerous tackle executed by Jacob Stockdale on Kippei Ishida.

Stockdale got yellow-carded three minutes after the half-time siren sounded, and Lee kicked the penalty to make it a seven-point game heading into the break.

Ireland had the first say in the second half through a try by Andrew Porter in the 47th minute after a proper build-up off a line-out. Crowley missed the conversion.

Stockdale were denied a try off a charged-down kick by Cian Prendergast in the 53rd minute when the officiating panel ruled Prendergast to be offside.

There will be an injury concern for Andy Farrell as Jamie Osborne went off in the 65th minute, which appeared to be a broken arm.

Ireland put extra daylight on the scoreboard through a try in the 66th minute by Gus McCarthy. Sam Prendergast missed the conversion.

Paddy McCarthy bagged a try in the 71st minute to put the result beyond any doubt, which Sam Prendergast converted.

Winger Tommy O’Brien received a cheeky inside ball by Sam Prendergast after Japan lost it at the breakdown to extend the lead to 31 points following Prendergast’s conversion in the 76th minute.

Player of the Match: Winger Tommy O’Brien won the official Player of the Match award, but ours goes to captain Caelan Doris, who returned to the team and made a whopping 20 tackles.

Scorers

For Ireland:
Tries: Crowley, Timoney, Porter, G.McCarthy, P.McCarthy, T.O’Brien
Cons: Crowley 2, S.Prendergast 2
Pens: Crowley

For Japan:
Tries: Sato
Cons: Lee
Pens: Lee

Yellow cards: Charlie Lawrence (Japan, 16′ – Dangerous play: tackle beyond the horizontal), Jacob Stockdale (Ireland, 40′- Dangerous play: high tackle)

Teams

Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Cian Prendergast, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jimmy O’Brien

Japan: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley (vice-captain), 12 Charlie Lawrence, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Seung-sin Lee (vice-captain), 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (captain), 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi
Replacements: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Jack Cornelsen, 20 Micheal Leitch, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Shinya Komura, 23 Yuya Hirose

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)