Autumn Nations Series: Ireland 41 Japan 10
This was another of those glass half-full/half-empty Irish performances, and probably more of the latter in truth. Three tries in the final quarter as the Irish bench carried more oomph, and the Cherry Blossoms wilted to provide some sheen to the final scoreline but it couldn’t gloss over a laboured first-half performance.
A malfunctioning lineout saw Ireland lose three of their seven first-half throws, all of them attacking ones and so, as was the case last week, this denied them three attacking launch-pads, as well as some of the flow and rhythm to their attack.
At least Paul O’Connell and the pack did some problem-solving at half-time, as the lineout was flawless in the second-half - and it says everything about its importance to Ireland’s game that this set-piece was the starting point for four of their six tries.
RM Block
However the lineout woes cannot explain the shoddy handling at times. As Andy Farrell bemoaned afterwards, the forwards weren’t used to punch holes, but whereas Ireland used to pride themselves on the quality of their passing not so long ago, there were 19 handling errors here.
Tommy O’Brien’s pass on the left edge to Jacob Strokdale missed his man, and Jimmy O’Brien firing another to the Ulsterman’s right shoulder were two of the more glaring examples but there were plenty to choose from. Nor do 19 handling errors take into count some of the passes that the receiver had to check or jump in order to gather.
On the plus side Ireland played their best rugby in the final quarter to finish on a high and take some confidence into next week’s preparations for the game against the Wallabies. Granted, it comes with the caveat that Japan were scarcely recognisable in the second-half from their vibrant first-half display, when taking quick throws and taking the game to Ireland with a running game and sharper passing.
Even so, Tom Farrell - who admitted he thought his chance of playing for Ireland had gone when not picked for the summer Tests - became more and more influential, as did Tommy O’Brien on his home debut, to score a deserved try and a merited Man of the Match award, while there was serious impact from the bench, notably from the two Prendergast brothers, Cian and Sam, and the two McCarthys, Gus and Paddy.
The arrival of Cian Prendergast and Jack Conan saw Ryan Baird move into the secondrow and, in a potential pointer to the Springboks’ match, Caelan Doris move to openside in what was a very strong and encouraging 80-minute effort by the returning skipper.
The elder Prendergast added some intensity to Ireland’s defending, immediately ripping the ball in contact, while the replacement outhalf had the attack humming with his timing and array of passing on the gain line. The younger Prendergast also opened the 55-metre route to the try-line for Tommy O’Brien with some nice sleight of hand and finished the scoring with a second touchline conversion.
Yet, tellingly, when asked what combinations worked, Andy Farrell struggled a little in answering. “I thought some combinations worked into the game. Certainly the front row coming on did really well. I thought the centres worked themselves into the game, with more intent in the second half and the wingers certainly grew into the game as well.”
Jack Crowley’s well-fashioned 20th minute try was another teasing example of what this Ireland is both striving for and capable of achieving, as well as a reminder of past potency, admittedly against a Japan side temporarily down to 14 men.
Ironically, it started in Ronan Kelleher abandoning the lineout system and throwing short to Andrew Porter at the front. Farrell hit Stockdale on the left wing with a floating pass before Doris carried hard and Crowley linked with Tadhg Beirne for Tommy O’Brien to hit Baird on the right edge.
The defence now stretched, Crowley put Thomas Clarkson through a gap, Robbie Henshaw supporting, before the outhalf worked hard off the ball to round the posts from Doris’ pullback.
The Irish head coach said that the 51st minute change was not a reflection of the starting outhalf’s performance, but hinted at disappointment with Crowley’s management of those around him.
“I thought the try of his epitomised what he’s after and what we’re after as a team, and that’s taking responsibility and backing what he sees and making the call and communicating and getting that communication with authority for others to be able to listen and adhere to.
“I suppose, that strength can also be a weakness at times where we didn’t quite flow with intent because it’s not just Jack, it’s a backline, it’s a communication thing. Playing early, I thought we missed a couple of opportunities, it’s not just the half-backs’ fault, it’s a combination of things. So, yeah, there’s always ups and downs.”
As for Sam Prendergast’s performance, Farrell said: “I thought he played with nice pace when he came on. He was certainly brave with this touchline kicking, I thought that was tremendous. He turned the corner well and played at the line and kept them hanging off him and allowed people to run into holes. He did okay when he came on.”
Stockdale’s day summed up Ireland’s performance. Not that he was especially culpable, just that he’s had luckier days. His yellow card for a high hit was a little harsh, and in addition to both O’Briens failing to link with him on the edge, he himself missed his intended offload inside to the latter. He also had a first Test try in four years over-ruled after following up a charge down by Cian Prendergast because of an offside against Craig Casey.
The latter didn’t influence the outcome, but that only served to further disappoint Farrell.
“Well, he scored a try that was disallowed, but we’ve got to be better there. We were in front of the ball and we just needed to stop, otherwise it would have been some nice pressure there that we could have put on them.”
Scoring sequence: 6 mins Crowley pen; 20 mins Crowley try and con 10-0; 30 mins Timoney try, Crowley con 17-0; 37 mins Sato try, Lee con 17-7; 40 (+1) mins Lee pen 17-10; (half-time 17-10); 48 mins Porter try 22-10; 66 mins G McCarthy try 27-10; 72 mins P McCarthy try, S Prendergast con 34-10; 76 mins T O’Brien try, S Prendergast con 41-10.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Tom Farrell, Robbie Henshaw, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney, Caelan Doris. Replacements: Cian Prendergast for Ryan, Jack Conan for Timoney, Sam Prendergast for Crowley (all 51 mins), Gus McCarthy for Kelleher, Finlay Bealham for Clarkson (both 58 mins), Caolin Blade for Casey (62 mins), Jimmy O’Brien for Osborne, Paddy McCarthy for Porter (66 mins).
Japan: Yoshitaka Yazaki; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Charlie Lawrence, Tomoki Osada; Seung-sin Lee, Naoto Saito; Kenta Kobayashi, Kenji Sato, Shuhi Takeuchi, Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Dearns (capt), Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi. Replacements: Michael Leitch for Gunter (49 mins), Ryosuke Iwaihara for Kobayashi, Jack Cornelsen, Keijiro Tamefusa for Takeuchi, Cornelsen for Makisi, Shinobu Fujiwara for Natio, Shinya Komura for Lee (all 58 mins), Shodai Hirao for Sato, Yuya Hirose for Lawrence (68 mins). Sinbinned: Lawrence 17-27 mins.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR).
