Ireland hold off spirited Japan for bonus-point win

Nations Championship round two

Japan (13) 20

Tries: Taira, Era Cons: Matsunaga 2 Pens: Matsunaga 2

Ireland (19) 36

Tries: Timoney, O’Toole, Henshaw, Jansen, Stewart Cons: Frawley 3, Byrne Pen: Byrne

Sean Jansen marked his international debut with a try as a much-changed Ireland wore Japan down in New South Wales to make it two bonus-point wins from two in the Nations Championship.

New Zealand-born number eight Jansen, elevated to the Test team on the back of a superb season with Connacht, crashed down 10 minutes into the second half after earlier Irish tries by Nick Timoney, Tom O’Toole and Robbie Henshaw.

Winger Taira Main’s early score and eight points from the boot of full-back Takuro Matsunaga kept Japan within a converted try at half-time.

The Brave Blossoms reignited hopes of a shock win when replacement prop Hayate Era crossed after Jansen’s score with 20 minutes left.

That score reignited Japan’s hopes of marking head coach Eddie Jones’ return from suspension with just a second win over Ireland in 12 meetings.

But after replacement fly-half Harry Byrne stretched Ireland’s lead to nine with a penalty, Tom Stewart struck in the final minute to seal a sixth successive win for Andy Farrell’s side.

Ireland travel to Auckland for a mouth-watering encounter with rivals New Zealand at Eden Park next week, while Japan host France in Tokyo.

“I would say relief more than pleased,” admitted Farrell.

“Delighted to get the win for all sorts of reasons, the four debutants, all the changes and because Japan are a good side that put us under pressure. The scoreline flattered us but delighted for the whole group.”

Japan give Ireland wake-up call

Following the energy and effort required to fend off the Wallabies last week, Farrell opted to test the depth of his squad with nine changes to his starting line-up.

They included handing Ciaran Frawley a first Test start at fly-half, giving try-hungry Connacht back row Jansen his debut from the start and reinstalling Jacob Stockdale at left wing after Jamie Osborne’s surprise appearance in the 11 shirt last week.

But it was Japan’s left wing Taira – who replaced Kippei Ishida in their only change from last week – who celebrated an early try, breezing through the Irish defence after Ronan Kelleher missed James Ryan with his line-out throw.

It was another poor set-piece from Ireland, whose line-out also faltered at times against Australia, but the response from those in green was commendable, with Timoney diving over for his seventh try in 13 international appearances after quick Irish hands sent Stockdale scampering into the Japanese 22.

Matsunaga, who scored 17 points in Japan’s 27-10 win over Italy last week, slotted a penalty between the posts to edge the Brave Blossoms back in front.

But Ireland hit back three minutes later when Jimmy O’Brien’s linebreak pushed them up the pitch and O’Toole crossed for his first Test try which Frawley failed to convert.

A second Matsunaga penalty put Japan 13-12 ahead, and while Henshaw marked his international return after missing the Six Nations with Ireland’s third, the visitors were unable to widen the gap in the closing stages of the half when Tiennan Costley’s superb tackle denied Jansen.

Jansen eventually bagged his debut score when he crossed after a period of Ireland pressure, but that came after Japan failed to score when Beirne stopped a Brave Blossoms maul close to the tryline.

But Ireland’s line-out issues returned when an errant Kelleher line-out throw gave Japan – who again started university student Ryunosuke Ito at fly-half – a scrum five metres out, providing the platform for replacement prop Era to score.

After Connacht props Billy Bohan and Sam Illo and Ulster back row Bryn Ward were introduced for their debuts, Ireland repelled a Japanese attack before Byrne slotted a penalty to put two scores between the sides.

Lacking a clinical edge, Ireland laboured in their attempts to find a fifth try, but after Era was yellow-carded with two minutes left, Stewart broke through the tiring Japan defence to add late gloss to the scoreline.

While the result ensures Ireland have taken a maximum 10 points from their first two Nations Championship games, it was not a performance to strike fear into the All Blacks, who have warmed up for the latest edition of their rivalry with wins over France and Italy.

“It was far from perfect and there were a few errors out there but we stuck at it and kept squeezing them until the end,” added Farrell.

“We didn’t convert all our chances but we stayed in the fight and played at the right end of the field when it mattered at the end of the game. We’ll take that, sometimes that’s rugby.”

Line-ups

Japan: Takuro Matsunaga; Kazuma Ueda, Dylan Riley, Yuya Hirose, Taira Main; Ryunosuke Ito, Naoto Saito; Takato Okabe, Mamoru Harada, Shuhei Takeuchi, Harry Hockings, Warner Dearns (capt), Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Jack Cornelsen.

Replacements: Hayate Era, Sojiro Otuska, Keijiro Tamefusa, Michael Stolberg, Michael Leitch, Tiennan Costley, Itsuki Kamimura, Sam Greene.

Sin-bin: Era (78)

Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Jimmy O’Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Ciaran Frawley, Craig Casey; Tom O’Toole, Ronan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Tadhg Beirne (capt), James Ryan, Jack Conan, Nick Timoney, Sean Jansen.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, Cormac Izuchukwu, Bryn Ward, Nathan Doak, Harry Byrne, Bundee Aki.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)