Ireland Tour of Japan/Japan - 18 Ireland - 47: When the karaoke competition winner forgot some of the words to Ireland's Call mid-song, it was hardly an auspicious beginning to the afternoon at the Prince Chichibu stadium in Tokyo.

By half-time the situation had degenerated further, before Ireland finally rescued a modicum of respectability by the end of yesterday's second Test match. The visitors scored seven tries, two when Japan were reduced to 14 men either side of half-time following loosehead prop Shigeyasu Takagi's sinbinning for a cynical transgression at a ruck.

There was genuine mitigation in the oppressive heat, 30-plus degrees, and fatigue was always going to be a factor. But it doesn't quite explain how Ireland could manage only a 14-10 interval lead. Two converted tries in the first eight minutes, a reward for enterprise and slick execution, suggested Ireland had absorbed the lessons of last week.

The problem was they struggled to retain that pace and intensity, ultimately having to work too hard to make yardage against a tenacious Japanese defence. Their efforts to put width on the game were commendable but they weren't getting the line breaks. The level of attrition at the contact areas meant Ireland were having to work too hard to ensure continuity for minimal ground gain.

Ireland's stand-in head coach, Niall O'Donovan, conceded as much. "That was the game we went out to play, to try and move the ball a bit wider and attack them from different positions. It backfired. By half-time we had dug ourselves a hole, but fellas came out in the second half and dug themselves out of it, which is a great achievement."

The visitors were also handicapped by the performance of Peter Stringer at scrumhalf. Unfortunately he had one of those afternoons sportsmen dread but occasionally have to endure where virtually everything he touched went awry, gifting Japan one try and probably costing Ireland two if not three.

The Irish malaise in the first half though wasn't simply down to one player.

Once again they made far too many unforced errors and this enticed Japan into the match, first through a penalty from outhalf Keiji Hirose and then after Stringer's loose pass, a 50-metre run-in from right wing Daisuke Ohata. According to the Japanese programme statistics, his brace of tries yesterday were his 56th and 57th in 51 Tests.

It was a far cry from the opening throes of the contest when Anthony Horgan was punching holes, the pack was on the front foot and David Wallace and Frankie Sheahan crossed for tries. Ireland captain David Humphreys reclaimed his national points-scoring record from Ronan O'Gara with the first conversion and would end the afternoon with 17 points (542).

Ireland managed the quick start they cherished to the second half, facilitated by Takagi's presence in the sinbin. Humphreys was first to cross the Japanese line, profiting from a clever lineout variation, and some strong running from the backrow.

Sheahan fed Wallace, the latter released the supporting Alan Quinlan - a first-half replacement for Eric Miller - who changed his line of running cleverly and found Gavin Duffy. The young centre gave the scoring pass.

It was appropriate the backrow had an integral part in this score because collectively and individually they excelled. Alan Quinlan was superb, closely followed by Wallace and Denis Leamy, while Duffy's cameo was also representative of his display. Quite apart from scoring two tries, he defended authoritatively, averting what seemed like a certain try on one occasion, and ran intelligent lines in support.

There were others too who won't fear a video appraisal. Sheahan, who also scored two tries, led by example as befits a senior member of the pack, while Marcus Horan was more conspicuous this week in general play. Horgan again looked sharp despite limited possession while David Quinlan thundered into several tackles.

At 26-10, the Irish backs produced some slick handling and assertive running to create tries for Girvan Dempsey and Duffy. Hirose kicked a penalty and Ohata grabbed a second try from a turnover, but when Sheahan crossed after a clever lineout variation on 66 minutes, the visitors could afford to empty the bench that allowed a debut for young Leinster centre Kieran Lewis.

Humphreys, winning his 69th cap and thereby equalling that of the legendary Mike Gibson with whom the Irish outhalf and captain has a great friendship, kicked six from a possible seven attempts, including two from the touchline.

O'Donovan was reasonably pleased. "In fairness to Japan I have to say they played with a lot of pride for the 80 minutes. They were very hard to break down at time. Their tackling one-on-one was superb. I thought they creamed a few of our guys at times. You have to give them credit.

"I was delighted with the tries we got. I thought there was some good football in the tries. I think we did a lot of very good things and then we forced (too much) on other occasions and that put us under pressure. Some of the support play was excellent.

"You have to factor in the heat. They set off in each half playing the type of game they wanted but there is no doubt that fatigue set in at the end of both halves."

Over the two matches this developmental Ireland have only fleetingly managed to produce Test-quality rugby against a Japan team that without a lineout or scrum can not hope to compete adequately in the international arena. It's been a worthwhile exercise from an Irish perspective if only to appraise several fledgling internationals of the standards that must be broached in the future.

SCORING SEQUENCE. 4 mins: Wallace try, Humphreys conversion, 0-7; 8: Sheahan try, Humphreys conversion, 0-14; 32: Hirose penalty, 3-14; 34: Ohata try, Hirose conversion, 10-14. Half-time: 10-14. 42: Humphreys try, Humphreys conversion, 10-21; 43: Duffy try, 10-26; 45: Hirose penalty, 13-26; 50: Dempsey try, Humphreys conversion, 13-33; 57: Duffy try, Humphreys conversion, 13-40; 60: Ohata try, 18-40; 66: Sheahan try, Humphreys conversion, 18-47.

JAPAN: G Tachikawa; D Ohata, R Parkinson, Y Motoki, H Onozawa; K Hirose, W Murata; S Takagi, M Nakabayashi, R Yamamura; T Kumagae, H Kiso; H Makiri, R Asano, T Miuchi (capt). Replacements: K Kasai for Asano (40 (+2) mins-48 mins); Asano for Kasai (48 mins); K Tsutagoshi for Nakabayashi (50 mins); T Ito for Kiso (58 mins); K Kasai for Takagi (61 mins); T Nakai for Makiri (69 mins); S Goto for Murata (69 mins); T Tomioka for Tachikawa (69 mins); A Goromaru for Motoki (69 mins).

IRELAND: G Dempsey (Leinster); T Bowe (Ulster), G Duffy (Harlequins), D Quinlan (Northampton), A Horgan (Munster); D Humphreys (Ulster, capt), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), F Sheahan (Munster), S Best (Ulster); L Cullen (Leinster), M McCullough (Ulster); D Leamy (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), E Miller (Leinster). Replacements: A Quinlan (Munster) for Miller (5-11 mins and 22 mins); T Hogan (Munster) for Cullen (50 mins); B Jackman (Leinster) for Leamy (61-69 mins); R Corrigan (Leinster) for Horan (65 mins); K Campbell (Ulster) for Stringer (69 mins); K Lewis (Leinster) for Horgan (69 mins); J Staunton (Wasps) for Humphreys (77 mins); Jackman for McCullough (77 mins).

Yellow card: S Takagi 40 (+2) mins-48 mins.

Referee: N Whitehouse (Wales).