15 Jamie Osborne
The patron saint of lost causes as he chased some high balls that went too far forward, one sliced ball into touch but he invariably got over the gain-line when carrying before his day was cut short by a shoulder injury. Rating: 6
14 Tommy O’Brien
An outstanding performance in general. There were one or little mistakes, but these were tiny glitches when weighed against his overall brilliant contribution, his aptitude and attitude summed up in his try: making a tackle, counter-rucking and running that under line. Rating: 8
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13 Tom Farrell
He grew into the game on his debut and had the character to put a few handling errors behind him and to keep playing his natural silky rugby, manifest in a team leading number of offloads (three). Ran some good lines. Rating: 7
12 Robbie Henshaw
Few worked harder to try and give Ireland some shape in attack when the team was struggling as a whole and few did more defensively to try and negate Japan’s slick counterattack. A positive contribution. Rating: 7
11 Jacob Stockdale
Nothing went his way in the first half, summed up with a yellow card in injury time. Unlucky to have a try ruled out for an earlier offence and excelled in an attacking capacity in the second half, beating tacklers at will. Rating: 6
10 Jack Crowley
A largely excellent game despite the team misfiring in front of him. While others were loose and inaccurate he was assured in most aspects, timing his run beautifully for his try and throwing a super cut-out pass in the build-up to Andrew Porter’s. Rating: 8
9 Craig Casey
A mixed bag, a nice chip for Osborne, some excellent cover tackling and injected tempo that allowed Ireland to get to the edges but offset by some loose passing and decision-making that caused problems for his team. Rating: 5
1 Andrew Porter
A key pillar in a dominant Irish scrum, he got through a huge amount of work, and his try was a reward for that diligence. If he uses his footwork a little more/better in contact, he’s capable of breaking more tackles. Rating: 7
2 Rónan Kelleher
An overthrow at first lineout, aside he was more sinned against than sinning in a complete system breakdown in the first half and that fact that it improved after the break might have left him shaking his head. Rating: 5
3 Thomas Clarkson
Scrum went very well, and he was a huge part of that, made the pivotal line-break for the Crowley try and put in a team leading 15 tackles during his time on the pitch. Lost his bind for a scrum penalty but overall, a fine game. Rating: 7
4 James Ryan
Conceded a couple of penalties which will disappoint but he worked hard on both sides of the ball, and it was his sharp reaction that enabled Nick Timoney to break away for his try. Rating: 6
5 Tadhg Beirne
The general speed of Japan’s ruck ball meant that he didn’t get a chance to pilfer as he normally does, and was quieter than normal, but he had some nice touches in ensuring that ball got to the space out wide. Rating: 6
6 Ryan Baird
Another really strong performance in all facets of the game, he was comfortably his team’s most effective ball carrier, won five lineouts and made more than his fair share of tackles. Rating: 8
7 Nick Timoney
Continued his brilliant try scoring record, a fourth in his fifth cap, sharp in most of what he did after a slowish start, and several teammates should be grateful that he helped them out by closing gaps with his tackling (12) in the 51 minutes. Rating: 7
8 Caelan Doris (capt)
Had his shoulder tested in the first carry off the kickoff and came through that with flying colours as he did the rest of the game as one of Ireland’s standout players. A team leading 20 tackles and five defenders beaten. Rating: 8
Replacements
The bench had a huge impact, Caolin Blade’s quicksilver service, Sam Prendergast’s nuanced distribution, Gus McCarthy’s darts and his try, Cian Prendergast’s big moments in attack and defence and a try for Paddy McCarthy, were eye-catching. Rating: 9.
Head coach
Andy Farrell’s halftime chat had a desired effect, but he will understand that if Ireland produce the sloppy first half display over the next two weekends, there will be no redemptive postscript. He’ll be happy that his young players responded very well. Rating: 7
