The outcome often frames the immediate post-match observations so there was general satisfaction following Ireland’s 39-31 victory over Japan in terms of the result if not the entire performance.
There were glitches and rough edges but in those circumstances the ability to eke out a win should not be underestimated. Ireland captain James Ryan offered an honest appraisal of a troublesome afternoon for the home side against a Japanese side that produced some brilliant attacking rugby which almost allowed them to repeat their 2019 World Cup victory.
To their credit the scratch Irish team found a route to victory with an improved second half performance that focused on eradicating errors and looking to capitalise on an edge in the set piece. Ryan said: “I think that what we learned is Test match rugby is never perfect. I think it has been a really good couple of weeks for this group and everyone has bought into what we are trying to do.
“In the first half we were a bit shaky at times. We were inaccurate but the most pleasing thing is how well we regrouped at halftime, we had some good conversations and I thought we put-in a really good second 40 minutes.”
He highlighted Ireland’s ability to “to turn the page and go again,” as central to the outcome. Japan were every bit as difficult to subdue as the Irish players anticipated before the game, Ryan elaborated: “I said after that the game in 2019 was one of the toughest I played. Thankfully it was not as humid in Dublin as it was in Shizuoka.
“When you saw this game on the fixture list you knew it was going to be a very tough day and that’s exactly what it was. Their attack is their point of difference, you know their reputation and it was very, very tough out there. We were certainly blowing pretty heavy particularly in the first half.
“I thought it was a good effort defensively at times even though we did concede 31 points, but we stuck in there and I thought the guys that came on had a great impact, showed great energy and that was big for us in the last quarter (of the game).
“It was a good learning for us all round. It is the first time that we have had fans in 18 months in the Aviva and even 3,000 makes a massive difference to us. It’s been a good day.”
When asked about the messages from the coaches at halftime and the improvement in the substance of Ireland’s performance after the interval, Ryan explained: “One of the messages at halftime was about the effectiveness of our lineout drive when we went to it. We said that if we got the opportunity in the second half we will take them there, keep it in the forwards.
“The lineout drive gave us a real opportunity to have a crack at them and we looked at doing to that more in the second half and really putting the pressure on them in the set piece.
“Our launch plays, our strike plays were a little bit inaccurate in the first half in terms of the first couple of phases, myself included with a knock-on; we didn’t get into the flow of it. We said that in the second half we needed to be a bit more clinical.
“I think we did that particularly with some of the plays we had in their 22 in the second half, we were much more accurate and we got scores off the back of it, which was really pleasing.”
On a personal level he said that he wasn’t hampered by the adductor injury. “I felt really good today. The last couple of weeks I was managed quite a lot, a credit to the physios for getting me back.
“At times during the season I have had niggles and breaks (in continuity of playing), having not been able to put games and weeks together the way I would have liked. Leading the boys today was a huge honour and I’m delighted with the result.”
Ireland openside flanker and man of the match Josh van der Flier who enjoyed a brilliant performance both in attack and defence, admitted: “It was a very tough game. Japan are a quality side and will put it (up) to any team they play. They put it (up) to us today.
“We could have been better in the first half but we improved in the second half. We’ve done 12 days of work and it’s something to build on. They’re a top-quality side and they deserved all the credit they got in the World Cup and we knew it would be a big challenge.
“They were very impressive and it took us until the second half to secure the win. “We weren’t pleased with conceding a lot of points and bits of defence and attack could have been better. It’s always nice to score a try but the hard work from others led to it, Jamison [Gibson-Park] made a nice break and they were on the back foot from there.”
