Ireland had to dig deep to see off a determined Japan side, a late try to Tom Stewart seeing the world number three side win 36-20 in Newcastle.
It may have been a neutral venue, but that didn’t stop a vocal 11,021 in attendance in Newcastle, a large contingent of Irish fans travelling up the freeway and making their voices heard.
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However, it was the Brave Blossoms who hit the ground running, with winger Taira Main cutting the defence to shreds to score in the 3rd minute.
Their lead would last barely five minutes, as the Irish turned to their physicality and post-contact gainline metres, flanker Nick Timoney getting his side on the board through the forwards.
The Japanese turned to their strength in their speed, stretching the defence and blunting their go-forward.
The result saw the Brave Blossoms dominate early territory, and their discipline was rewarded when Takuro Matsunaga retook the lead with a penalty goal in the 17th minute.
However, when the Irish got the ball, their physicality proved effective, with Tom O’Toole grabbing his side’s second three minutes later to lead 12-10.
The Brave Blossoms stuck to their method, however, and regained the lead seven minutes later thanks to a second penalty.
However, the Irish’s attack started to make further inroads, with Robbie Henshaw getting over in the 34th minute to give them a 19-13 lead at halftime.
The Japanese looked to get on the ascendancy early in the second half, their speed stretching the Irish and pushing them all the way back to their 5m line.
However, the Irish held out, and then with an interchange of subs, produced their fourth try in the 50th minute, debutant Sean Jansen being rewarded for a strong start to his international career.
Japan continued to make inroads despite the growing deficit, but handling errors caused several chances to go awry. They would finally get over the line on the hour mark through replacement hooker Hayate Era, cutting the margin to just six with 20 minutes to play.
The score galvanised the Japanese, the side starting to match up in the contact zone and frustrate the flow of play.
However, despite several ventures into Irish territory, the Japanese struggled to find the critical score to give them back the lead as the final ten minutes of the match arrived.
The missed chances would prove costly in the 71st minute, as the Japanese found themselves offside and Harry Byrne grabbed a critical three points to push the margin beyond a converted try.
The goal proved to give the push the Irish needed as they looked to ice the game, holding the Japanese deep in their own territory in the final five minutes.
With Era being sent to the bin in the 78th minute for repeat infringements, the Irish finally broke through as the siren sounded, Tom Stewart scoring their fifth and final try to hand them a 16-point win.
“The Irish put on an awesome show; we couldn’t handle them in the second half,” Brave Blossoms captain Walter Dearns said following the match.
“We came out with a game plan, and we executed pretty well in the first half.
“In the second half we got a bit stuck in how we controlled the game, and let Ireland play the game that they wanted to play.”
“We had to fight hard for that one,” Ireland captain Tadhg Beirne said following full-time.
“Japan kept coming at us, but we held out well - we got a nice try at the end there to make the score a little more comfortable than what it was at times.
“Credit to Japan in terms of the fight they put up, but I’m proud of the lads.”
Japan 20 (Tries: Main, Era. Cons: Matsunaga 2/2 Pens: Matsunaga 2/2) def by Ireland 36 (Tries: Timoney, O’Toole, Henshaw, Jansen, Stewart. Cons: Frawley 3/4, Byrne 1/1, Pen: Bryne 1/1)
