Keith Earls, Dan Leavy and Jack Conan scored two tries each as Ireland eased to a 50-22 win over Japan at Shizuoka’s Ecopa Stadium.
Ireland – missing 11 players on British & Irish Lions duty – scored seven tries as they brushed Japan aside.
Flyhalf Paddy Jackson gave Ireland an early lead via a penalty goal, after Japan were penalised for straying offside. But then the visitors cut loose by scoring four unanswered tries before the break.
Earls was first to cross the tryline, and when Japan were reduced to 14 players after losing prop Heiichiro Ito to a yellow card, Ireland took full advantage. Leavy completed his first-half brace, while Conan also added his name to the scorecard for a 31-3 lead at the interval.
The rout continued after the restart, with Conan crashing over for his second try of the match against the run of play. Ireland did suffer a setback when wing Andrew Conway was yellow-carded, but it was only momentarily. Japan grabbed their opening five-pointer of the game, only for Ireland to strike a double blow through Garry Ringrose and Earls to get them past 50.
Japan, through Kenki Fukuoka and Yutaka Nagare, scored two late consolation efforts, but it mattered little as Ireland had already wrapped up a comprehensive victory.
Japan – Tries: Ryuji Noguchi, Kenki Fukuoka, Yutaka Nagare. Conversions: Rikiya Matsuda (2). Penalties: Yu Tamura.
Ireland – Tries: Keith Earls (2), Dan Leavy (2), Jack Conan (2), Garry Ringrose. Conversions: Paddy Jackson (5), Rory Scannell. Penalty: Jackson.
Japan – 15 Noguchi, 14 Kotaro Matshima, 13 William Tupou, 12 Timothy Lafaele, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kotaro Yatabe, 3 Heiichiro Ito, 2 Shota Horie (c), 1 Keita Inagaki.
Subs: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Hendrik Tui, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Derek Carpenter, 23 Rikiya Matsuda.
Ireland – 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy.
Subs: 16 James Tracy, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Rory O’Loughlin, 23 Tiernan O’Halloran.
Photo: Brendan Moran/Getty Images
