After their 41-10 victory over Japan in their Autumn Nations Series encounter at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, here’s how the Ireland team performed on Saturday.
Rookie flyer catches the eye amongst the backs
15 Jamie Osborne: The Leinsterman is an injury concern for Ireland boss Andy Farrell as he was forced off the field while clutching his arm in the 65th minute. Up to that stage, he was solid on defence and attack. 6
14 Tommy O’Brien: The rookie flyer will be happy with his efforts as he came to the fore with an outstanding all-round effort which was a timely reminder to Andy Farrell of his ability. He was brilliant on attack and scored a well-taken try after gaining a match-high 144 metres. O’Brien‘s efforts were rewarded with the official man-of-the-match award after the Test. 9
13 Tom Farrell: The debutant looked dangerous on attack early on and finished with a team-high three offloads made. He put his body on the line on defence but became less visible as the match pr0gressed, although he can be happy with his overall effort. 7
12 Robbie Henshaw: The experienced campaigner was solid in the execution of his core duties and like his midfield partner Farrell, he had some good moments with ball in hand, while also impressing on defence, but wasn’t as influential in the second half. 6
11 Jacob Stockdale: The Ulster flyer was in the thick of the action as he looked for work throughout and gave his side good attacking momentum. However, he was yellow carded late in the first half for a head clash and Japan become more competitive while he was off the field. 6
10 Jack Crowley: The home side’s first choice number 10 showed some deft touches on attack during the early stages of this clash and was rewarded with a well-taken try for his efforts while he was also solid off the kicking tee. However, he was less influential as the match progressed and was eventually replaced by Sam Prendergast early in the second half. 6
9 Craig Casey: The Munsterman did what was expected of him during a 62-minute stint on the field as he provided a slick service to his outside backs and varied his play with some good box kicks. Eventually replaced by Caolin Blade. 7
Captain fantastic shows his class
8 Caelan Doris (c): Ireland’s captain made his first Test start since recovering from injury and delivered an outstanding performance either side of the ball. Delivered a good offload to Crowley for his try and continued to shine with some good attacking runs. Doris also emptied the tank on defence, finishing with 20 tackles made and, alongside O’Brien, was one of the standout performers. 8
7 Nick Timoney: From the outset, Timoney looked hungry and his attacking efforts were rewarded when he showed a superb turn of speed before crossing for a well-taken try on the half hour-mark. He was also competitive at the breakdowns and did his bit on defence. 7
6 Ryan Baird: The 26-year-old was a willing ball carrier and did his bit in the lineouts while he also got through plenty of work in the execution of his defensive duties. 7
5 Tadhg Beirne: The Munster utility forward was on the field for much longer than last week and did what was expected of him as he was a valuable source of lineout possession and also did his bit on defence. 7
4 James Ryan: He combined well with Beirne in the second-row as he put in a big shift on defence and marshalled the lineouts, where he won his fair share of balls and also put pressure on his opponents at the set-piece. 6
3 Thomas Clarkson: The young tighthead prop gave a good account of himself in the scrums and also did his bit on defence before being replaced by Finlay Bealham in the 58th minute. 6
2 Ronan Kelleher: The experienced hooker missed his jumpers at a lineout in the opening half but soon settled and was a willing ball carrier while also doing well on defence. 6
1 Andrew Porter: The British & Irish Lion put in a solid all-round performance as he was good in the scrums, did well on defence, while he also shone with ball in hand and was rewarded with a well-taken try for his efforts. 8
Replacements: Several of Ireland’s reinforcements from the bench caught the eye with outstanding performances when they came on in the second half and, if truth be told, their efforts helped their team to pull away from the visitors in the final quarter. Amongst the forwards, Gus McCarthy, Cian Prendergast and Paddy McCarthy brought plenty of energy to the cause, while Sam Prendergast and Blade also shone in the backline. 8