Everything – and even more fun stuff – that you need to know about the match
Ireland Captain’s Run vs Japan, Aviva Stadium – Caelan Doris, Jack Conan and Craig Casey (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Ireland are looking for bounce back against Japan this lunchtime following a disappointing performance against New Zealand last weekend.
Ireland have made eight changes to their starting line-up, the most notable being a fit against Caelan Doris slotting back into his no8 role.
Across the backs Tom Farrell, Robbie Henshaw come into the centre, Jacob Stockdale starts on the wing and Craig Casey at scrum-half.
Ronan Kelleher and Tom Clarkson come into the front-row, Nick Timoney and Doris to the back-row.
Tadgh Beirne started last weekend but was red carded after three minutes. This was subsequently downgraded at a Disciplinary Hearing early in the week so+ he is free to play.
Who: Ireland vs Japan
Where: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
What time is kick-off: 12:40pm Irish
Put some Context on the Fixture? Ireland need a confidence restoring outing following a damp, listless defeat to the All Blacks last week.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Two x Headlines: Ireland have made eight changes from the team beaten by the All Blacks last week
Caelan Doris, who missed the Lions Tour with a shoulder injury and who was a sub on first return to rugby last week, makes his first Ireland start since the Six Nations.
Quotes Corner: What They Are saying
Andy Farrell (on the ‘new’ centre pairing): “Six years ago now, Tom, I was obviously an assistant coach under Joe and we brought him in for training camp and he never got selected. And six years later, here we are.
“He’s at the ripe old age of 32 but playing his best rugby and 100% deserves a shot. Not just for the form that he’s shown over the last couple of seasons, but also how he’s applied himself when he’s come into camp. So, that’s been very impressive.
“Robbie Henshaw wouldn’t be someone that you would look past quickly because he’s a world class player, he was disappointed not to play last week so we’ll get a reaction from Robbie. I’m 100 per cent sure of that.”
Ireland Asst Coach Johnny Sexton: “There’s always going to be a bit of transition when you lose the number of caps and experience that you have in probably the key positions.
“Like if you go, you know, Peter O’Mahony recently, Cian Healy recently, Keith Earls, myself, Conor Murray. Like that’s probably, I don’t know for exactly, but close to 600 caps, I presume.
“So you take that out of the building, of course, there’s going to be a little bit of teething, but there wasn’t a problem when they won the Six Nations in 2024.”
Japan Coach Eddie Jones: “I’ve read in the papers it’s a crisis in Irish rugby but you’re still top four in the world. You know, 20 years ago you came to came on the Europe tour, and Ireland was the easiest game of the tour and the change in Irish rugby has been extraordinary, I think, absolutely extraordinary.
“So, you’re going through this little difficult period now, which I think you’ve just got to accept, and the young players will come through. But they need time, they can’t just hop on the horse and be the most experienced jockey in the world, they need time, they need to learn. They need to experience a bit of pain and, obviously, that’s going on at the moment.
Match Betting: 1/100 Ireland 50/1 Draw Japan 40/1
Handicap: Ireland -39, 10/11
Any Advance Weather Forecast: Light rain
Fun Fact 1#: Ireland had 16 players on the Lions Tour to Australia last summer
Fun Fact 2#: Ireland’s no12 Tom Farrell, who will be making his debut, is a product of the Leinster Academy who has played for both Connacht and Munster
Ireland Last Six Results:
New Zealand 26-13 Ireland
Portugal 7 – 106 Ireland
Georgia 5 – 34 Ireland Men
Italy 17-22 Ireland
Ireland 27-42 France
Wales 18-27 Ireland
Last Ireland XV (v All Blacks): Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadhg Furlong; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Paddy McCarthy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Caelan Doris, Craig Casey, Sam Prendergast, Bundee Aki
Japan Last Six Results
South Africa 61-7 Japan
Japan 15-19 Australia
Japan 27-33 Fiji
Tonga 24-62 Japan
USa 21-47 Japan
Japan 57-15 Canada
What TV channels is the match on: RTE2, TNT Sport (Ire & UK) and IrishRugby+ (for countries without a broadcaster)
TEAMS: Ireland:* Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster); Tommy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Tom Farrell (Lansdowne/Munster)*, Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jack Crowley (Cork Con/Munster), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Dublin Univ/Leinster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Ryan Baird (Dublin Univ/Leinster), Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster), Caelan Doris (St Mary’s/Leinster) captain
Replacements: Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin Univ/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht), Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster), Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster)(10) *denotes uncapped
Coach: Andy Farrell (2019)
Japan: Japan: Yoshitaka Yazaki; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley (vc), Charlie Lawrence, Tomoki Osada; Seungsin Lee (vc), Naoto Saito; Kenta Kobayashi, Kenji Sato, Shuhei Takeuchi; Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Dearns (c); Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi
Replacements: Shodai Hirao, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Jack Cornelsen, Michael Leitch, Shinobu Fujiwara, Shinya Komura, Yuya Hirose
Coach: Eddie Jones (2024)