One of Andy Farrell’s young guns may have lays down a marker for near future; check out Mirror Ireland vs Japan player ratings
Ireland’s Thomas Clarkson is tackled by Japan’s Ben Gunter(Image: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
Ireland beat Japan 41-10 at the Aviva, it wasn’t a vintage Irish performance.
Andy Farrell’s troops had gone 17-0 ahead within half-and-hour but split for the break at 17-10 and with Jacob Stockdale about to begin a sin-bin period.
Ireland got the next, crucial in terms of the game’s outcome, before pulling away with three tries in the last quarter.
We’ve spotted one outstanding stat in the player’s stats that deserves recognition and is most likely an Irish record.
That’s tight-head Thomas Clarkson’s 15 tackles in his 51 minutes before being withdrawn – that’s some defending for a back-row forward, never mind that he is a front-row!
IRELAND PLAYER BY PLAYER vs JAPAN
Jamie Osborne – Caps total moves ten but may be stuck there until next year following picking up an injury. Bright, energetic, tried to make things happen. 7Tommy O’Brien – Man of the Match with an eye-catching 147 metres from a dozen carries. Andy Farrell mentioned his enthusiasm and ‘intent, a fair call. 7Tom Farrell – Slow start but improved as game wore on. Finished with 11 carries for 38 metres which made him, marginally the more productive centre in attack. 6Robbie Henshaw – Playing with a Munster player inside and outside him was a tad outside his comfort zone missing three tackles. Eight carries for 27 metres. 6Jacob Stockdale – Harsh yellow, missed by two scoring passes, own ‘score’ ruled out for penalty against himself earlier. 116 metres but also four turnovers. 6Jack Crowley – Got Ireland off to a decent start with a good penalty and his try was a thing of beauty, looping around Doris to take the key pass. 7Craig Casey – Weird stat, the only Irish player not to miss a first-half tackle. Worked well with Crowley but restricted to 10 minutes with Prendergast. 6Andrew Porter – Furlong bags a key try last week and t’other prop bags a key five points this week. Nine tackles, two misses, is below average for him. 6Ronan Kelleher – Set-piece stats remain a killer, 82 percent lineout, 86 percent scrum success. Not all his fault but against the world’s 10th ranked side. 6Thomas Clarkson – Defensive effort at rucks bordered on heroic, 15 tackles with just one miss is some sort of tight-head record. Five carries for 10 metres too. 7James Ryan – Hooked on 51 mins, along with Crowley and Timoney, but had put up a mean defence to there with a dozen tackles. Three carries for six metres. 6Tadhg Beirne – Unusually below par outing from, normally, one of Ireland’s most consistent performers. Mystery of just one carry, seven tackles in 80 minutes. 5
Ryan Baird – Lively in attack, with the most metres among the forwards, and in defence, handy 11 tackles too. Central to the better lineouts with five takes. 7Nick Timoney – Fifth cap and fifth try which is decent symmetry although may have benefitted in scoring from Japan stopping – thinking there had been a knock-on. 6Caelan Doris – Normal service resumed on both sides of the ball, his 19 tackles and 12 carries were, respectively, best in Irish defence and joint-best in attack. 7Replacements: Gus McCarthy 7, Paddy McCarthy 6, Finlay Bealham 5, Cian Prendergast 5,Jack Conan 7 Caelan Blade 5, Sam Prendergast 6, Jimmy O’Brien 5.