Slow-starting Ireland pull away to crush Japan 41-10

DUBLIN :Ireland started slowly before pulling away to beat Japan 41-10 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday with a strong second half easing concerns about their recent form ahead of tougher challenges to come against Australia and South Africa.

Andy Farrell's men were extremely sloppy in the first half and lucky to be 17-10 up at the interval after a yellow card for Japan let them wrestle control through tries from Jack Crowley and Nick Timoney, before Kenta Kobayashi deservedly responded.

Even though the Irish also lost a man to the sin bin for the start of the second half, they were far better with tries from Andrew Porter, replacements Gus McCarthy and Paddy McCarthy and winger Tommy O'Brien overwhelming the tiring Japanese.

"We got a reaction at halftime so that was a bit better," Farrell, whose side fell away badly in the final 20 minutes in last weekend's 26-13 defeat by New Zealand.

"You can be short of confidence when things aren't flowing your way and I thought we regathered ourselves pretty well in the second half, even though there were still a few errors. To get to 41-10 from where we were at halftime was the pleasing part."

Ireland's first 10 points all came from flyhalf Crowley, a penalty, fine team try and conversion - the latter pair shortly after the yellow card for Japan centre Charlie Lawrence blunted the visitors' encouraging start.

CAPTAIN DORIS RETURNS

While Ireland welcomed back captain Caelan Doris, it was one of the handful of fringe players given a chance - flanker Timoney - who sped home impressively for his fifth try in as many caps since making his debut in 2021.

But familiar errors returned. Ireland's lineout, which has now struggled on a consistent basis, was even more of a shambles early on. Doris