| Final Score | ||
|---|---|---|
| Japan | vs | Ireland |
| 19 | 12 | |
Hosts Japan will take on Ireland – the number two ranked side in the world – as both teams look to build on their opening game wins.
Despite the obvious gap between the two sides, the Irish are taking the Japanese threat very seriously. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from 5:15pm AEST on Saturday.
The Irish have picked a side that has quality throughout and while star fly-half Johnny Sexton is rested having picked up a sore quad, Joe Schmidt has brought back in plenty of experience in the form of Rob Kearney and Keith Earls.
Both will appear in their third World Cup and look for them to be busy as replacement No.10 Jack Carty and Conor Murray bombard the Japanese with high balls. Against Russia, Japan were poor under the bomb and Ireland won’t have failed to spot this.
For the host nation there are some changes with prop Jiwon Koo, lock Luke Thompson and full back Ryohei Yamanaka earning promotion from the bench in the last game.
Some have been surprised that heroic leader Michael Leitch will not start but that could be because Jamie Joseph is holding him back for the crucial games still to come.
Bringing some new power to the pack will be Amanaki Mafi who returns to No.8 after injury. Japan will need a big performance from him in order to get the quick go forward that they’ll need to force back Ireland’s mean defence.
There has been some engaging, competitive banter between the sides over the past few weeks with one of the Japan camp suggesting that the Irish scrum is illegal and Lomano Lemeki coming out and publicly saying that he believes Japan will deliver another World Cup upset with a 33-10 win.
To get that win Japan will need to pay a much better game. They missed 19 tackles and gave away 18 turnovers. If Russia can force these errors then who knows what Ireland can do to the Cherry Blossoms.
Prediction
Despite Lemeki’s bold prediction it’s almost impossible to see this one turning out as anything but a good Ireland win.
Ireland by 15.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from 5:15pm AEST on Saturday.
Where: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka Prefecture
Date: Saturday September 28
Kick-off: 5:15pm AEST
TV: Foxsports
Betting: Japan $9, Ireland $1.06
Japan
15 Ryohei Yamanaka
14 Kotaro Matsushima
13 Timothy Lafaele
12 Ryoto Nakamura
11 William Tupou
10 Yu Tamura
9 Yutaka Nagare
8 Amanaki Mafi
7 Pieter Labuschagne (c)
6 Kazuki Himeno
5 James Moore
4 Luke Thompson
3 Koo Ji-won
2 Shota Horie
1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements
16 Atsushi Sakate
17 Isileli Nakajima
18 Asaeli Ai Valu
19 Wimpie van der Walt
20 Michael Leitch
21 Fumiaki Tanaka
22 Rikiya Matsuda
23 Lomano Lemeki
Ireland
15 Rob Kearney
14 Keith Earls
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Chris Farrell
11 Jacob Stockdale
10 Jack Carty
9 Conor Murray
8 CJ Stander
7 Josh Van der Flier
6 Peter O’Mahony
5 James Ryan
4 Iain Henderson
3 Tadhg Furlong
2 Rory Best (c)
1 Cian Healy
Replacements
16 Sean Cronin
17 David Kilcoyne
18 Andrew Porter
19 Tadgh Beirne
20 Rhys Ruddock
21 Luke McGrath
22 Joey Carbery
23 Jordan Larmour
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant referees: Jerome Garces, Matthew Carley
TMO: Ben Skeen
2019 World Cup Form
Japan – W
Ireland – W
All time
Played 7
Japan won 0
Ireland won 7
Derm
Roar Guru
You should try reading his Twitter feed. A man who hates rugby and its fans in Ireland with an all-consuming passion and never misses an opportunity to take a shot at it/them. He’s overjoyed about the result: “We’ve become the foreplay and the pillow talk of serious sport. When the real stuff is going down, of little use.” “Many in Irish etablishment simply cannot understand that there’s a huge swathe out there thrilled at today’s result. This team has never represented them, and having it forced upon them by marketing drove these people further away. The fact this will be shouted down surmises it.” “And it’s back straight away. The soft, fuzzy language around this Irish team. Blame everyone else. Give Japan credit. We’re still in it. They are a bunch of losers supported by a bunch of losers. Can you imagine for a second a real top team acting like that aftetr a loss. SOFT.” “You want positivity? You should see the joy on my face. I hate rugby? It may be my favourite sport ever. What a Saturday, think I need an ice bath. Almost both as funny and as brilliant as George Carlin. The silent majority celebrates across an island. Fantastic. “
Derm
Roar Guru
There's a surprise. A depleted and tired All Blacks team. Is there any other kind of All Black team? :) Ireland were not good enough. Japan were feicin brilliant. Full stop.
riddler
Roar Rookie
very true fionn. they are all first class refs in their own right. which makes it that much more frustrating.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
World rugby need to empower the assistant referees more
jaysper
Roar Guru
Except thats not true is it? Only 6 test nations have ever beaten the all black and only a damned fool would back the Japanese to beat them despite the fact that they will break into the top 8 with this win. I love the Japanese side and hope that one day they are genuine contenders but to suggest they are now is nonsensical. And so for the Irish to get beaten by them is damning.
Danny
Roar Pro
Yep. Genuine promotion / relegation. Kiwis grizzled when it was introduced into ITM cup as well but as far as I'm concerned it's been great. Unless the Blues were good enough to earn promotion of course.
riddler
Roar Rookie
Anyone in the top 8 can beat another on any day. The frequency is another issue. Ireland played poorly because of the pressure and speed of the Japanese. Ireland wouldn't have lost if they were playing against nobody. Hence Japan, on this particular day, forced Ireland into errors.
Rusty
Roar Guru
Too much class not too
Colm
Roar Guru
No, Japan were the definitely the better team, and as I stated already, deserving winners. That doesn't mean it wasn't a poor refereeing display, though.
Double Agent
Guest
Colm I hope you're not suggesting that Ireland were the better team here? Because that would just be silly.
Double Agent
Guest
This was HUGE and I loved it but I think beating the Boks was HUGER. Springboks just so synonymous with Rugby and a long history of hardly ever losing (pre 1993) . But this one is still amazing only a bees dick behind!
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Better judge than me. The two respective first round performances made me assume a cake walk. But I’m now convinced the two sides prepared completely differently. Japan thought beyond Russia and focused and planned on Ireland. The Irish focus was all on Scotland. Schmidt completely outthought by Joseph
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Does anybody have any insight into how serious Mafi’s injury is? Him starting is a factor for them I reckon
Colm
Roar Guru
Judging from twitter, it would probably be for the best if he doesn't ref an Ireland game for a while.
Mungbean74
Roar Rookie
Oh yeh! They were building at that time too! What a load of wasabi! I hope they (sanzaar) can take that wasabi hit where they deserve it and Japan rugby can prosper from this!
Colm
Roar Guru
Hopefully they can bounce back like the Boks did four years ago, Rusty.
Colm
Roar Guru
For sure, the clips are already emerging on twitter. I don't know who is enjoying it more, the Japanese rugby fans or the visiting(non-Irish) rugby fans in Japan. It was far more enjoyable four years ago, when Japan's giant-killing wasn't against Ireland.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Not your finest moment Colm. I will undoubtedly find fault in tomorrow’s ref if we lose to Wales but I’ll try not to write about it while the red mist is down. Better post later from you acknowledging a superior side
Double Agent
Guest
I don't think they got kicked out I think Japan Rugby withdrew them.
Double Agent
Guest
How many teams in this World Cup can lose a player to injury like Amanaki Mafi and replace him with Michael Leitch? How's that for depth???!!