Griffin bows out with pair of tries in comeback win
IRELAND 15
JAPAN 12
Daire Walsh
Captain Ciara Griffin signed off on her international career in spectacular style yesterday afternoon by bagging two outstanding tries in a hard-earned victory for the Ireland’s women against Japan at the RDS.
Overcoming a nine-point interval deficit – and the 29th-minute dismissal of the first-time starter Hannah O’Connor – the home team did just enough to see off a stubborn Japanese challenge.
This was also Adam Griggs’ final game as Ireland head coach, with Greg McWilliams set to take over in the new year. Whomever the latter chooses as his new skipper, they will have big boots to fill – such is the imprint Griffin has left since taking on the role in 2018.
Ireland were hoping to finish a somewhat turbulent year with a second consecutive Test victory to their name, having overcome the USA at the same venue last Friday week. Griggs opted to make wholesale changes for his final fixture in charge. Amongst those to come into the starting 15 was the all-new half-back pairing of Enya Breen and Kathryn Dane.
It was Breen who got the ball rolling in this contest when she converted a routine sixth-minute penalty and while the conditions led to some handling errors, there was some encouraging play from the hosts during the opening exchanges.
However, Lesley McKenzie’s visitors eventually grew into the action and pounced for the opening try in the 17th-minute. An earlier break by Moe Tsukui was a sign of what the Japanese were capable of as an attacking unit and when Ria Anoku broke through a gap via a Kanako Kobayashi offload, the Irish defence found themselves on the back-foot.
Anoku had the vision to pick out Mana Furuta with a neat pass and the outside centre raced over the whitewash to the left of the posts. Though Ayasa Otsuka’s conversion was wide, Japan were beginning to attack with confidence.
Ireland were to suffer an even bigger blow. In attempting to tackle Japanese hooker Nijiho Nagata, O’Connor caught her opponent high on the chin and was shown a red card by the Italian referee Clara Munarini.
This asked serious questions of the Irish resolve and at the end of prolonged move on 37 minutes, the blindside flanker Seina Saito dotted down for a converted Japan try. It took a superb tackle from Lauren Delany to stop Ayano Nagai from getting over for another five-pointer in the closing seconds of the opening period.
Ireland needed a spark to work their way back into the reckoning and, thanks to their soon-to-be retired captain, Ireland got just that four minutes after the restart. Having charged down an attempted clearance by Kobayashi, Griffin sprinted towards the loose ball and touched down in consummate fashion.
Although Breen was marginally off-target with a tricky conversion, Ireland were now a rejuvenated force and intent on making light of their numerical deficiency. In her 24th game as Ireland’s on-field leader, Griffin was showing just why she will be leaving such a significant void upon her departure.
After consultation between Munarini and TMO Matteo Liperini, she was awarded a second try in the 55th minute for a magnificent driving finish underneath a slew of Japanese bodies. Breen was on hand to supply the extras as Ireland suddenly found themselves three points clear.
Aoife Doyle thought she had extended their lead when getting over in the right-corner, but it was ruled out for a knock-on by Delany.
A missed penalty by Breen on the stroke of 70 minutes left the door open for Japan, but Ireland held out under relentless pressure to give Griffin and Griggs the perfect send-off.
Scorers – Ireland: C Griffin 2 tries, E Breen pen, con. Japan: S Saito, M Furuta try each, A Otsuka con.
IRELAND: L Delany; A Doyle, E Considine, S Naoupu, L Sheehan; E Breen, K Dane; L Feely, N Jones, L Djougang; A McDermott, S Monaghan; C Griffin, E McMahon, H O’Connor.
Replacements: K O’Dwyer for Feely, C Moloney for Jones (both 46), S Touhey for Doyle, A Caplice for McMahon (both 65).
JAPAN: R Anoku; H Nagura, M Furuta, K Kobayashi, K Imakugi; A Otsuka, M Tsukui; S Kato, N Nagata, M Lavemai; K Tamai, O Yoshimura; S Saito, M Suzuki, A Nagai.
Replacements: W Kitano for Yoshimura, M Abe for Tsukui (both h-t), S Minami for Lavemai (46), I Nagata for Nagai (50), M Yamamoto for Otsuka (55), Y Ito for Suzuki (59), A Kokaji for N Nagata (74).
Referee: C Munarini (Italy).