Ireland overcome baptism of fire to win in Japan
Ireland Women’s Rugby Summer Tour
Japan 22
Ireland 57
Daire Walsh
Despite enduring a shaky start to her international career at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi on Saturday, Méabh Deely always believed Ireland women had the ability to overcome Japan in this summer tour opener.
One of four debutants in the Irish back line – Natasja Behan, Aoife Dalton and Dannah O’Brien were also making their bows – Galway native Deely experienced an initial baptism of fire as the Japanese stormed into a 15-0 cushion inside 11 minutes.
However, the visitors eventually turned the tide with 38 unanswered points either side of the interval. Dalton and Deely crossed for tries during this scoring sequence, while O’Brien eventually finished the contest with a 12-point haul from out-half.
“It was tough. We were constantly defending and on the back foot. I knew myself once we got the ball in attack we would get going. It was a case of when that would happen. It did take us 10 or 15 minutes to get the ball and actually show what our attack was about,” Deely eadmitted.
“What I was really proud of was that we turned around and didn’t get our heads down. I think, especially with such a new group, and new caps, we were thinking we really had to step up.”
The early signs had looked ominous for Ireland with Misaki Suzuki and Komachi Imakugi both bagging tries prior to an Ayasa Otsuka penalty. The first of Neve Jones’ three tries got the visitors up and running on 17 minutes, however, before Limerick’s Aoife Doyle and her namesake Dalton also secured five-pointers to guide Greg McWilliams’ charges towards a 19-15 interval lead.
The Irish effectively placed the outcome beyond doubt with a ruthless third-quarter blitz. The outstanding Jones completed a hat-trick of tries with maul efforts in the 42nd and 53 minutes respectively, ahead of Deely getting the score her performance deserved approaching the hour.
Japan fired back with a powerful close-range finish from Makoto Lavemai, but it only provided Lesley McKenzie’s hosts with temporary respite. Eager to stake their claim for future selection, UL Bohemian front-row Chloe Pearse, Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Emma Hooban all added tries after appearing off the bench.
Having laid down a significant marker in this opening test, Natasja Behan is hoping to retain her place for the return fixture in Tokyo on Saturday and seal an historic summer tour series win.
“We’re excited to hit the ground running and get a win under our belts, but we had a few errors today. So we need to put in the hard work to fix them and put in another good shift next week,” Behan said.
Scorers – Japan: Tries: M Suzuki, K Imakugi, M Lavemai. Pens: A Otsuka. Cons: A Otsuka 2. Ireland: Tries: N Jones 3, A Doyle, A Dalton, M Deely, C Pearse, M Scuffil-McCabe, E Hooban try each. Cons: D O’Brien 6.
JAPAN: R Anoku; R Kurogi, R Matsuda, S Nakayama, K Imakugi; A Otsuka, M Tsukui; S Minami, N Nagata, Y Sadaka; K Tamai, M Takano; M Suzuki, K Hosokawa, A Nagai.
Replacements: M Lavemai for Sadaka (h-t), S Saito for Nagai (50), M Abe for Tsukui (60), M Kawamura for Hosokawa (66), H Komaki for Nagata, K Taniguchi for Minami (both 67), M Yamamato for Otsuka, S Korai for Takano (both 73).
IRELAND: M Deely; N Behan, A Dalton, E Breen, A Doyle; D O’Brien, A Hughes; L Djougang, N Jones, K O’Dwyer; N Fryday, S Monaghan; D Wall, E McMahon, H O’Connor.
Replacements: G Moore for McMahon (3-11, blood), C Haney for O’Dwyer, Moore for O’Connor (both 51), N Cronin for Hughes, M Scuffil-McCabe for Doyle (both 61), L Tarpey for Cronin (64), E Hooban for Jones, C Pearse for Djougang (both 67), T Schultzer for Fryday (73).
Referee: L Jenner (New Zealand).