The Ireland women’s rugby team’s summer tour of Japan ended in disappointment at Prince Chichibu Rugby Stadium in Tokyo today as Greg McWilliams’ charges suffered a comprehensive reversal at the hands of the Sakura Fifteen.

Having overcome the same opposition with 35 points to spare (57-22) at Ecopa Stadium seven days ago, Ireland were looking to round off this historic two-test series in style. Natasja Behan and Katie O’Dwyer did grab tries in either half, but they were ultimately second best to a Japanese side with a point to prove.

The only one of four starting debutants not to get on the scoresheet in last weekend’s opening test in Fukuroi City, Wexford native Behan was released by scrum-half Ailsa Hughes for a third-minute try in the right-corner.

Dannah O’Brien’s conversion was marginally wide of the target, however, and Ireland immediately found themselves on the back-foot from the restart. Strong defensive work kept the Japanese at bay for long stretches, before fly-half Ayasa Otsuka eventually raced over the whitewash off a scrum move on 16 minutes.

Her bonus strike rattled the woodwork to keep the sides on level terms, but the hosts eventually brought a 12-5 buffer into the interval after Rinka Matsuda bagged a converted try towards the end of the opening period.

The East Asian outfit continued to dictate the terms of engagement after the resumption and created significant daylight courtesy of tries from Hinano Nagura and full-back Matsuda (her second).

Ireland received a much-needed lifeline when Katie O’Dwyer – who had replaced Laura Feely earlier in the half – spotted a gap to dot down for her second Ireland try just shy of the hour mark.

Yet this was only a temporary speed bump for Japan as replacement hooker Sachiko Kato touched down for their fifth try with 15 minutes left on the clock. Jess Keating and Emma Tilly appeared off the bench to join Jo Brown in making their Irish debuts, but the visitors couldn’t cut any further into their 19-point deficit.

Scorers for Japan: Tries: R Matsuda 2, A Otsuka, H Nagura, S Kato. Cons: A Otsuka 2

Scorers for Ireland: Tries: N Behan, K O’Dwyer.

JAPAN: R Matsuda; H Nagura, M Furuta, S Nakayama, K Imakugi; A Otsuka, M Abe; S Minami, N Nagata, M Lavemai; M Takano, Y Sato; S Saito, I Nagata, A Nagai.

Replacements: S Kato for Minami, Y Sadaka for Lavemai, K Tamai for Sato (all 50), K Hosokawa for Nagai (56), K Taniguchi for Nagata (60), M Tsukui for Abe, O Yoshimura for Takano (both 65), M Yamamoto for Otsuka (77).

IRELAND: M Deely; N Behan, A Dalton, E Breen, A Doyle; D O’Brien, A Hughes; L Feely, N Jones, L Djougang; H O’Connor, N Fryday; J Brown, E McMahon, G Moore.

Replacements: K O’Dwyer for Feely (46), M Scuffil-McCabe for Hughes (56), C Pearse for Djougang, E Hooban for Jones (both 69), T Schutzler for O’Conor, J Keating for Brown, E Tilly for Behan (all 74), L Tarpey for Dalton (76).

Referee: L Jenner (New Zealand).