Farrell: Far From Perfect, But A Good Day At The Office

Japan had grabbed the early initiative with Taira Main's sparkling finish from his own half, and a second try from Hayate Era cut Ireland's lead to 26-20, entering the final quarter.

Both Japanese tries came from lost Irish lineouts - there were four in all, the same as last week, and two proved particularly costly - but like the game against Australia, Andy Farrell's men were composed in the 'Championship' minutes.

They got themselves out of a sticky situation against the Brave Blossoms, with Jimmy O'Brien plucking down Craig Casey's box kick, leading to a Harry Byrne penalty in the 71st minute to make it a nine-point difference.

Indeed, Ireland dominated the closing stages with 90% of territory during the last 10 minutes, picking up an eventual 3.7 points from their nine attacking 22-metre entries.

The mounting pressure landed Japan's replacement hooker Era in the sin bin, and Nathan Doak duly released Tom Stewart to raid over for the victors' fifth and final try.

The nine personnel changes, four debutants, other players returning, and a number of new combinations always meant that Ireland would lack cohesion at times, and taking that into account, Farrell felt it was 'a good night at the office for us'.

"I would say relieved more than pleased," admitted the Ireland head coach afterwards. "Look, delighted to get the win for all sorts of reasons - the four debutants, and all the changes that we made, etc.

"But obviously delighted to get the win because Japan are a good side, and they put us under pressure.

"What stood out, it was far from perfect, a good few errors out there, but we stayed at it. We kept on squeezing them until the end.

"You know, we didn't convert some of our chances, but we stayed in the fight. Played at the right end of the field when it mattered, at the end of the game.

"The scoreline is the scoreline and that's the reality, but it flattered us probably a little bit, especially with the stop-start nature of the game, with the errors and stuff like that.

"But I was just saying to the lads - that happens in sport, especially when you tinker a lot.

"We put them (the players) under a lot of pressure as coaches this week with all the changes, different combinations, lads not playing for a long time and all of that.

"So all in all, with the experience that they have got and the learnings, it's a good night at the office for us, because there's a lot to take. Delighted for the whole group who got to take the field."

There were some notable firsts on the night, with Connacht's Sean Jansen grabbing the headlines with a try-scoring player-of-the-match performance on his debut, and Tadhg Beirne captaining his country for the first time.

Jansen found his way to the try-line in the 51st minute, sealing Ireland's bonus point, after Nick Timoney and Tom O'Toole, with his first international score,  and Robbie Henshaw had touched down during the opening half.

Back in the team for the first time since last November, Henshaw marked his 85th cap with a big defensive performance, landing a dozen tackles, and used a clever sidestep and surge to make it 19-13 for half-time.

Like Henshaw, Timoney played the full 80 minutes and was one of the side's best performers, showing his finishing power again with his third international try in eight months.

Additionally, there was plenty of punch provided by the Irish bench, with new caps Sam Illo, Billy Bohan, and Bryn Ward getting an average of 25 minutes on the pitch.

Tighthead Illo got a decision over Sojiro Otsuka to win a 68th-minute scrum penalty, and the two young props stood up well to their first exposure to Test rugby.

Farrell is clearly excited about where the newly-capped quartet go from here, saying: "You look at the four debutants. How Sean Jansen actually attacked the game, as a debutant, it's a learning for everyone, you know.

"To be able to get the man-of-the-match and play as he did first up is a massive credit to him, so that's great learnings for anyone coming in.

"And then, for the set-piece to be under pressure, the scrum, for Sam and Billy to come on and to feel and cope with all that. Some good, some bad, but the learnings that they get from that is absolutely priceless

"Even Sam and Billy in the carry sometimes - you feel the difference between the URC and international rugby, and they'll use that. Same for Bryn. They'll use that and kick on.

"And others having the chance to wear the shirt after a while in positions that they want to play. There's all sorts of stuff going on there that we can talk about in the future.

"It's always a risk doing this but a calculated one that's going to pay for us whether we won or not today. It just so happens that we got a bonus point win and we roll on to a special week next week."

Ciarán Frawley's first start at out-half did not go as well as he would have wanted it to. Some errors in possession aside, including a couple of blocked kicks, he did wield more influence either side of half-time, and shifted to full-back on the hour mark.

The Skerries man landed three conversions, made over 45 metres from six carries, had one line break late on, out wide, and beat two defenders, and amassed 143.6 metres from six kicks out of hand.

Frawley was Ireland's back-up number 10 for the Nations Championship opener against Australia, instead operating at full-back when he came on as Sam Prendergast played the full 80 minutes.

Harry Byrne, meanwhile, had a 21-minute cameo in Newcastle as he made his first Test appearance - and fifth in all - since the 2024 Six Nations. He split the posts twice with a penalty and the final conversion.

Asked about how Frawley and Byrne fared, Farrell replied: "I mean you saw it yourself, some really good stuff (from Frawls) and looked a real threat, especially early doors with ball in hand.

"Obviously the goal kick (a missed conversion) could affect somebody in that position but I thought he rode that pretty well. I also thought that Harry came on and did pretty well.

"Again, it is what they do with that now, it's what the debutants do with it, and the other lads who have not played for quite some time.

"What they do with that experience, whether they're involved or not next week or what they do in pre-season or how they attack next season. They've got a sniff of what it's all about now."

Following back-to-back bonus point victories in New South Wales, Farrell's charges will move on to face New Zealand in a mouth-watering clash at Eden Park next Saturday (kick-off 7.10pm local time/8.10am Irish time).

The All Blacks have started Dave Rennie's coaching reign with home wins over France (34-32) and Italy (47-17), and will be fiercely determined to extend their 52-Test unbeaten run at their Auckland fortress.

Ireland have lost their last three meetings with New Zealand, including a 26-13 defeat in Chicago last November, but famously made history when winning the 2022 series 2-1, triumphing in both Dunedin and Wellington.

Farrell added: "We'll celebrate this one obviously with the debutants and Rónan (Kelleher) with his 50th cap. We've a couple of birthdays in the group as well.

"And then we'll dust ourselves off, going into what is an unbelievably exciting week. If you can't get excited about that, we might as well not board the plane to Auckland tomorrow."