Joe Schmidt’s meticulous planning means Ireland shouldn’t be caught cold

Donal Lenihan picks out three issues Ireland must address.

Opportunity knocks

Last weekend it was the Irish coach feeling anxious in the build-up to the World Cup opener against Scotland. Ahead of tomorrow’s early morning kick off gainst hosts Japan, that same feeling of anxiety belonged to the Irish players who missed out on the 27-3 victory.

And with good reason.

Rob Kearney was honest enough to admit, while he was happy for Jorda Larmour that he played so well in the 15 jersey Kearney has taken ownership of for over a decade now, he could have done without his Leinster colleague excelling to the degree he did.

With 92 caps already under his belt, Kearney has nothing to prove but he will be keen to set a standard that guarantees his starting place for the knockout phase.

With Ireland deploying 13 men across the field in a first line of defence, Kearney acts as one of two sweepers along with one of his wingers, deployed to cover the back field.

His vast experience, positional sense and rugby smarts are hugely important to Ireland’s defensive set-up. Joe Schmidt was thrilled with the performance of Larmour and Andrew Conway last time out but he will want Kearney and Keith Earls to take ownership of the wide channels.

Perhaps the player handed the biggest opportunity against Japan is Chris Farrell. Schmidt likes big men and with the Springboks lurking in the background, opportunity knocks for Farrell to throw the gauntlet down for a starting place in the quarter-final. That’s what all the players are fighting for now.

Playing outside Johnny Sexton offered Farrell a comfort blanket that won’t be there this time out. Both he and Jack Carty, who also did well when introduced for Sexton against the Scots, will each only be winning their ninth cap, yet there is a big onus on them to perform in the key 10-12 channel. Both would hardly have envisaged lining out together in a game of this magnitude a month ago but now is their time to shine.

Suffocate Japanese width

The beauty of playing against Japan is you know exactly what to expect. They can only play one way. The fact that Schmidt brought a young squad to Japan two years ago, when the Lions were in New Zealand, meant that, no different to Scotland, he has been plotting and preparing for this contest for over two years.

He has built up a massive dossier on all the Japanese players and the Irish squad has been absorbing that information for some time. Japanese winger Lomano Lemeki gave away no trade secrets when he confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that they will seek to move the ball as quickly as possible to the outside channels. They sense a weakness there.

That will suit Ireland just fine as it will allow them impose their rush defence in midfield if the Japanese become lateral in their passing. That is exactly what happened against Scotland when Finn Russell slavishly sought to go wide off slow ball. All that achieved was easy targets for Farrell, Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose to smash.

To aid this process, Ireland will seek to harass Japan at the breakdown. Josh Van Der Flier was sensational last time out. If he can exert the same influence then the diminutive Japanese scrum-half Yutaka Nagare will be in for a hard day.

Peter O’Mahony will have been disappointed to leave the field so early last Sunday and was initially supposed to sit this one out with Jack Conan selected at No 8. An injury in training put paid to that and O’Mahony will be keen to make his mark on the opposition half-backs.

If Ireland succeed in slowing down the delivery of their ball, the game will become so much more challenging for the hosts given the way they look to play.

That said, the Japanese back row is a formidable unit, even with their captain Michael Leitch surprisingly relegated to bench duty for this one. Kazuki Himeno - Japan’s most impressive forward against Russia - shifts to the flank with the equally explosive Amanaki Mafi recovered from injury to start at No 8 in a formidable-looking combination. They cannot be allowed to influence this game.

Complete the job

The dynamic has changed to such a degree after the events of the opening weekend that it’s inevitable talk of Ireland facing South Africa in a quarter-final has been discussed and dissected, right across the media spectrum, all week.

With three pool matches to go, that discussion must remain as outside noise as Ireland prepare for a challenge of a different nature against Japan. Despite their 30-10 victory over Russia on the opening night, they were very disappointed with their performance and with good cause. They are better than that.

Opening games with the distraction of the accompanying pageantry, be it in soccer or rugby, never quite hit the heights. The pressure on the host country, who always launch proceedings, is intense while the numbers of people floating around the pitch and dressing room area, getting ready to appear in the ceremony itself, always seems to bring an unwelcome distraction for the players.

While we in the media and the general public can wax lyrical about the prospects of beating the Springboks in a few weeks, Schmidt will be reminding his troops at every opportunity that the chance of Japan beating South Africa four years ago in Brighton was every bit as slim and unlikely as it is of beating Ireland on their home patch this time out. Yet it happened.

With the forward pack now unchanged from last weekend the front five, outstanding as a unit in that outing, must seek to smash Japan up front in the set piece. A traditional weakness for obvious reasons, the fact that five naturalised forwards from New Zealand, South Africa and Tonga start this one means Japan will be confident they will be able to compete.

Ireland need to undermine that belief early on and offer Conor Murray and Jack Carty the type of platform that will put enormous pressure on the Japanese back three. Against Russia, their full back, Willie Tupou, had a nightmare under the high ball.

Shifting him to the wing for this one will prove insufficient to shelter him from the kick chase that served Ireland so well last time out. He will be targeted, early and often. I’m surprised that Lemeki, who played well the last day, starts on the bench. Perhaps he said a bit too much at that conference the other day!

I suspect Japan, with a huge home support and less pressure on them than in their first outing, will be much better this time out and have periods when they put Ireland under pressure. The challenge they face is in dealing with the power of the Irish forwards, along with the defensive line speed and punishing kicking game that Ireland will seek to impose from the outset.

This is another day for Ireland to get the job done professionally and move on. Another step on the road to that quarter-final showdown.