Johnny Sexton marks 100th cap with dominant win as Ireland rout Japan at Aviva
Ireland's Johnny Sexton, left, reacts with Andrew Conway after scoring a try against Japan. Picture: AP Photo/Peter Morrison
Johnny Sexton marked his 100th cap with a try and 10 points from the boot as Ireland romped to victory over Japan in Dublin on Saturday.
The 36-year-old fly-half and captain had been centre of attention throughout as he became only the seventh Irish man to reach a century of appearances for his country and he capped the milestone achievement in style, scoring one of nine Ireland tries as the Brave Blossoms were run ragged at Aviva Stadium.
Andrew Conway scored three and there was one apiece from fellow wing James Lowe, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, and centres Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose before a late score from replacement prop Cian Healy on an afternoon when prop Tadhg Furlong made his 50th Ireland appearance. Yet the biggest cheer of the day as Ireland supporters returned in numbers to a fully opened stadium for the first time since February 2020 was reserved for Sexton’s score on 49 minutes.
Ireland had taken a firm grip on this contest with a fourth-minute try from James Lowe, who was set free down the left wing after Bundee Aki beat his man outside, passed to man of the match Jack Conan, who moved the ball onto the winger with a free run in from 30 metres.
It was a shape of things to come for Ireland and Lowe in particular. The New Zealand-born Leinsterman had been dropped midway through the 2021 Six Nations following defensive lapses but Lowe took his second chance with aplomb, upping his workload and showing hunger for the ball throughout, coming off the left touchline frequently in search of involvement.
On the other wing Andrew Conway was also impressing with the Munster star on the end of two first-quarter tries in the 10th and 19th minutes as Ireland stretched and then breached Japan’s defences with regularity. A Sexton penalty on 23 minutes made amends for a missed touchline conversion of Conway’s second score to give Ireland a 22-0 and things got worse for the Brave Blossoms before half-time when Jamison Gibson-Park continued his good form.
The scrum-half, preferred to Conor Murray, had found Conway with a deft through kick for his first try and he got on the scoresheet himself on 34 minutes with Ireland’s fourth of the opening 40, rewarded for a good supporting run to receive a Garry Ringrose offload and touch down, Sexton converting his fourth attempt from the edges to give his side a 29-0 lead.
It should have been more, Irish pressure forcing the Japanese to concede a string of penalties inside their 22 and when hooker Atsushi Sakate strayed offside past 40 minutes despite a team warning from Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, he was sent to the sin-bin. The resulting scrum in front of the posts came to nought as the half came to a close and Japan would have considered themselves fortunate to be trailing only 29-0 at the interval.
Jamie Joseph’s side still had to compete with a man down for the first 10 minutes of the second half and their resolve was finally broken on 49 minute by man of the hour Sexton. Working from an excellent 50-22 kick from Hugo Keenan into the right corner, Ireland’s maul was dominant once more and Sexton had the easiest of finishes to score Ireland’s fifth of the day and his 15th for Ireland, his team-mates engulfing their captain to celebrate a try on his 100th cap.
Sexton coolly converted his own score and Ireland were not done there, Bundee Aki getting in on the act with a try in the same corner on 54 minutes to open the lead to 41-0, though Japan finally got on the scoreboard two minutes later as wing Siosaia Fifita scored in the left corner as rain continued to fall on the Aviva.
A flurry of replacements took the momentum away from Ireland somewhat as head coach Andy Farrell began to rotate his team with victory long secure and an eye on next week’s visit of New Zealand and when Sexton was called ashore on 61 minutes, replaced by Joey Carbery, there was a deserved standing ovation, both for services rendered and another excellent performance at 10.
More tries were to follow as Ireland went through the gears, Garry Ringrose scoring the seventh and Conway completing his hat-trick on 73 minutes to take the home side, playing in alternate purple jerseys, through the 50-point threshold. Healy added a late score from a tap and go to finish off the demolition, Carbery converting from in front of the posts.
For a side that had been outmanoeuvred and outplayed by the same team at the 2019 World Cup and then enjoyed only a narrow victory at home in the summer, this was a dominant performance against the Brave Blossoms and much needed with the All Blacks in town in seven days.
H Keenan; A Conway, G Ringrose, B Aki (K Earls, 66), J Lowe; J Sexton - captain (J Carbery, 61), J Gibson-Park (C Murray, 57); A Porter (C Healy, 55), R Kelleher (D Sheehan, 55), T Furlong (F Bealham, 55); T Beirne (I Henderson, 57), J Ryan; C Doris, J van der Flier (P O’Mahony, 50), J Conan.
K Matsushima; D Riley, T Lafaele (R Yamanaka, 38 - 41 HIA; R Nakamura, 67 - HIA), R Nakamura (R Yamanaka, 55), S Fifita; Y Tamura (Y Niwai, 40 - YC scrum replacement; R Matsuda, 55), Y Nagare (N Saito, 41); K Inagaki (C Millar, 41), A Sakate (Y Niwai, 63), J Gu (A Ai Valu, 41); J Cornelsen, J Moore; B Gunter (Y Tokunaga, 27, T Tatafu, 58), P Labuschagne - captain, K Jimeno.
Nika Amashukeli (Georgia).
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