Scott Bemand: Ireland 'got what we wanted' out of World Cup opener

There have already been too many strolls in the pool stages and, while Ireland won well, they were pushed at times by a Japanese side that never wilted after falling behind 14-0 so early.

Sun, 24 Aug, 2025 - 16:05

Brendan O'Brien, Franklin's Gardens

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand cut a happy figure after a bonus-point win for his side in their World Cup opener against Japan.

Well he might. Six tries were not to be sniffed at, given it had been eight years since the green jersey last featured at this tournament.

That sense of satisfaction was reflected in the players as they hugged and clapped hands and backs after the final whistle, with each other and with the scores of family, friends and other spectators as they thronged pitchside.

Bemand’s message to the players in the sheds after a 42-14 win was a simple one.

“Yeah, that we got out of the game what we wanted. Coming into an event like this comes with a load of unknowns. We're still a young group, still an inexperienced group that haven't experienced competition rugby.

“Today we knew it was going to be a tricky challenge. Japan are a very good team, disciplined, don't give up, and we got what we wanted out of it.

“I was delighted that we went after our fast start, got the two tries on the board early and with a little bit of variety as well, which is going to be increasingly important as we go through the competition, you've got to find a way.

“So delighted that we've got the five competition points on the board and now on to Spain.”

This was probably the ideal start. There have already been too many strolls in the pool stages and, while Ireland won well, they were pushed at times by a Japanese side that never wilted after falling behind 14-0 so early.

There was a point in the second-half when they were five metres from making it 28-21 only for Eve Higgins to score a length-of-field intercept and make the game safe. So, some done and lots more still to do.

“A perfect game of rugby doesn't exist,” said Bemand. “There's some real moments that I thought were sublime out there today, and there's some real moments that we know we're going to need to be better week on week.

“So as an opener we've got what we wanted, we've scored some tries with some variety, we've shown some forward power, we've shown some backs prowess, but we're going to need to be better each week to get to where we want it to get to.”