Ireland vs Japan 2019 WC

Ireland had it all after winning against Scotland last weekend but the 19-12 loss to hosts Japan has put the cat among the pigeons for the rest of the Pool with Ireland facing two games against Russia next Thursday and then Samoa the following Saturday to see can they qualify for the quarter finals of Japan 2019.

They will need at least the full 10 points from the two games to get to 16 points and then they will have to wait and see where that will leave them as Japan will now fancy their chances of winning this Pool after their composed 19-12 win.

Japan played this game at 100 miles an hour but they always play that way so the game plan would not have been a shock to Joe Schmidt and his squad. This result was not expected but let’s be honest it just shows what will happen if you don’t perform to the required levels each time you go onto the field. The result shows the romance that is sadly lacking in modern sport is still there how even if it only happens once in a blue moon.

Ireland  played the game on their terms after the opening 25 minutes and then Ireland failed to score in the final 60 minutes and no matter the opposition you will not win most games by failing to score in 60 minutes of play.

Ireland will need two absolutely massive victories over Russia and Samoa to make certain they will not be coming home early from Japan. It is up to this squad to prove the doubters wrong and show us they can perform consistently for the final two Pool games. This result is not the end of the road but one more slip means it curtains for this World Cup.

The lack of a Plan B was again a glaring issue in this game. When Ireland needed to come up with a match saving move late on they failed to convert pressure into points.

People again pointed to a lack of leadership in the crucial final 20 minutes when Japan lead by 7.

Over the last 6 years under Joe Schmidt when the game plan has gone wrong his teams have struggled to come up with a Plan B in pressure situations and throughout 2019 Ireland have been physically matched by England, Wales and in some respects by Scotland but in only one of those games against Scotland did Ireland manage to wrestle back control. Ireland beat Scotland back in March 2019, 22-10 and last week in match one of the World Cup 27-3.

Unfortunately for Ireland it still seems that when teams match Ireland physically no matter the team they will beat Ireland as Ireland struggle to change tact and play what’s in front of them. After the disappointment of 2015, we were told that injuries would not impact on the Ireland squad again and that may turn out to be the case but the unnerving thing is that this campaign may go the same way as the previous World Cups if they don’t put in two clinical performances against both Russia and Samoa. The time for action is now and no amount of excuses will cut it this time.

This squad has had its set back and now it is time to react to the defeat because all the other sides in the Pool will feel they can capitalise on Ireland’s loss yesterday. It’s Russia next up at 11.15am on Thursday morning.

Here is the XV I would select for the Russia game :

15 Andrew Conway

14 Keith Earls

13 Gary Ringrose

12 Bundee Aki

11 Jordan Larmour

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Luke Mc Grath

8 Jordi Murphy

7 Rhys Ruddock

6 Tadgh Beirne

5 Jean Kleyn

4 Iain Henderson

3 John Ryan

2 Niall Scannell

1 Dave Kilcoyne

16 Sean Cronin

17 Cian Healy

18 Andrew Porter

19 CJ Stander

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Joey Carbery

22 Jack Carty

23 Rob Kearney

 

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