Ireland switch on the power to hit battling Japan for six

The shadow of the defending champions, New Zealand, looms over Pool C and on that basis Ireland could not afford to lose. They kicked off their World Cup campaign with a fluent win, in which every element of their game functioned well on the immaculate Franklin's Gardens pitch.

- Luke McLaughlin

Japan won the previous match between these two, a 29-10 victory in 2022, and had they upset the odds it would hardly have represented a sequel to the Miracle of Brighton. But Ireland are a different proposition under Scott Bemand and their physicality and accuracy, for the most part, was just too much for their willing opponents. Japan were outclassed and overpowered, but two converted tries gave their impressive supporters something to shout about.

"We got what we wanted," Bemand said. "Coming into an event like this with a young and inexperienced group comes with a lot of unknowns. Japan are a very good team: organised, disciplined and they don't give up. We scored tries with some variety, we've shown forward power and backs prowess, but we're going to need to be better each week."