Five memorable meetings between Ireland and Japan

Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v New Zealand

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 8 November Kick-off: 12:40 GMT

Ireland play Japan in Dublin on Saturday in what will be the 13th Test match between the sides.

This weekend’s hosts have got the better of things on 12 occasions, although, the sole exception at the 2019 World Cup is of course the most memorable of their past meetings.

Other games have brought significant milestones, unfortunate injuries and a few entertaining encounters.

Japan’s sole win in this fixture serves as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup.

The side, who under Eddie Jones four years prior had beaten the Springboks in a pool-stage fixture in Brighton, were on home soil in Shizuoka this time around.

Roared on by a partisan crowd, Jamie Joseph’s side were full value for their comeback win that again sent shockwaves through the tournament.

Ireland, who were without fly-half Johnny Sexton for the game, had led 12-9 at half-time but could not muster a single point after the turn and were beaten by a non-tier one nation at the World Cup for the first time.

Japan’s seismic win in 2019 was not the only meeting between the pair at the global showpiece.

Pool stage meetings also occurred in 1991 and 1995 and there were times during the latter when Japan appeared primed to pull off an upset.

As they looked to bounce back from a trouncing at the hands of a Jonah Lomu inspired New Zealand in their opener, Ireland had led 19-0 midway through the first half in Bloemfontein after scores from David Corkery, Neil Francis and Simon Geoghegan.

They were, however, pegged back to 19-14 at half-time and 26-21 shortly after the restart.

Scores from Eddie Halvey and Niall Hogan, and the second of two penalty tries, eventually made the game safe, but Ireland were still left counting the cost afterwards with the shoulder injury suffered by hooker Keith Wood ruling him out of the remainder of the tournament.

Ireland’s most recent meeting with Japan provided a milestone occasion for two players at the opposite end of their international careers.

Captain Johnny Sexton won his 100th Irish cap against the Brave Blossoms in November 2021, marking the day with a try in the 55-point win.

“It was a very special moment and the crowd at that moment will live with me forever,” said Sexton afterwards.

“You couldn’t not notice it – it was an incredible ovation.”

In a game where Munster wing Andrew Conway scored a hat-trick, hooker Dan Sheehan made his debut off the bench.

Ireland’s first meeting with Japan in 1985 was not, at the time, granted full Test status.

It was only in 2023 that the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) retroactively bestowed such billing upon the two-game tour.

That meant good news for Rab Brady whose only games for the Ireland senior side came on the trip. The Ulster scrum-half, who was player of the match when his province beat Australia in 1984, was awarded his first Test cap 39 years after the fact.

The IRFU chose not to update the cap or try tallies of those who had appeared previously or latterly for the side, meaning the hat-trick scored by Brady’s provincial team-mate Trevor Ringland in the 48-13 win in Osaka remains absent from the official record.

Ireland’s next meeting with Japan after the World Cup shock of 2019 was another thrilling encounter that featured their slimmest winning margin in the fixture.

The sides shared nine tries with Andy Farrell’s side crossing five times to Japan’s four in a rare summer Test at the Aviva Stadium.

The hosts in Dublin were playing their first home game in front of fans since February 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, although the crowd was limited to just 3,000 spectators.

While not at the numbers seen for this summer’s tour of Australia, Ireland were missing a host of regulars who were on British and Irish Lions’ duty in South Africa and were captained by lock James Ryan.