Ireland crush Japan 41-10 at Aviva Stadium

Ireland 41-10 Japan, Aviva Stadium

Ireland produced a commanding performance in Dublin on November 8, 2025, cruising to a 41-10 victory over Japan in their autumn international clash at the Aviva Stadium.

The hosts dominated possession, territory, and set pieces, showing clinical finishing and strong discipline, apart from one yellow card late in the first half.

Ireland opened the scoring in the 5th minute when Jack Crowley calmly slotted a penalty goal after an early infringement by Japan.

The visitors’ defence was then stretched as flanker Charlie Lawrence was shown a yellow card in the 16th minute for a deliberate knock-on inside his own 22.

Ireland capitalised swiftly—Crowley dived over for the opening try in the 19th minute after a slick combination between Caelan Doris and Thomas Clarkson, and added the conversion a minute later to extend the lead to 10–0.

Nick Timoney continued Ireland’s early dominance, barging over from close range in the 29th minute, with Crowley again converting to make it 17–0. Japan found a response through Kenji Sato, who touched down from a rolling maul in the 36th minute.

Seungsin Lee converted and then added a penalty in the 41st minute after Ireland were caught offside, narrowing the deficit to 17–10. Just before halftime, Ireland suffered a setback when Jacob Stockdale was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Kotaro Matsushima, bringing the first half to a close.

The second half, however, belonged entirely to Ireland. Within seven minutes of the restart, Andrew Porter muscled his way over from short range for Ireland’s third try.

Although Crowley missed the conversion, the home side’s pack began to take total control. Gus McCarthy then crashed over from a rolling maul in the 66th minute, with Crowley converting to make it 29–10.

Six minutes later, Paddy McCarthy stormed through midfield to score under the posts, followed by another Crowley conversion to stretch the lead to 36–10.

Ireland capped off the rout in the 75th minute when Tommy O’Brien finished a flowing backline move down the right flank for the team’s sixth and final try. The crowd at Aviva Stadium rose to its feet as Ireland sealed a 41–10 win - an emphatic response after their earlier loss to New Zealand.

Team line up:

Ireland: Osborne; T O'Brien, Farrell, Henshaw, Stockdale; Crowley, Casey; Porter, Kelleher, Clarkson, Ryan, Beirne, Baird, Timoney, Doris (capt).

Reserves: G McCarthy, P McCarthy, Bealham, C Prendergast, Conan, Blade, S Prendergast, J O'Brien.

Japan: Yazaki; Ishida, Riley, Lawrence, Osada; Lee, Saito; Kobayashi, Sato, Takeuchi, Uluiviti, Dearns, Gunter, Shimokawa, Makisi.

Reserves: Hirao, Iwaihara, Tamefusa, Cornelsen, Leitch, Fujiwara, Komura, Hirose.