Japan 20 - 36 Ireland

Full time

11 Jul 2026

Nations Championship

Stage: Southern Hemisphere Round 2

McDonald Jones Stadium

Japan vs Ireland head to head

🎉 3

👏 2

🔥 3

😭 1

Ireland secured a convincing 36-20 victory against Japan in the Nations Championship at McDonald Jones Stadium. Japan took an early lead with a try from Main, followed by a conversion from Matsunaga, making it 7-0. However, Ireland quickly responded with two tries, the first from Timoney and then O'Toole, to take a 12-10 lead. Matsunaga's penalties kept Japan competitive, but Ireland's Henshaw and Jansen extended the lead with further tries, leading 26-13 at one point. Japan fought back with a try from Era, narrowing the score to 20-26, but Ireland's power proved too much. In the dying moments, Stewart secured the final try for Ireland, sealing the match at 36-20. Ciaran Frawley's consistent kicking was pivotal in Ireland's success, contributing to their impressive scoreline.

Broadcasters

Where to watch in: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand

Weather

Temperature: 12.7°C (Feels like 11.4°C) Condition: PartlyCloudy Wind: 7.6 km/h, gusting to 17.2 km/h Humidity: 79% Cloud Cover: 41%

Highlights

Events

Kickoff
3'

Try

Taira Main · Japan

5 - 0
4'

Conversion

Takuro Matsunaga · Japan

7 - 0
8'

Try

Nick Timoney · Ireland

7 - 5
9'

Conversion

Ciaran Frawley · Ireland

7 - 7
17'

Penalty

Takuro Matsunaga · Japan

10 - 7
20'

Try

Tom O'Toole · Ireland

10 - 12
27'

Penalty

Takuro Matsunaga · Japan

13 - 12
31'

Substitution

Tiennan Costley on for Yuya Hirose · Japan
34'

Try

Robbie Henshaw · Ireland

13 - 17
34'

Conversion

Ciaran Frawley · Ireland

13 - 19
40'

Substitution

Sam Greene on for Dylan Riley · Japan
Halftime 13 - 19
Second Half
47'

Substitution

Hayate Era on for Mamoru Harada · Japan
47'

Substitution

Sam Illo on for Thomas Clarkson · Ireland
47'

Substitution

Bundee Aki on for Stuart McCloskey · Ireland
50'

Try

Sean Jansen · Ireland

13 - 26
50'

Conversion

Ciaran Frawley · Ireland

13 - 21
52'

Substitution

Michael Stolberg on for Harry Hockings · Japan
52'

Substitution

Michael Leitch on for Kanji Shimokawa · Japan
53'

Substitution

Sojiro Otsuka on for Takato Okabe · Japan
53'

Substitution

Keijiro Tamefusa on for Shuhei Takeuchi · Japan
54'

Substitution

Billy Bohan on for Tom O'Toole · Ireland
58'

Try

Hayate Era · Japan

18 - 26
58'

Substitution

Tom Stewart on for Ronan Kelleher · Ireland
58'

Substitution

Harry Byrne on for Jacob Stockdale · Ireland
59'

Conversion

Takuro Matsunaga · Japan

20 - 26
61'

Substitution

Cormac Izuchukwu on for Jack Conan · Ireland
61'

Substitution

Bryn Ward on for Sean Jansen · Ireland
70'

Penalty

Harry Byrne · Ireland

20 - 29
70'

Substitution

Nathan Doak on for Craig Casey · Ireland
72'

Substitution

Itsuki Kamimura on for Naoto Saito · Japan
77'

Yellow Card

Hayate Era · Japan
82'

Try

Tom Stewart · Ireland

20 - 34
83'

Conversion

Harry Byrne · Ireland

20 - 36
Fulltime 20 - 36

Player ratings

Japan

15 Takuro Matsunaga 6.2
14 Kazuma Ueda 5.8
13 Dylan Riley 6.1
12 Yuya Hirose 5.7
11 Taira Main 7.3
10 Ryunosuke Ito 5.4
9 Naoto Saito 5.2
1 Takato Okabe 6.7
2 Mamoru Harada 6.3
3 Shuhei Takeuchi 6.7
4 Harry Hockings 7.3
5 Warner Dearns 6.9
6 Ben Gunter 7.2
7 Kanji Shimokawa 6.4
8 Jack Cornelsen 6.7
16 Hayate Era 5.8
17 Sojiro Otsuka 6.0
18 Keijiro Tamefusa 6.3
19 Michael Stolberg 5.9
20 Michael Leitch 5.7
21 Tiennan Costley 6.3
22 Itsuki Kamimura –
23 Sam Greene 5.7

Ireland

15 Jamie Osborne 6.6
14 Jimmy O'Brien 8.3
13 Robbie Henshaw 8.5
12 Stuart McCloskey 6.7
11 Jacob Stockdale 7.1
10 Ciaran Frawley 7.1
9 Craig Casey 7.4
1 Tom O'Toole 6.9
2 Ronan Kelleher 8.2
3 Thomas Clarkson 7.4
4 Tadhg Beirne 7.2
5 James Ryan 6.4
6 Jack Conan 7.7
7 Nick Timoney 8.7
8 Sean Jansen 9.1
16 Tom Stewart 7.6
17 Billy Bohan 6.1
18 Sam Illo 6.6
19 Cormac Izuchukwu 6.3
20 Bryn Ward 6.2
21 Nathan Doak 6.7
22 Harry Byrne 6.6
23 Bundee Aki 6.5