Ireland to celebrate Johnny Sexton’s 100th Test with win

Planet Rugby

There promises to be a celebratory mood at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday when Ireland clash with Japan in their opening Autumn Nations Series match.

Milestones are the order of the day as one of the men in green’s legends of the game, Johnny Sexton, joins an illustrious group of players to pick up 100 caps. Furthermore, it’s tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong’s 50th international game so there’s extra incentive – if they need it – for Ireland to claim a positive result.

Victory won’t be a forgone conclusion though, of course, as Japan are to be underestimated at your peril. However, Ireland should have too much quality for the visitors on Saturday, with strengths all over the field for the hosts and lots waiting in reserve making them big favourites for the win with the bookmakers.

Sexton is set to dominate the focus before kick-off and has been praised this week by head coach Andy Farrell, as he looks to be the man to lead Ireland into Rugby World Cup 2023. Some are against such a move because of Sexton’s age but there’s no doubt his respect within the squad makes him a vital cog for Farrell, who has challenged his fly-half rivals from the four provinces to “knock him off his perch”, with few seemingly getting close in the eyes of the coach.

If Sexton stays fit and in form while also being able to play back-to-back internationals over the coming month then many more caps are on their way, but these are big ifs in such an arena and with Japan being one of those teams who don’t follow rugby scripts, they will be keen to turn into party poopers in Dublin.

Last time they met

On the back of losing in the 2019 World Cup pool stages, Ireland possibly had revenge on their minds when they picked up a 39-31 victory over Japan in July this year. A fixture that was close throughout saw plenty of tries put on the board, with Chris Farrell, Stuart McCloskey, Finlay Bealham, Josh van der Flier and Jacob Stockdale scoring for Ireland while Michael Leitch, Timothy Lafaele, Siosaia Fifita and Naoto Saito went over for the Brave Blossoms. There was a start for Joey Carbery at fly-half for Ireland and he didn’t let them down off the kicking tee, slotting four conversions and two penalties to Yu Tamura’s 11 points.

What they said

As mentioned, Ireland head coach Farrell has thrown down the challenge to Sexton’s possible successors in green ahead of the veteran’s 100th international game.

“It’s certainly not a worry,” he said of competition for the role.

“Johnny is a world-class player so why would I worry about that?

“Johnny isn’t just going to stand to the side and say, ‘there you go guys, off you go and take over now’.

“We want those guys and other 10s to challenge Johnny and knock him off his perch.

“You don’t want to just hand something over to someone that doesn’t deserve it. That’s not a squad.”

Meanwhile, Japan head coach Jamie Joseph expects the landmark occasion for the opposition’s skipper to make it a “more intriguing” challenge for his charges this weekend.

“He’s been a big part of the Irish success in recent years, certainly a big part when they beat the All Blacks (in 2016 and 2018) – a really experienced player,” he said of Sexton.

“It will be a great occasion for our boys to be able to celebrate that. We’ve talked about it this week.

“We know it’s going to create a lot of emotion with the Irish boys, we know they’re going to want to play for him and I think that makes the challenge for us more intriguing.

“But we’ve got a certain way we play the game and nothing’s really going to change for us.

“It’s just going to be a big occasion and I think that’s going to be good experience for our boys.”

Players to watch

There’s no hiding from what a remarkable achievement it is for any player to rack up 100 internationals so hats off to Johnny Sexton for reaching that feat. While some may question whether he still has what it takes to convert Ireland into genuine Rugby World Cup contenders in 2023, his longevity and motivation has never been in doubt as he has doggedly hung on to his jersey and remains ahead of his fly-half rivals, who have only been able to enjoy brief tastes of Test rugby.

Sexton starts in an exciting backline but one player who might be looking over his shoulder at the minute is James Lowe, who needs to have an error-free outing in his area of weakness, defence. With the impressive Mack Hansen having caught Farrell’s attention, the fight for shirts intensifies so everyone given chances on Saturday knows there’s those waiting in the wings looking to pounce. Lowe is a wonderfully positive attacker but needs a complete game in both facets.

One player who could cause Lowe problems is Japan full-back Kotaro Matsushima, a global superstar particularly after his performances at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Someone who has the X-factor, Matsushima must ignite the Brave Blossoms’ attack and a strong game from him would give Japan a chance of causing an upset. However, the absence of Michael Leitch is a blow so much rests on Kazuki Himeno in the back-row, especially against a Leinster-dominated trio.

Main head-to-head

We head for outside centre here where one of the more under-rated players, Garry Ringrose goes up against a midfielder who consistently performs for Japan, Timothy Lafaele. This promises to be an enthralling personal battle as the classy Leinster runner links up with Bundee Aki once again and should hit a plethora of typically smart lines behind a pack that is likely to be on the front foot. Meanwhile, Lafaele rarely needs a second invitation to catch the eye, like he did earlier this year at this same venue with a try-scoring performance. Two high quality number 13s face off and we can’t wait to see their tussle unfold.

Prediction

There seems to be a fair amount more solidity to this Ireland team than the one that won in July while, in contrast, Japan are missing a couple of key players. Throw in the support of a packed out Aviva Stadium cheering on their team and it’s hard to see anything but a victory on Sexton’s big day. Ireland by 15.

Previous results

2021: Ireland won 39-31 in Dublin
2019: Japan won 19-12 in Fukuroi
2017: Ireland won 35-13 in Tokyo
2017: Ireland won 50-22 in Shizuoka
2005: Ireland won 47-18 in Tokyo
2005: Ireland won 44-12 in Osaka
2000: Ireland won 78-9 in Dublin
1995: Ireland won 50-28 in Bloemfontein
1991: Ireland won 32-16 in Dublin

The teams

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Keith Earls

Japan: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Dylan Riley, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Siosaia Fifita, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 James Moore, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Jiwon Gu, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 20 Tevita Tatafu, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka

Date: Saturday, November 6
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees: Damon Murphy (Australia), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)