Ireland beat Japan 43-19 as debutants score in seven-try victory

Ireland beat Japan 43-19 at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Saturday, scoring seven tries to record back-to-back victories over the visitors. According to BBC Sport's match report, Alana McInerney and Sophie Barrett each came off the bench to score on debut, helping Scott Bemand's side pull clear after Japan threatened a second-half recovery.

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The result followed Ireland's 31-24 victory over Japan in Galway the previous weekend and continued their response to a 40-36 loss against the USA at Tallaght Stadium earlier in their autumn programme. Ireland now head to South Africa for two WXV matches, having won both meetings with Japan since that opening defeat.

Japan made the stronger start in Cork. Ireland conceded several early penalties, and Sakurako Korai scored from close range after five minutes. Emily Lane subsequently had a try disallowed for an infringement in the build-up, before Eilis Cahill crossed following a sequence of Irish phases. Dannah O'Brien added the conversion to bring the teams level, ending Japan's early advantage.

Masami Kawamura's yellow card for stopping an attack gave Ireland an opportunity to take control. Brittany Hogan scored next, following her two tries in the previous meeting, and further scores from Neve Jones and Anna McGann established a 22-7 half-time lead. McGann finished after Niamh Gallagher made a break and Erin King supplied the pass, completing Ireland's four-try first half.

Beibhinn Parsons added a fifth Irish try two minutes after the restart, taking her record Ireland tally to 25, with O'Brien converting. Japan then reduced the gap through Nami Asari, who scored for the second consecutive week, and Nijiho Nagata, whose maul try brought the visitors within 10 points. Their recovery was interrupted when Maiko Nishi received a yellow card for head-to-head contact with King.

Ireland's debutants supplied the final two tries. McInerney evaded attempted tackles to score near the posts, before Barrett crossed after the clock had passed 80 minutes. Enya Breen's conversion completed the scoring and restored a comfortable margin for the hosts. Ireland finished with seven different try-scorers, while Japan's three tries were not enough to overturn the lead built by the home side before the interval.