It appears that Ireland's future is in good hands after a 13-try romp against Japan's second string at a cold Ravenhill last night. However, taking into account the opposition, one would rightly describe the Irish under-25 side as having recorded a rather facile success against a weaker, lighter and raw Japanese outfit.
The Japanese are on a European tour to study and prepare for the 2003 World Cup, but that learning curve is obviously very steep. However, there were some good points for Ireland's coaching team of Warren Gatland and Eddie O'Sullivan to take away.
Ireland's continuity was excellent, the basics were applied correctly and in Connacht's Johnny O'Connor they have a real find at flank forward.
Full back Gordon D'Arcy showed up well, while scrumhalf Tom Tierney supplied a steady stream of accurate ball. The yawning gap between the sides was shown up when Bob Casey man aged to run at least 20 metres with three lightweight Japanese tacklers hanging off his frame.
The young Irish blades had already run in six tries by the break when they just refused to allow Japan to get into their quick rucking rhythm. Although Japan opening the scoring with a Fuchigama penalty, Ireland were soon on the hunt for tries as their pack completely dominated the Japanese.
D'Arcy sprinted in the opening try in the eighth minute before it became a procession. John Kelly, the only over-age player on the Irish side, grabbed a couple of tries, while prop Marcus Horan crashed over for another and D'Arcy grabbed his brace following a long floated midfield pass by Staunton, who eventually found his kicking boots with four conversions.
An Irish clearance than allowed Japan to move the scoreboard on just a little when the ball was gathered by Fuchigama who launched a 45-metre dropped goal over the crossbar.
But it was winger Colm McMahon's 20th-minute try that epitomised the sharpness of the Irish side. After scrum-half Tierney had delivered a telling kick in behind the Japanese defence, McMahon took a quick throw-in to sprint in unopposed from 22 metres with the Japanese still trying to back-track into position.
Once hooker Peter Smyth crashed over three minutes after the restart, the possessional route to the try-line continued and at the end it was like basketball, although one has to credit Ireland for knocking home their advantage.
Japan did manage to score a solitary try through winger Daisuke Ohata, but their task was awesome. With Bryn Cunningham taking over from Staunton at outhalf, the conversions also rattled on the scoreboard at a rare old rate with young Leinster scrumhalf Simon Keogh running in from 50 metres for the final act of the game.
IRELAND U-25: G D'Arcy; K Campbell (S Keogh, 72) , J Kelly, S Stewart, C McMahon (M McHugh 67); J Staunton (B Cunningham, 62), T Tierney; M Horan (M Cahill, 56), P Smyth (R Weir, 70), S Best, R Casey (L Cullen, 60), M O'Driscoll (C Rigney, 72), D O'Callaghan, T McWhirter, capt, J O'Connor.
Scorers: T: D'Arcy (2), Kelly (2), Horan, McMahon, Smyth, Stewart, O'Connor, Cunningham, Cahill, McHugh, Keogh; C: Staunton (5); Cunningham (4).
JAPAN: G Tachikawa; D Ohata, R Kawi, H Yoshida, P Tuidraki; S Fuchigami, K Ohara (M Ito, 70); T Fujihara, N Yashuda, N Nakamura (M Toyama, 54), H Tanuma (K Todd, 70), T Akatsuka, H Sugawara, Y Watanabe (T Ito, 54), K Kubo.
Scorers: T: Ohada; P: Fuchigami; C: Fuchigama; C: Fuchigama.
Referee: C Nerdos (France).
