What’s happening?
Ireland play Japan in their second game of the Autumn Internationals.
Where and when?
After a disappointing trip to Chicago, Andy Farrell’s side return to Dublin hoping to get the series back on track. The game will be played at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, with kick-off at 12.40pm.
Are Ireland sliding down rugby's global pecking order?
Where can I watch it?
The game will be televised live on RTÉ2 and TNT Sports 3.
Are tickets still available?
Yes, a number of tickets are still available via Ticketmaster.
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What’s on the line?
Is it too dramatic to say pride?
There was quite a lot of chatter before the All Blacks game claiming Ireland were undercooked heading into this Test series, or that they are generally past their prime. While one result in isolation doesn’t prove those things to be so, the 26-13 loss certainly won’t have quelled those simmering sentiments.
A win against Japan, ranked 13th in the world, is unlikely to move the dial, but a morale boost heading into the remaining Tests against Australia (November 15th) and South Africa (November 22nd) might at least turn the volume down on the doomsayers.
Oh, and there’s the whole business of Ireland needing to stay in the top six of the world rankings in order to get a top seeding for the 2027 World Cup, but we’re currently third – below South Africa and New Zealand and above England, France and Argentina – so we’ll save ourselves the hand-wringing for now.
Have we any team updates after the New Zealand game?
Caelan Doris returns to captain Ireland in Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series game against Japan at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 12.40, live on RTÉ2 & TNT Sports) as one of eight changes in the starting XV following last weekend’s 26-13 loss to New Zealand in Chicago.
Doris bridged a six-month absence from the game after recovering from shoulder surgery to play a total of 37 minutes off the bench in Soldier Field.
In what is an uplifting and inspiring story, the late developing Munster centre Tom Farrell will become the oldest back to make his debut for Ireland in the professional era after being named at outside centre.
IRELAND (v Japan): J Osborne (Leinster); T O’Brien (Leinster), T Farrell (Munster), R Henshaw (Leinster), J Stockdale (Ulster); J Crowley (Munster), C Casey (Munster); A Porter (Leinster), R Kelleher (Leinster), T Clarkson (Leinster), J Ryan (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), R Baird (Leinster), N Timoney (Ulster), C Doris (Leinster, capt)
Replacements: G McCarthy (Leinster), P McCarthy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht), C Prendergast (Connacht), J Conan (Leinster), C Blade (Connacht), S Prendergast (Leinster), J O’Brien (Leinster)
JAPAN: Yoshitaka Yazaki; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley (vice-capt), Charlie Lawrence, Tomoki Osada; Seungsin Lee (vice-capt), Naoto Saito; Kenta Kobayashi, Kenji Sato, Shuhei Takeuchi; Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Dearns (capt); Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi
Replacements: Shodai Hirao, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Jack Cornelsen, Michael Leitch, Shinobu Fujiwara, Shinya Komura, Yuya Hirose
