A statistical preview of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup Pool A showdown between Ireland and tournament hosts Japan at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa (kick-off 4.15pm local time/8.15am Irish time).
RUGBY WORLD CUP – POOL A: Saturday, September 28
JAPAN (2nd) v IRELAND (1st), Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, 4.15pm local time/8.15am Irish time (live eir Sport 1/RTÉ 2/UTV/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio 5 Live/IRFU Live Blog)
JAPAN: Ryohei Yamanaka (Kobelco Steelers); Kotaro Matsushima (Suntory Sungoliath), Timothy Lafaele (Kubota Spears), Ryoto Nakamura (Suntory Sungoliath), William Tupou (Coca-Cola Red Sparks); Yu Tamura (Canon Eagles), Yutaka Nagare (Suntory Sungoliath); Keita Inagaki (Panasonic Wild Knights), Shota Horie (Panasonic Wild Knights), Jiwon Koo (Honda Heat), Luke Thompson (Kintetsu Liners), James Moore (Munakata Sanix Blues), Kazuki Himeno (Toyota Verblitz), Pieter Labuschagne (Kubota Spears) (capt), Amanaki Lelei Mafi (NTT Communications Shining Arcs).
Replacements: Atsushi Sakate (Panasonic Wild Knights), Isileli Nakajima (Kobelco Steelers), Asaeli Ai Valu (Panasonic Wild Knights), Wimpie van der Walt (NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes), Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus), Fumiaki Tanaka (Canon Eagles), Rikiya Matsuda (Panasonic Wild Knights), Lomano Lava Lemeki (Honda Heat).
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).
Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
Television Match Official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
Head-To-Head:
Played – 7
Japan Won – 0
Ireland Won – 7
Ireland v Japan – Previous Results:
October 9, 1991 – Rugby World Cup Pool 2: Ireland 32 Japan 16, Lansdowne Road
May 31, 1995 – Rugby World Cup Pool C: Ireland 50 Japan 28, Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
November 11, 2000 – Autumn Test: Ireland 78 Japan 9, Lansdowne Road
June 12, 2005 – Summer Tour: Japan 12 Ireland 44, Nagai Stadium, Osaka
June 19, 2005 – Summer Tour: Japan 18 Ireland 47, Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
June 17, 2017 – Summer Tour: Japan 22 Ireland 50, Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka
June 24, 2017 – Summer Tour: Japan 13 Ireland 35, Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo
Biggest Wins:
Japan: –
Ireland: Points & Margin: 78-9, 2000 Autumn Test
Individual Records In The Series:
Most Points In A Match: Japan 12 (Kyohei Morita 2005 First Test); Ireland 23 (Ronan O’Gara 2000)
Most Tries In A Match: Japan 2 (Daisuke Ohata 2005 Second Test); Ireland 3 (Denis Hickie 2000)
Most Appearances – Ireland v Japan:
4 – Seiji Hirao
3 – Tsuyoshi Fujita, Toshiyuki Hayashi, David Humphreys, Yukio Motoki, Daisuke Ohata, Atsushi Oyagi, Peter Stringer
Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Japan:
25 – David Humphreys
23 – Paddy Jackson, Ronan O’Gara
17 – Keiji Hirose
16 – Ralph Keyes, Jeremy Staunton
15 – Paul Burke, Denis Hickie, Frankie Sheahan
12 – Kyohei Morita, Yoshihito Yoshida
Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Japan:
3 – Denis Hickie, Frankie Sheahan
2 – Jack Conan, Gavin Duffy, Keith Earls, Tyrone Howe, Dan Leavy, Noel Mannion, Brian O’Driscoll, Daisuke Ohata, Garry Ringrose
Japan – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Test Season:
Won 34-17 v Italy home (Summer Series)
Lost 25-22 v Italy home (Summer Series)
Won 28-0 v Georgia home (Summer Test)
Lost 69-31 v New Zealand home (Autumn Test)
Lost 35-15 v England away (Autumn Tour)
Won 32-27 v Russia neutral (Autumn Tour)
Won 34-21 v Fiji home (Pacific Nations Cup)
Won 41-7 v Tonga home (Pacific Nations Cup)
Won 34-20 v USA neutral (Pacific Nations Cup)
Lost 41-7 v South Africa home (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 30-10 v Russia home (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Six Nations:
Won 15-13 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 56-19 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 37-27 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 30-25 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 24-15 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 18-9 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 26-21 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 20-16 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 54-7 v Italy neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 28-17 v Argentina home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 16-9 v New Zealand home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 57-14 v USA home (GUINNESS Series)
Lost 32-20 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 22-13 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 26-16 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 26-14 v France home (Six Nations)
Lost 25-7 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 29-10 v Italy home (GUINNESS Summer Series)
Lost 57-15 v England away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 22-17 v Wales away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 19-10 v Wales home (GUINNESS Summer Series)
Won 27-3 v Scotland neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Japan – Most-Capped Players:
98 Hitoshi Ono
81 Hirotoki Onozawa
79 Yukio Motoki
78 Kensuke Hatakeyama
71 Fumiaki Tanaka
68 Takashi Kikutani
68 Luke Thompson
63 Takeomi Ito
62 Shota Horie
59 Yu Tamura
58 Daisuke Ohata
57 Ayumu Goromaru
55 Harumichi Tatekawa
51 Atsushi Hiwasa
51 Hiroshi Yamashita
Japan – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:
711 Ayum Goromaru
422 Keiji Hirose
347 Toru Kurihara
345 Daisuke Ohata
286 James Arlidge
275 Hirotoki Onozawa
230 Yu Tamura
198 Shaun Webb
193 Ryan Nicholas
Japan – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:
69 Daisuke Ohata
55 Hirotoki Onozawa
32 Takashi Kikutani
29 Terunori Masuho
26 Yoshikazu Fujita
22 Koliniashi Holani
21 Kenki Fukuoka
21 Alisi Tupuailei
20 Toru Kurihara
20 Kotaro Matsushima
Ireland – Most-Capped Players:
133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
121 Rory Best
108 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
95 Jamie Heaslip
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Cian Healy
92 Rob Kearney
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
85 Jonathan Sexton
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey
78 Keith Earls
75 Conor Murray
72 David Humphreys
72 Geordan Murphy
72 David Wallace
71 Eoin Reddan
70 Sean Cronin
70 Kevin Maggs
70 Andrew Trimble
69 Tommy Bowe
69 Mike Gibson
Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:
1083 Ronan O’Gara
767 Jonathan Sexton
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
195 Paddy Jackson
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe
150 Keith Earls
145 Denis Hickie
Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:
46 Brian O’Driscoll
30 Tommy Bowe
30 Keith Earls
29 Denis Hickie
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
17 Andrew Trimble
16 Ronan O’Gara
16 Jacob Stockdale
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 Rob Kearney
14 Conor Murray
14 George Stephenson
13 Jamie Heaslip
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace
11 Rory Best
11 Alan Duggan
11 Simon Geoghegan
World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:
1598 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1246 Jonny Wilkinson (1179-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1083 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
970 Stephen Jones (917-Wales, 53-Lions)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
951 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
863 Owen Farrell (England)
840 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:
67 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
64 David Campese (Australia)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
47 Brian O’Driscoll (46-Ireland, 1-Lions)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
46 Julian Savea (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
41 George North (39-Wales, 2-Lions)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)
(Note: Daisuke Ohata scored 69 tries for Japan, but not all against major international opposition)
The ‘100 Caps’ Club:
148 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
141 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
138 Alun Wyn Jones (129-Wales, 9-Lions)
134 Gethin Jenkins (129-Wales, 5-Lions)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
129 Stephen Moore (Australia)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
124 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
123 Kieran Read (New Zealand)
121 Rory Best (Ireland)
120 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
119 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
116 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
115 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
113 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
112 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
111 Ross Ford (110-Scotland, 1-Lions)
111 Yuri Kushnarev (Russia)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
108 Owen Franks (New Zealand)
107 Catalin Fercu (Romania)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
107 Sekope Kepu (Australia)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
106 Will Genia (Australia)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Matt Giteau (Australia)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Giorgi Chkhaidze (Georgia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 Goncalo Uva (Portugal)
101 Vasco Uva (Portugal)
100 Valentin Calafeteanu (Romania)
100 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)