Ireland Score Emphatic Victory In First Test Against Japan

A nervous start left captain Nichola Fryday and her team-mates trailing 15-0 after 11 minutes, but the new look side recovered their composure and worked their way back into the game in style.

First half tries from Neve Jones, Aoife Doyle and new cap Aoife Dalton, coupled with two conversions from impressive teenage out-half Dannah O’Brien, saw Ireland finish the half 19-15 ahead.

There was plenty more from this young Ireland side with in-form hooker Jones adding two more maul tries to register her hat-trick.

Méabh Deely capitalised on some super work by the back-line, who showed real promise throughout the 80 minutes, to score on her debut.

Further tries followed from Chloe Pearse and Molly Scuffil-McCabe as Ireland hit 50 points. Fellow replacement Emma Hooban added a ninth and final score which O’Brien converted to complete her 12-point contribution.