UPDATE 1-Rugby-Slow-starting Ireland pull away to crush Japan 41-10

Ireland started slowly before pulling away to beat Japan 41-10 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday with a strong second half easing concerns about their recent form ahead of tougher challenges to come against Australia and South Africa.

Andy Farrell's men were extremely sloppy in the first half and lucky to be 17-10 up at the interval after a yellow card for Japan let them wrestle control through tries from Jack Crowley and Nick Timoney, before Kenta Kobayashi deservedly responded. Even though the Irish also lost a man to the sin bin for the start of the second half, they were far better with tries from Andrew Porter, replacements Gus McCarthy and Paddy McCarthy and winger Tommy O'Brien overwhelming the tiring Japanese.

"We got a reaction at halftime so that was a bit better," Farrell, whose side fell away badly in the final 20 minutes in last weekend's 26-13 defeat

by New Zealand. "You can be short of confidence when things aren't flowing your way and I thought we regathered ourselves pretty well in the second half, even though there were still a few errors. To get to 41-10 from where we were at halftime was the pleasing part."

Ireland's first 10 points all came from flyhalf Crowley, a penalty, fine team try and conversion - the latter pair shortly after the yellow card for Japan centre Charlie Lawrence blunted the visitors' encouraging start. CAPTAIN DORIS RETURNS

While Ireland welcomed back captain Caelan Doris, it was one of the handful of fringe players given a chance - flanker Timoney - who sped home impressively for his fifth try in as many caps since making his debut in 2021. But familiar errors returned. Ireland's lineout, which has now struggled on a consistent basis, was even more of a shambles early on. Doris blamed the initial struggles on players being unable to hear the calls in the stadium.

The returning captain, who played all 80 minutes, described his side's performance as mixed and was critical of how much ball they gave away. That looseness helped Japan back in the game before the break but the Brave Blossoms were also impressive in attack in the first half. Kobayashi's try resulted from Eddie Jones' side showing their opponents how to organise a lineout platform.

It looked like they had a real opportunity to push on after a yellow card for Jacob Stockdale just before the break but a different Ireland emerged after halftime, with Porter's try putting the hosts' firmly back in control. A strong Irish pack mixed with youth and experience made a big impact. Gus McCarthy, whose lineout throwing was perfect, struck from one of his set-pieces before his namesake, Paddy, marked his second cap with a first international try.

Player of the match O'Brien showed off the pace that could make him a real weapon for a side that has long lacked speed, when he added try number six five minutes from time.