Ireland rack up 50 against Japan

IRELAND gave Japan a brutal reality check as they crushed the Asian champions 50-22 on Saturday in the second of their three-match summer tour.

Joe Schmidt’s second-string side ran in seven tries in a clinical performance despite the lingering effects of jet-lag and blazing sunshine in Shizuoka, on Japan’s Pacific coast.

“The conditions were slightly less hot than we thought they were going to be,” the New Zealander said.

“We were here yesterday for the captain’s run and it was searingly hot. It made for a really good game – we managed to control a lot of the first half on the back of a strong scrum.”

With the bulk of Ireland’s usual starting lineup on British and Irish Lions duty in New Zealand, a fresh crop of hungry young players tore into Japan from the start and never looked back.