Ireland vs Japan: Ireland will not be ‘satisfied’ with Japan – Andrew Porter

Ireland defender Andrew Porter says his side are inspired by their 60-5 win over Japan in 2021 as they look to kick off their autumn campaign against the same opposition on Saturday.

Andy Farrell’s side are looking for a reaction at the Aviva Stadium after their disappointing 26-13 defeat to New Zealand in Chicago last weekend.

Porter explained that Ireland were looking at that big win over Japan four years ago which helped them achieve the success that followed under Farrell.

“It was a bit of a stepping stone and a step in the right direction,” Porter said of the win, in which Johnny Sexton contributed 16 points in his 100th cap for Ireland.

“We were looking back at it and how good that consistency was. We felt like everything clicked that day, in that series, and that’s what we’re trying to do now after Game 1. We want to get that feeling back.”

Porter said that after reviewing the match against the All Blacks there were “snippets” of what Ireland could do but ultimately “it wasn’t the narrative we wanted to give ourselves”.

He hopes that Ireland can respond to the Japanese team, which suffered a crushing 61-7 defeat by South Africa last weekend.

He added: “They are a really well-organized team. Against South Africa, things did not go the way they wanted, but they are still a big attacking threat and have good set-pieces, so we will not take them lightly or we will be satisfied with that at all.”

“The worst thing you can do is underestimate them, and we won’t do that.”