As the week has progressed and the players and coaches have spoken, it's becoming clear that the reaction to last Saturday’s defeat to New Zealand has been significant within the Ireland camp.
Immediately after the game, Andy Farrell said they would need to be "brutally honest" in their review, and Johnny Sexton and Craig Casey stayed on-message when they spoke to the media earlier this week.
In response, Farrell has made eight changes to his side for this weekend’s return to Aviva Stadium, when Ireland welcome Japan to Dublin tomorrow. The head coach was always likely to rejig his team following given the travel involved in returning from Chicago, but his message to the side was clear.
"It's what I want to see more than anything, and that's us standing for something, us taking our game to them and learning some lessons from last week," Farrell said on Thursday.
When pressed to elaborate on what that "something" is, he laid bare his frustration with how last Saturday’s defeat unravelled in the final quarter.
"We’ve discussed all sorts of detailed bits where we can get better and I won’t bore you with that but I suppose the detail becomes a little bit clearer once there’s a determination to put your stamp on the game; attitude, physically and mentally tough as far as that’s concerned.
"The start of the game [last week] giving three penalties away straight from the start is not of an attacking nature that we want.
"I know there’s a few different ramifications in what happened before the try on the 20-soemthing minute mark in the second half, but our reaction wasn’t one of fight.
"There’s a lot that needs to be better as far as accuracy is concerned and detail-wise, but our intent in how we play the game, we need a reaction to that."
Farrell will be hoping his captain Caelan Doris can make a big impact in that respect.
The 27-year-old (below) returned from the bench last week after his six-month injury layoff, and will play from the start this weekend.
"He’s worked bloody hard to get to this stage and he’s been ultra-professional to come back this quick.
"He’s fit, he’s determined to 100% keep on climbing within his career. You can see that with how he acts every single day and I suppose there’s nothing clearer to point that out than his first carry when he came off the bench.
"So, it’s great for him to get back in the starting team and to captain the side because I’m sure that he’s been waiting for that for quite some time."
Squad regulars Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Craig Casey and Robbie Henshaw start, but also among the eight changes there are rare opportunities for others to impress in an Irish jersey.
Even aside from Munster’s Tom Farrell, who makes his debut at the age of 32, Ulster pair Nick Timoney and Jacob Stockdale have been named to start.
While Stockdale has 39 caps to his name, this will be just his fifth time playing for Ireland since their last meeting with Japan in 2021, while Timoney will win his fifth cap in a Test career that is now more then four-years-old.
In previous years, Farrell has regularly rotated his side for what is perceived to be the weakest of the November opponents, only to revert back to his frontline squad a week later.
"The reality is if they don't perform against South Africa or Australia, he'll have no choice..."
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 5, 2025
How much will Andy Farrell's loyalty to his frontline players be tested this month?
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And the Ireland coach was asked if a big performance from some of those wider squad players would be rewarded in the next two weeks.
"Obviously, everything gets thrown into the pot, doesn't it, in regards to selection when you're coming up with four big games and you throw a bit of travel in there.
"The lads that don't get a chance to play this weekend, they're the ones that's brimming to get back. Because coming back to Dublin on the back of a loss isn't nice.
"You always want to get back on the horse. But at the same time, the lads that get to go onto the field this weekend, they're the ones that have the chance to prove to the rest of them that they're mean business.
"The lads coming in thinking they’ve got a chance to stake a claim. That naturally happens. Not just on the field here on Saturday, but this week in training as well.
"That is why we always judge the training just as much as we do out here."
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