Andy Farrell made his frustrations clear with another sluggish Irish display, despite a final quarter flourish seeing them ease past Japan at Aviva Stadium.
Three tries in the final 15 minutes allowed the home side record a comfortable 41-10 win on the scoreboard, but the Ireland head coach didn't let that mask his annoyance at another flat performance.
In the days leading up to this game, Farrell challenged his team to "stand for something" after last week's defeat to New Zealand, and he was brutally honest in his assessment of this six-try win.
"In short, no, certainly not in the first half," he said, when asked if he got the response he wanted to last week’s defeat.
"I'm in a soundproof box, but I could tell that the mood was flattish throughout the first half."
Farrell made eight changes to his side from last week’s defeat to the All Blacks, with several players given a rare opportunity to impress.
And there was a frustration from the Ireland boss that some of those fringe players couldn’t take their chance, with big games to come against Australia and South Africa in the next fortnight.
Player of the match Tommy O'Brien has been reacting to Ireland’s 41-10 victory over Japan. pic.twitter.com/Kkm7DpmYGb
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 8, 2025
"You 100% have to roll the dice a little bit to give people opportunities and find their feet and compete.
"It's very easy to pick your best 23 or whatever but that wouldn't serve us any good down the line.
"Over the course of two games most people have had a shot at it now and we need to get over ourselves a little bit and start knuckling down for what's coming ahead because obviously the opposition gets bigger and stronger," he added.
Having ran out to a 17-0 lead with 30 minutes played, Ireland gave up 10 points and a yellow card in the five minutes before the break, and while the Ireland coach was clearly frustrated with the error-strewn first half, he was pleased at how the team regrouped to keep Japan at arm’s length.
"The response that we wanted from half-time onwards, I thought, was pleasing enough, because I think when you make a good few errors within your game, it can suppress you a little bit.
"We were feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit and the mood wasn't how it should be, but how we got over ourselves and got some tempo back into the game in the second half is credit to the lads.
"I suppose creating a few more opportunities as well, but not finishing them off with the last pass etc, is something else that obviously needs cleaning up, but making the inroads in the first place is pleasing enough.
With two tough games remaining this month, Farrell called for his team to show some "bite".
"I suppose overall, if you look at where we were, not just scoreboard-wise, but how we were playing in the first half, to come away with 41-10, you'd think you should be pleased, pleasing aspects, but we've got to be better obviously with the opposition that's coming.
"I thought the game was typified by; we were defending well, but just 'well' instead of having a bit of bite.
"Our defence was the best part of our game, by the way, in that stage. Getting off the line and having real intent in our collisions is something that we need to chase down a little bit more.
"As I say, it was the best part of our game, so therefore the errors that we made setpiece-wise or in attack and the lack of intent, punching onto the ball etc, all accumulated in the mood of the game.
"It's always nice to reset [at half time] and, again, address the elephant in the room. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and draw a line under that.
"It's gone now. What can we do about it? We can learn, yes, but have more intention with how we play the game, and I thought we did that pretty well."
The result has come at a big cost ahead of the visit of Australia next week, with Jamie Osborne (above) almost certain to be ruled out, with Farrell suggesting the full-back may have suffered a dislocated shoulder late in the game.
"Doesn't look good, doesn't look good. Poor lad. You could see why, by the way, he was holding his arm.
"I thought he might have broke something, but it's the shoulder. We think that it was out of place, and it’s back in place now, but to know that for sure, we'll have to obviously get a look at that."
