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League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Craig Casey, Tom Farrell, and Caolin Blade.Nick Elliott/INPHO Ireland look for dominant display against Eddie Jones' Japan Captain Caelan Doris wants to see energy and intent in his side’s performance today. 6.01am, 8 Nov 2025 Share options EARLY KICK-OFFS at the Aviva Stadium tend not to have great atmospheres, so Andy Farrell’s Ireland have their work cut out to get some noise into the Dublin stadium as they take on Japan today [KO 12.40pm, RTÉ/TNT]. The IRFU said yesterday that more than 50,000 tickets had been sold and that they expected a full sell-out come the first whistle this afternoon, but it remains to be seen exactly how many actually turn up. With dry weather forecast, Ireland are hoping to put on a show that allows them to begin shaking off the disappointment and frustration of last weekend’s defeat to New Zealand in Chicago. They want to deliver an energy that the Aviva crowd can feed off. “Enthusiasm, a want to make it happen,” said captain Caelan Doris yesterday when asked what he most wants to see from his team. “I think we apply a lot of detail within our squad and there’s a lot of stuff to learn, but I think just an ability to want to make it happen and desire to go and do something. “I want to see that defensively but also work-rate in our attack.” Japan always bring energy to any contest and they have continued to pursue a high-speed style of rugby under Eddie Jones. They won the Pacific Nations Cup in September, beating Fiji in the final, then ran a rotated Australia team close in Tokyo before taking a hammering from South Africa last weekend in London. They’re major underdogs today but stars like Toulouse scrum-half Naoto Saitō, Hurricanes lock Warner Dearns, powerful outside centre Dylan Riley, and 21-year-old fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki, who is still playing university rugby, will look to provide a spark. Advertisement Japan boss Eddie Jones.Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO The Irish forwards will be aiming to overpower the Japanese pack, however, and the expectation is that halfbacks Craig Casey and Jack Crowley will have a much better platform to play off than was the case for Jamison Gibson-Park and Crowley last weekend in Chicago. The Irish lineout had a bad outing against the All Blacks, but they’re backing themselves to get that right today. Skipper Doris gave forwards coach Paul O’Connell a glowing endorsement. “He’s unbelievable,” said Doris. “Like, the amount of time he puts in… I’d say he watches 150 lineouts a day. He’s extremely dedicated to it. “He spends a lot of time with the lineout leaders. It’s definitely not my forte; I don’t have too much involvement in it, but I see and I have a lot of faith in the work they do massively. It’s obviously been a strong point of ours in the past and I think it will be again, definitely.” Farrell has made eight changes to his starting XV for today, with the return of Doris to the number eight shirt among them. Scrum-half Casey, hooker Rónan Kelleher, tighthead Thomas Clarkson, openside flanker Nick Timoney, inside centre Robbie Henshaw, and left wing Jacob Stockdale are also introduced, but most of them are fairly experienced and familiar faces. The only complete newcomer is Munster outside centre Tom Farrell, who gets his Ireland debut at the age of 32. Josh van der Flier, who played Ireland U20s with Farrell, presented his jersey to him in front of his family on Thursday evening at the Shelbourne Hotel and the entire group took a moment to reflect on Farrell’s impressive journey to this point. “He’s been unbelievable over the last couple of years,” said Doris. “We’ve all faced him and had challenges with him. Even as recently as Croke Park a few weeks ago, you see what he’s capable of. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO “I think what’s probably different about making your debut at that age is maybe there’s more self-assuredness and self-belief, and an ability to just go and do it.” Ireland are confident Farrell will settle straight in, while the rest of this team are familiar with the Irish systems and demands. That means that even with eight changes and more fresh faces on the bench, there isn’t much excuse for a disjointed performance. It’s still early in the season for a number of these Irish players, but head coach Farrell has made it clear that he wants to see much better intent and attitude, as well as accuracy, against Japan. Doris said Ireland have discussed having a “reset” at this stage, two years out from the World Cup, and recognised that they need to evolve and improve. “There’s potential there and a lot of belief still, but it hasn’t come as consistently as we would have liked,” he said. “You guys have seen our performances – there’s been good things and there’s been bad things, there’s been some big wins, some scraping by. “You look at Italy at the end of the Six Nations, you look at France, there’s been 20-minute windows within some of those games, last weekend as well, where we haven’t quite been there.” Ireland want to start getting the very best out of themselves and today, that means no messing around against Jones’ Japan. Farrell, Doris, and co. are looking for a dominant performance on the back of the disappointment in Chicago. IRELAND: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien. Tom Farrell, Robbie Henshaw, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney, Caelan Doris (captain). Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy, Finlay Bealham, Cian Prendergast, Jack Conan, Caolin Blade, Sam Prendergast, Jimmy O’Brien. JAPAN: Yoshitaka Yazaki; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Charlie Lawrence, Tomoki Osada; Seungsin Lee, Naoto Saitō; Kanako Kobayashi, Kenji Sato, Shūhei Takeuchi; Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Dearns (captain); Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Faulua Makisi. Replacements: Shodai Hirao, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Jack Cornelsen, Michael Leitch, Shinobu Fujiwara, Shinya Komura, Yuya Hirose. Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi [FIR]. 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