Ireland flattered by winning margin - Farrell
Ireland boss Andy Farrell was "more relieved than anything" after his side battled through a scrappy performance to beat spirited Japan in the Nations Championship.
Tries from Nick Timoney, Tom O'Toole, Robbie Henshaw, debutant Sean Jansen and Tom Stewart helped Ireland win 36-20 at McDonald Jones Stadium in the Australian city of Newcastle.
Taira Main and Hayate Era crossed for Japan, but Ireland finished with a flourish to deny the Brave Blossoms just a second win in 12 meetings between the sides.
"If you look at it, the scoreline is the scoreline, but it flattered us a little bit, especially with stop-start nature of the game, the errors and stuff like that," said Farrell.
"But I was just saying to the lads that that happens in sport when you tinker a lot. We put them under a lot of pressure this week as coaches with the changes, the different combinations, lads not playing for a long time.
"All in all, with the experience that they've got and the takeaways, it's a good night at the office for us."
Ireland hold off spirited Japan for bonus-point win
'We kept shooting ourselves in the foot'
With Dan Sheehan rested before next week's match against New Zealand in Auckland, Tadhg Beirne stepped up to captain Ireland for the first time as one of nine changes to the line-up from last week's 33-31 win over Australia in Sydney.
But while Ireland scored some well-worked tries, Beirne was frustrated by his side's set-piece frailties, with both Japan tries coming after Irish line-out mistakes.
"We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit, whether it was discipline or leaving them access, especially in the second half, we were kind of camped on our own line," said Beirne.
"There were some errors in the game, especially around set-piece that fed their energy and gave them opportunities to attack, but credit to the lads, we fought hard to keep them out at times and get the win."
The performance of Jansen - one of four debutants in the Ireland team alongside Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Bryn Ward - was a positive for Farrell.
The New Zealand-born back row was denied a try in the first half when he was stopped by Tiennan Costley's superb tackle, but the 27-year-old touched down in the second half to ease the pressure on Ireland.
Jansen said it was a "dream come true" to win on his Test bow - and his display clearly left an impression on his coach.
"The way Sean Jansen actually attacked the game as a debutant was there as a learning for everyone," Farrell said.
"To be able to get the man of the match and play like he did first up is a massive credit to him and it's a great learning for others coming in."
While Japan were unable to back up last week's win over Italy, head coach Eddie Jones says he is satisfied that his side are improving as they switch focus to next week's game against France in Tokyo.
"They [Ireland] did the simple things well over and over again," said Jones, who returned to the coaching box after a four-match suspension.
"We had some opportunities to put ourselves in the winning position.
"In the 70-minute mark, [with the score at] 26-20, we were in their 22 with a chance to win the game, but we weren't quite good enough regardless of the personnel on the field.
"But I'm very proud of the effort of the boys. The trajectory of the team is clearly in the right direction and there's an opportunity to take that on to France."
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