Ireland play host to Japan in Dublin in the first of five autumn internationals on Saturday
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne (centre) starts against Japan (Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire.)
Ireland and Japan kick off an exciting weekend of rugby in the autumn internationals on Saturday.
There are five games on for your viewing pleasure today, with Scotland v New Zealand, England v Fiji, Italy v Australia and France v South Africa following on after the curtain-raiser in Dublin.
The Irish return to home soil licking their wounds following a 26-13 defeat to the All Blacks at Soldier Field in Chicago. That match was dominated by the incident involving Tadhg Beirne, who was handed a 20-minute red card for his upright tackle on Beauden Barrett.
The decision was subsequently reversed at a disciplinary panel meeting this week, with Barrett’s testimony defending Beirne key to the red card being overturned.
It means the Munster man is available to face the Japanese and he lines up in Andy Farrell’s starting line-up this afternoon.
Here is everything you need to know about the clash.
What time is Ireland v Japan kick off?
The game in the Irish capital kicks off at 12.40pm at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, November 8.
Is the game on TV?
Yes, like all the autumn series, TNT Sports 3 will be showing this match. In Ireland RTÉ2 are broadcasting it.
What about live streaming?
TNT Sports customers can live stream the match on Discovery+
Team news
Ireland: J Osborne; T O’Brien, T Farrell , R Henshaw, J Stockdale; J Crowley, C Casey; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson; J Ryan, T Beirne; R Baird , N Timoney, C Doris (capt)
Replacements: G McCarthy, P McCarthy, F Bealham, C Prendergast, J Conan, C Blade, S Prendergast, J O’Brien.
Japan: Yoshitaka Yazaki, Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Charlie Lawrence, Tomoki Osada, Seung-sin Lee, Naoto Saito, Faulua Makisi, Kanji Shimokawa, Ben Gunter, Warner Dearns (captain), Epineri Uluiviti, Shuhei Takeuchi, Kenji Sato, Kenta Kobayashi
Replacements: Shodai Hirao, Ryosuke Iwaihara, Keijiro Tamefusa, Jack Cornelsen, Micheal Leitch, Shinobu Fujiwara, Shinya Komura, Yuya Hirose
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