Advertisement 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 Enya Breen celebrates her try with Fiona Tuite, Aoibheann Reilly and Edel McMahon.Ben Brady/INPHO FreeWinning Start 'There were some real moments I thought were sublime out there today' Scott Bemand was delighted with how his Ireland team managed their World Cup opener against Japan. 3.57pm, 24 Aug 2025 Share options WAITING IN THE post-game mixed zone the unmistakable sounds of a happy dressing room could be heard booming down the hallways of Franklin’s Gardens. Music was blaring and songs were being sung at full volume. After an eight-year wait Ireland were back at the World Cup and their tournament was off to an impressive start, Scott Bemand’s side opening their Pool C campaign with a confident six-try, 42-14 win against Japan. “We got out of the game what we wanted,” said Bemand. “Coming into an event like this comes with a load of unknowns, we’re still a young group, still an inexperienced group that haven’t experienced competition rugby. “Today we knew it was going to be a tricky challenge. Japan are a very good team, disciplined, don’t give up, and we got what we wanted out of it. “I was delighted that we went after our fast start, got the two tries on the board early and with a little bit of variety as well, which is going to be increasingly important as we go through the competition, you’ve got to find a way. So delighted that we’ve got the five competition points on the board and now on to Spain. “We’ve been over here for 10 days now,” he added. “We were desperate for a game, so now we’ve done that we can move on to the next game.” Advertisement After making such a commanding start Ireland will be expected to keep the winning run going against Spain next Sunday, again in Northampton, before moving on to play New Zealand in Brighton. Anna McGann and Scott Bemand celebrate.Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO And while the mood is good in camp this evening, Ireland know they will need to improve if they are to do something special in this tournament. For all their incisive, sharp attacking play today, there were moments where handling let them down. For all the excellent defensive work, four lost lineouts were a source of frustration. It didn’t cost them against Japan, ranked 11th in the world, but more ruthless opponents would take advantage. Bemand acknowledged it wasn’t a completely clean display, but also feels his group have the capacity to improve as this tournament progresses. “A perfect game of rugby doesn’t exist,” Bemand said. There were some real moments that I thought were sublime out there today, and there’s some real moments that we know we’re going to need to be better week-on-week. “So as an opener we’ve got what we wanted, we’ve scored some tries with some variety, we’ve shown some forward power, we’ve shown some backs prowess, but we’re going to need to be better each week to get to where we want it to get to.” Those defensive sets were particularly pleasing given some of the tries conceded across the warm-up games against Scotland and Canada. Ireland are still getting familiar with defence coach James Scaysbrook, who replaced Hugh Hogan earlier this summer. “You get moments in games, don’t you, when you get a score or you defend your line, we talk about coming through some adversity, it’s pretty important that you get the defensive sets on your line. “I think the defensive intent was outstanding at times today. Japan are good, going to get close to the line. They say they’re not as big as other teams so they make themselves as small as possible and it’s low to the ground and it’s very hard to stop. “We got some of it right, we’ve got some of it wrong, but coming through with some adversity, coming through with performances, with Fiona (Tuite) playing six today and getting a try, I think it bodes us well for the rest of the competition.” As Ireland warmed up before the game, Aoife Wafer stood along the sideline and briefly chatted to some well-wishers. The flanker is recovering from a knee injury and is in a race to be fit for the final pool clash with New Zealand, only linking up with the squad in Northampton this weekend having remained in Dublin to continue her rehab following the group’s departure last week. “It’s been brilliant to bring Aoife in and say we’re 32,” Bemand said. “She came in when we were doing our jersey presentation yesterday, she walked in halfway through and it was just one of those moments, ‘We’re all here.’ “So we’ve got our squad, we’ve got our competition up and running. Yeah, of course there’s bits to go after but we’ll go after ourselves as much as anything and try to be better.” Ciarán Kennedy Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'There were some real moments I thought were sublime out there today'”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'There were some real moments I thought were sublime out there today'”. 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