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'It doesn’t look good, poor lad' - Injury mars Ireland win over Japan
By Ian Cameron at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Ireland’s 41-10 win over Japan at the Aviva Stadium came at a cost, with head coach Andy Farrell confirming that full-back Jamie Osborne may have suffered a serious shoulder injury.
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Osborne was forced off in the 65th minute, clutching his arm in visible pain. “It doesn’t look good, poor lad – you could see by the way he was holding his arm,” said Farrell. “I thought he might have broken something. But it’s the shoulder, we think, that was out of place and back in place now. But to know that for sure we’ll have to get a look at that.”
The injury scare added to what was already a mixed afternoon for Ireland, who eventually ran in six tries but struggled for cohesion in a flat first half. Farrell’s much-changed side led just 17-10 at the break after scores from Jack Crowley and Nick Timoney, and only pulled clear after the restart through Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy and Tommy O’Brien.
Farrell admitted his team’s sluggish start had left him frustrated. “In short, no. Certainly not in the first half,” he said when asked if he had got the response he wanted to last weekend’s 26-13 loss to New Zealand in Chicago.
“But the response that we wanted from half-time onwards was pleasing enough because 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.
“Creating a few more opportunities but not finishing them off with the last pass is something else that needs cleaning up. But making the inroads in the first place is pleasing enough.”
Ireland next face Australia and world champions South Africa at the Aviva, fixtures that will demand a step up in accuracy and intensity.
“Overall, if you look at where we were – not just scoreboard wise but how we were playing in the first half – to come away 41-10, you’d think you should be pleased. But we’ve got to be better with the opposition that’s coming.”
