'In short, no' - slow-burning Irish frustrate Farrell

On Friday, Caelan Doris explained that Ireland consider a comprehensive win over Japan in 2021 as the game that set them on an "upward trajectory".

Looking back, it's not hard to see why. That 60-5 win four years ago was immediately followed by a 29-20 victory over the All Blacks, a performance that remains one of Ireland's best under Andy Farrell.

That autumn campaign teed Ireland up for their best period under Farrell: a Test series win in New Zealand and a Six Nations Grand Slam before the bubble burst at the World Cup.

Four years ago, there was irrefutable evidence that Ireland were trending in the right direction.

At the midpoint of this World Cup cycle, however, the picture wasn't quite as clear as Japan returned to Dublin.

After last week's deflating loss to New Zealand, phrases such as "reset" and "brutally honest" began to make their way out of the Irish camp.

With that, they needed a free-flowing performance against Eddie Jones' side in their first home game since a miserable Six Nations defeat by France to launch the latest stage of their journey under Farrell.

But this was not it.

While Ireland's superiority ultimately told in a 41-10 win, a laboured and patchy display in the first half was clearly not what Farrell was after.

"In short, no," was Farrell's straight-to-the-point answer when asked if he saw a strong response to last week's defeat from his players.

Five minutes in, Ireland had already knocked on the ball in an aerial contest, lost possession from their opening line-out and opted to go for the posts instead of kicking to the corner after a scrum penalty.

It did not get much better in a first half during which the Aviva Stadium crowd seemed more entranced by Japan, who attacked with speed and invention but struggled to execute final passes.

For Ireland, Jack Crowley's opening try came while Japan were down to 14 men, while Nick Timoney's opportunistic drive to the line failed to open the floodgates.

Watching on from his "soundproof box", Farrell could tell how "flattish" the mood was among his players early on.

"We were feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit and the mood wasn't how it should be," he said later, "but how we got over ourselves and got some tempo back into the game in the second half is credit to the lads.

"I suppose creating a few more opportunities as well, but not finishing them off with the last pass etc, is something else that obviously needs cleaning up, but making the inroads in the first place is pleasing enough."

Farrell reacted to a disappointing performance last week by making eight changes for Saturday's game, handing a debut to Tom Farrell while recalling Jacob Stockdale and Timoney.

The Ulster pair experienced contrasting fortunes. While Timoney scored a fine try, Stockdale had one disallowed not long after returning from the sin-bin having been yellow-carded for a head-high tackle.

There were also bright performances from Tommy O'Brien and Ryan Baird, while Sam Prendergast and Gus McCarthy were among those to make a strong impact off the bench.

But not for the first time, Ireland lacked cohesion after changes in personnel, which was put to Farrell post-match.

"I know, and what do you do? You 100% have to roll the dice a little bit to give people opportunities and find their feet and compete," he said.

"It's very easy to pick your best 23 or whatever, but that wouldn't serve us any good down the line.

"Over the course of two games most people have had a shot at it now and we need to get over ourselves a little bit and start knuckling down for what's coming ahead, because obviously the opposition gets bigger and stronger."

There were positives for Farrell, of course. Made to work more than expected without the ball, he said the Irish defence - which was picked apart by the All Blacks last week - was the most pleasing aspect for him.

Another plus came from the Ireland boss' namesake as Tom Farrell produced a solid display on his long-awaited debut.

Farrell, 32, made his bow at outside centre on the back of strong form with Munster, six and a half years after he was first selected in the Ireland squad for the 2019 Six Nations.

"We've just done the presentation behind closed doors there with the players and he spoke about his journey and it's a fantastic journey, isn't it?," said Andy Farrell.

"Six years ago, when he came in, he was a shadow of himself that he is today.

"The progression that we've seen, and this time around coming in and hitting the ground running and backing himself and showing everyone that he belongs, has been evident for everyone to see. And he's certainly used his time differently because of the experience that he's gained as a player over those six years."

In contrast to the All Blacks game, Ireland finished strongly and ensured full-time smiles.

While Farrell was clearly less than enamoured with much of what he saw, he at least has a strong second half to build on as attention turns to Australia and South Africa.

But to beat the Wallabies, he will demand the performance he didn't get against Japan.