Defeated.

Ireland were sent crashing back down to earth this morning following a shock World Cup defeat at the hands of tournament hosts Japan.

Despite taking control of the game with two tries in the opening 20 minutes – the men in green could not capitalise, failing to score a single point in the second half with Japan taking advantage to secure a 19-12 win.

Here are the brutal player ratings.

15. Rob Kearney – 4
Caught out a few times in defences and had absolutely zero impact in attack

14. Keith Earls – 6
Started the game well and tried so hard to get involved. Cut in off his wing a few times and was one of the better players on the day.

13. Garry Ringrose – 6
Another man who started really well. Took his try superbly and almost beat defenders at will in the opening quarter. But was shut down after that by some excellent defence from Japan.

12. Chris Farrell – 6
Carried well and looked to get his hands on the ball but was shut down almost every time.

11. Jacob Stockdale – 5
Looked shaky in defence at times and brought absolutely zero in attack. A day to forget.

10. Jack Carty – 6
Looked sharp in the opening minutes but his lack of experience at the highest level began to show as the game went on.

9. Conor Murray – 4
After returning to his best last week, Murray looked a shadow of the player against Scotland. Game management was poor and gave Japan a foothold.

1. Cian Healy – 4
The six-day turnaround did him no favours. We suggested at the start of the week that both Healy and Furlong should have started on the bench this week and today proved that. Looked sluggish and his scrummaging was nowhere near the level we’re used to. Came off after 45 minutes.

2. Rory Best (captain) – 4
Failed to hit his man on a couple of occasions in the lineout that proved to be very costly. Out on his feet after playing the full 80 last week. Another man that perhaps should not have started today.

3. Tadhg Furlong – 4
Japan got the better of him in the scrum on a number of occasions and he also looked sluggish at times.

4. Iain Henderson – 4
Phenomenal last week but could not reproduce that performance against the Scots. Some problems at lineout time and just could make yards with ball in hand.

5. James Ryan – 6.5
Ireland’s best player. A monster in defence and probably the only player on the pitch that consistently gave Ireland front foot ball off the back of his carries.

6. Peter O’Mahony – 5
Started well but as the game went on he didn’t look himself. Gave away a couple of uncharacteristic penalties.

7. Josh van der Flier – 6
Worked his arse off and tackled everything that moved. Can hold his head high.

8. CJ Stander – 5
Bix mix-up with Chris Farrell that proved costly. Shut down in attack and never really got going.

Replacements:

Davy Kilcoyne – 6
Some massive hits and huge carries when he came on. Should have started the game.

Andrew Porter – 4
Couldn’t do much when he got on.

Joey Carbery – 3
His lack of minutes was very evident.

Rhys Ruddock – 4
Didn’t do a whole lot.

Jordan Larmour – 3
Completely shut down whenver get got the ball.

Sean Cronin – 4
No real impact from the hooker who perhaps should have been on earlier.

Tadhg Beirne – 5
One big turnover when he came on.

Luke McGrath – 4
Jumped on the wing for the last few minutes.