As the British & Irish Lions picked up a 28-10 win against Japan in Murrayfield on Saturday, Keith Wood and Andy Dunne ran an eye over how the Ireland players performed.
In a review of the match that can be viewed in full here, Wood and Dunne were largely impressed with how the Irish contingent fared in the opening game of the new Lions series.
Player Ratings: How the Irish Lions fared vs Japan
Robbie Henshaw:
Andy Dunne: "He looked sharp throughout. He was excellent overall and that's no surprise. I think he is a really likely starter. An excellent performance.
Bundee Aki:
Keith Wood: "I thought Bundee played pretty well and for me it was gratifying to see him defend lower. He ran out of steam after about 50 minutes, but I thought he looked comfortable."
Conor Murray:
Andy Dunne: "Dan Biggar shone brighter [of the half-back pairing]. I'm cautious not to be overly critical because some of his box-kicks today were excellent. But it is just again that the sense of over-using them. He made one or two poor choices with them. That has been part of his game for over year at this stage, unfortunately."
Tadhg Furlong:
Andy Dunne: "His scrummaging was absolutely on the measure. He has an incredible ability to either side-step defenders."
Jack Conan:
Andy Dunne: "I think he played his own natural game. He shows up in wide channels and doesn't shirk responsibility in narrow channels to be abrasive and carry physically. His overall game was excellent and I don't think there were weak moments for him."
Iain Henderson:
Keith Wood: "I thought he got through the game very well. He is an incredible guy to have in the squad because he does the right thing pretty much all the time."
Tadhg Beirne:
Keith Wood: "I felt he forced too much today. You get the jersey and that is a daunting task, it takes time to get into it. But you could see his relief when he got that try because it hadn't gone perfectly before then. He just needs to calm down and understand he can't do everything in the time he is in the jersey."
Check out Keith and Andy assess the full performance below:
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