Keith Earls insisted that winning with the Irish team was significantly more important than any personal accolade after he set a new national record for most tries scored in an international season.
The Irish wing scored twice against Japan as the visitors won 50-22 in Shizuoka to take his international tally for the season to nine – one more than Denis Hickie in 2002/03.
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Earls dotted down twice in the autumn internationals before scoring again in Ireland’s opening RBS 6 Nations game against Scotland.
He followed that up with a pair of scores against Italy in the next game and has now scored four in two games against USA and Japan this summer.
But the 29-year-old was more interested in earning a win for the young Irish side against their World Cup 2019 pool rivals Japan.
“It’s good but I think it’s more important that we got the win with a young team. The Japanese are up and coming, they’ve got some unbelievable players and they’re going to be strong in the future,” he said.
“I don’t worry about the individual stuff; it’s about winning with this group of lads which is a better feeling than beating records.
“I’m delighted because we’re building for the future and that’s great.”
Dan Leavy and Jack Conan both ran in two tries against the Japanese with Garry Ringrose also getting his name on the score sheet as Paddy Jackson kicked five conversions and a penalty.
There were international debuts for Kieran Treadwell and Rory O’Loughlin taking the total number of new caps awarded by Joe Schmidt during the tour to nine.
And captain Rhys Ruddock revealed that the Irish have been enjoying their visit to the Far East, where the next Rugby World Cup will be held in just two years time.
“We’ve enjoyed a lot about being in Japan, at the beginning of the week we were trying to recover from the game against the USA and the travel aspect,” he said.
“First and foremost we’ve enjoyed experiencing the people, what an amazing people they are here and the culture. We got to get out in Tokyo and see a little bit as well.
“It has been a positive experience for us as a group of young players and the game to experience what it’s like to play here ahead of hopefully some of us being here for the World Cup in a few years.”
