Japan's players celebrate after defeating Ireland 19-12 in their Rugby World Cup Pool A game at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa against Ireland in Shizuoka, Japan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. Photo / AP
Japan's players celebrate after defeating Ireland 19-12 in their Rugby World Cup Pool A game at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa against Ireland in Shizuoka, Japan, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. Photo / AP
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt says his side will be judged on how they respond to a shock World Cup defeat against hosts Japan in Shizuoka on Saturday.
Japan produced a stunning 19-12 victory to leave Ireland boss Schmidt feeling "incredibly disappointed".
Schmidt, who bemoaned the penalty count from referee Angus Gardner after his side lost a 12-3 lead, said he was not surprised by Japan's performance.
Schmidt stopped short of directly criticising Gardner after the match, but did indicate he might take the issue further.
"We'll go back and have a look at it," he said. "I certainly understand the frustrations of some of the players and in discussing things with them, based on what I saw on the monitor, it's not too dissimilar from the last time we had this referee.
"We'll go back through the official channels and make our comments to the refereeing body."
In an on-field interview after the final whistle, Schmidt said: "Maybe three or four of [the penalties] were for offsides that we felt were pretty tough.
"I do feel that they could have gone either way – particularly with some of theirs as well.
"It just gave them the front foot and they didn't button off."
Australian referee Gardner took charge of Saturday's match, and tries from Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney appeared to have the Irish in control. But amazingly Ireland, the world's top-ranked side at the start of the tournament, were held scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
Ireland's players react after their 19-12 loss to Japan during the Rugby World Cup Pool A game at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa between Japan and Ireland. Photo / AP
"We're incredibly disappointed that we didn't manage to control the end of the game but they are a tremendous side," added the Ireland coach.
"Congratulations to Japan. What a furious, intense effort it was. We knew it was potentially coming."
The match saw two Kiwi coaches pitted against one another, with Japan's Jamie Joseph going head to head with Ireland's Schmidt.
"We were thinking about this game for a long time, Ireland were only thinking about it for the last six or seven days," Joseph said after the match.
"I told the players to enjoy tonight because they deserved it. I am hugely proud of them.
"We have been preparing for this match for more than a year. It has been a big focus for us and to hold out a very tough Irish attack in the second half took courage and ability.
"I said before the tournament that making the last-eight was our goal and I am not thinking beyond that. We could be in a situation where we lose to Scotland and miss out [as happened four years ago]. We are not getting ahead of ourselves. We have Samoa next and that is all that counts."
Schmidt said he expected a tough encounter from the hosts, and the Brave Blossoms met those expectations.
"The defeat is tough for us to take but we have to roll up our sleeves and prepare for Russia. Securing a bonus point could be really important because it puts us second in the group, a position that would put us in the quarter-finals.
"We were on the wrong end of the penalty count, but any concerns we have will be addressed to World Rugby, not aired in public. I have to congratulate Japan on the way they played."
